I used to think that 180 lbs shredded at that weight would be no problem for many.
But I think pretty much almost everyone thinks that their bf is lower than the actual first few years of their lifting career. Everyone thinks that you can cut from 10% bf to 5% by losing like 5 lbs, but in reality, you need to lose way more even if everything (diet, rest, training) is on point, unless you have the help of PED to retain or even gain muscle while cutting.
I would say 170 lbs is a really good contest weight at 5’10-5’11 if you have average frame, 160 if small and closer to 180 lbs if you have big frame.
As we learned from another thread recently, it matters where you carry it too. If you’ve got chicken legs, your 180lbs shredded could be far more impressive vs 180 shredded with big legs.
As to the under estimating the amount needed to go from 10-5%, I’d guess a lot of that is a miss judgement of actual starting body fat. Maybe visceral fat plays a role too.
I’m juiced to the gills in that particular pic. Well, some would call it a smoothie, and not juice. Okay, maybe you’ll find the rare person claiming it is a milkshake, but this is just semantics.
I’m seen guys 5’10/5’11 in contest condition anywhere from 165 - 190. Individual structure and weak points can have a big say as well.
When I started (pic below), I stepped onstage at 170, but my chest and legs were obvious weak points, and my bone structure (look at my wrists) was certainly on the smaller side.
A couple of shows later (pic below)I was 173 at weigh ins, and while my legs look smooth in this pic (awful lighting and somewhat Awful posing), you can see how very pronounced changes only had a 3 lb scale difference.
When I won the Hercules (A year or two later), I weighed in at 176 and finally figured out how to flex my legs -lol (pic below)
And by my final pro show, my weigh in weight was 178.
Something to note though, is that while I like to think I came into a decently thick physique for my naturally smallish frame, I competed against guys who weighed less but looked/were (and I don’t just mean due to conditioning) physically bigger.
Whole lotta factors at work. So while having a rough range can help (I used to look at the heights and weights of pros in the magazines all the time), be flexible:)
Dang even if you have small frame you filled it our nicely! Wouldnt say you have weak chest, it looked thick on the MM pose. Your legs are also proportional.