Because I have seen little dudes with terrible genes get comparatively big and ripped, meaning that they didn’t grow to 6’5” and 250, but they did maximize their own size and sport very little body fat.

So I’m not sure if your argument is an excuse for why you couldn’t achieve “big and ripped” but just about everyone can get down to minimal body fat and build noticeable muscle bulk for their size.

By the way, I think I have the ultimate experience to prove/disprove this idea. When you are in the deployed environment on a small base with nothing better to do except work out in your free time, you see what everyone does on a day-to-day basis from an exercise and diet standpoint. You learn that it actually has very little to do with genetics and very much to do with people’s habits. Everybody that gains weight gains it for a reason. Everybody that loses it loses it for a reason. Everybody that gets ripped and huge gets that way for a reason. I saw what people ate at chow hall, what they snacked on from packages in the mail, when they worked out and when they didn’t. There were zero exceptions. Maybe some people have some genetic gifts that make them look a little bit better and they achieve gains a little bit easier, but by and large habits determine body composition.