Bullshit made up stats

[gunslinger]

I have seen those things on IG. I have a skewed perspective, having lived in the military community for the last 26 years. When I hear those stats I laugh, because I look around the gym and it is almost 100% of the population hitting those numbers.

Exactly! I don't know a lot of people who can't hit those numbers.

 

[gunslinger]

A quick check might be to see how many people belong to gyms. Then assume that 1% of them have visible abs in the dead of summer. Of course we would be relying on statistics for the numbers but according to statistica 64 million people in the US go to a gym. That would give 640,000 people with abs in the dead of summer. If it were 0.1% that would give you 64,000 with abs in the dead of summer.

Here is the thing. I sit in the parking lot waiting on my daughter in the evenings at the high school. I see the teens playing football and basketball. I'd say at least 20% or more of those teens have a 6 pak. Its a small school of 1,500. Lets be super conservative and say only 1% do. Thats like 15 kids just in that one high school. Multiply that by the 24,000 high schools in america. and we are up to at least 360,000 ppl with a six pak and we haven't even went to the local gyms yet.

Those numbers have to be bullshit.

 

[gunslinger]

Yea but we are something like 1% of the population so..

But who is we? I mean, I know 40-50 crossfit people who can easily beat those numbers just in the one little gym one of my students goes to. At least a third of the people at my gym could. My typical class size (Jiu-jitsu) is 12-15 and at least 6 of us easily beat those numbers and have since we were teens. Is it really so uncommon?

 

[AlphaMale!]

My stats last summer at age 53 were the exact same as Mike Tyson’s at age 23.
We are same height too.
I told my gf but she didn’t believe me so I showed her his stats.
Of course I haven’t knocked that many dudes out but I do talk a little funny.

 

[Glycomann]

Here is the thing. I sit in the parking lot waiting on my daughter in the evenings at the high school. I see the teens playing football and basketball. I'd say at least 20% or more of those teens have a 6 pak. Its a small school of 1,500. Lets be super conservative and say only 1% do. Thats like 15 kids just in that one high school. Multiply that by the 24,000 high schools in america. and we are up to at least 360,000 ppl with a six pak and we haven't even went to the local gyms yet.

Those numbers have to be bullshit.

You're right in the middle of my estimate.

 

[genetic freak]

Yea but we are something like 1% of the population so..

True.

I have trained at a few different places on the civilian side too and those can vary greatly in patrons. When I trained at World's Gym in Lake Forest, CA, it was full of IFBB Pro's and high level NPC competitors. They kind of scared the average Joes away to the 24 Hour Fitness down the street. The YMCA I trained at in Nebraska had half a dozen dudes with 600+ lbs bench presses and was set up like a dungeon. Again, they scared away the average Joes to the commercial gym in town. I currently train at 24/7 Club Fitness and I can say strength is not a virtue there. Haha.

While visiting a friend I trained at a One Life Fitness. The manager asked me if I planned on becoming a member. I told her she had a really nice gym. Almost all their equipment was Prime or better. However, they only had dumbbells that went to 120 lbs. I explained I cannot join a gym where the dumbbells only go to 120 lbs. She said only a few people in the gym could actually lift those, which I thought was absolutely absurd. I gave her the story of the 4 minute mile and how she was limiting her patrons. They only think the 120's are heavy, because they are biggest dumbbells in the gym. Put 150's or 200's in the gym and people will be pushing the 120's in no time. Hell, you spend 7-10k on each piece of equipment and probably have 60-70 pieces in that giant gym. What's an extra 2k on dumbbells?

 

[Ogre717]

But who is we? I mean, I know 40-50 crossfit people who can easily beat those numbers just in the one little gym one of my students goes to. At least a third of the people at my gym could. My typical class size (Jiu-jitsu) is 12-15 and at least 6 of us easily beat those numbers and have since we were teens. Is it really so uncommon?

Go to Walmart and look around

 

[jipped genes]

86% of all statistics are 19% right 38% of the time

 

[gunslinger]

Go to Walmart and look around

Good point. But I will say I live in a college town and on any given day there will be at least a few college ball players in there with abs and numbers FAR exceeding those quoted above.

 

[Ogre717]

86% of all statistics are 19% right 38% of the time

Common core math

 

[BigSwolePump]

How many times have we heard some made up stats on a talk show or movie and people start repeating it like its fact?

I was sent a link to a podcast and the guest was talking about there being only 25-30,000 people in the USA with a visible six pak. This might be the dumbest thing I've ever heard. At least top 10 dumbest.

I've also been seeing the fake stat going around that if you can squat your body-weight, bench press your body-weight and dead-lift double your body-weight you are among the top 5% strongest people on earth. WTF?!?

Reminds me of this video lol

 

[69nites]

Good point. But I will say I live in a college town and on any given day there will be at least a few college ball players in there with abs and numbers FAR exceeding those quoted above.

Even if you go to a random gym and sample the female population, you'd be lucky to find more than 1 that can bench their bodyweight. That's 50% of the population right off the bat. After that you've got all the obese men that are out. And add in all the men that can't squat their bodyweight and you've eliminated almost the entire population over the age of 22.

What you're looking at is called selection bias. If you look exclusively at athletes and college students who are only a couple years after mandatory PE class in high school, things might look a little different.