Ok, I am 5'10 183 lbs, 19 yrs old. My question....You all say that abs form around 10%ish BF. My scale (not sure on it's accurateness) says I am 19% or 20%. I see a curvature on the left side of my body that looks like an ab line, but I do not see anything on my right side. The curvature goes diagnally downwards toward my stomach as if I was ripped my body would point that way. I still have all the outer fat outside it, so its like going diagnal over my fat. If i suck in my gut ALOT I see what looks like skin flaps in the front forming like abs. Is that a bone or a weird way my rib cage is projecting or is it possible for abs to be forming at 20%. Or maybe my scale is off caliber, I really dont know. Anyways, I plan to post a pic soon, but for now...Is that normal? Thanks.

Ok, I am 5'10 183 lbs, 19 yrs old. My question....You all say that abs form around 10%ish BF. My scale (not sure on it's accurateness) says I am 19% or 20%. I see a curvature on the left side of my body that looks like an ab line, but I do not see anything on my right side. The curvature goes diagnally downwards toward my stomach as if I was ripped my body would point that way. I still have all the outer fat outside it, so its like going diagnal over my fat. If i suck in my gut ALOT I see what looks like skin flaps in the front forming like abs. Is that a bone or a weird way my rib cage is projecting or is it possible for abs to be forming at 20%. Or maybe my scale is off caliber, I really dont know. Anyways, I plan to post a pic soon, but for now...Is that normal? Thanks.

Abs do not "form" at around 10%, they are here, it's just that they can be hidden by fat and on a lot of people 10% is about where they start to show. It's not true for everyone either, depends how you store fat but it's in the ballpark for a lot of males.

Scales are generally considered unreliable with regards to bf%.

I have a problem with "Diagonally downwards towards (your) stomach" because anything above your stomach is essentially in your ribcage but... can I assume that what you call stomach here is really your lower abdomen? In this case, the line may be the edge (if it's hard) or outline (if it's covered in fat) of your oblique muscle. Other than that I don't know, perhaps I misunderstand your description.

Actually I don't understand the end of your question. If the "flaps of skin" are where your abs should be, then it cannot be your ribcage, which is above. But if you can see the shape of your abs (not just the line between obliques/abs), then you are likely lower than 20% by quite some margin.

I hope this helps, but a picture would be easier to comment on!

Vincent.