I think we are speaking past each other due to definitions. I wouldn’t think “lean” is the same as “super low body fat”. I assumed the lean we were talking about was maybe 10-13%. Whereas super low would likely be in the sub-8%.
Maybe, but 13% is still well under what I would suspect is the bar for being correlated with negative health outcomes. Most sources seem to suggest that 18-20% is still a healthy level.
It should, but you can't expect to be as lean aged 45 as you were aged 20. And if you manage it anyway, you'll probably find (as - in my view - Johnson shows) that you look weird, in a way that you wouldn't have done when you were 20.
Regarding how much, I did say "a bit more". I'm not suggesting he should be watching My 600 lb Life for inspiration. 15% body fat, say? Maybe a bit less? Maybe a bit more? I dunno. He can afford his own dietician. I'm just going by my eyes here. He is lean, but in my view it just doesn't look very good on him.
(EDIT: this did prompt me to update my other post. TRT takers often exhibit a similar phenomenon: they've got the muscles and leanness of somebody rather younger, but the overall effect still just looks... kind of odd.)
Had to click through and look, he looks great IMO. There are people who look odd at a sub 15% bf at any age but he isn’t one, to my eye. He does have a bit of the TRT look but not extreme.
Edit after actually reading: the article is a compelling analysis & critique. While I think he looks good physique-wise, even bodybuilders would say it’s grueling & suboptimal for health & performance to stay very lean all the time. I thought he looked lean but not to that point where the body rebels; the markers seem to say otherwise