Can you explain why it's a hassle on your self image? If a dude is really fired up, shouldn't be a problem though, right?
It's a hassle on your selfimage because of the obsession and work it takes to get to that level. Anyone who is trying to be at 8% is obsessed withworking out and what they eat. Even if they say theyre not, they abosolutley are. When someone is that tied up in how they look/what % theyre at it is goingto distort their self image. A person who is at 10%, but is not satisfied with it and wants to be lower will have a negative self image. They might saythings like "Oh, I know im in good shape, but i would just like to have a lower BF%" but deep down they know theyre not the body type they want to beand its not healthy.
8% at a comp is awful though. 8% is definitely do-able, but like anything else it takes a lot of dedication and it probably isn't worth it to most
Oh yeah I know, I wasnt trying to imply that 8% was competition level.