Sorry, I really have a grievance with this.

[Brent D.]

Body Mass Index…Bull Sh-t!

Can someone please attempt to explain the rational (lack of), behind the formula for Body Mass Index? This is another, one size fits all formula destined to fatten up the ignorant like never before!

I have a new male client that is 5’11” and weighs 168lbs. Last week his body fat percentage was 23%. Because of his height/weight ratio, his Body Mass Index is 23 which is considered “ok or good”. Since when is 23% body fat OK for a man? He is very de-conditioned and over-fat for his weight!

After explaining to him the importance of body composition he went into a pontification on BMI. He knows his BMI and thinks he is OK.

You should see how flabby this poor human marshmellow is!

I weigh 200lbs at 6’0” which places me in an overweight, almost obese BMI of 27. This is a complete joke as my body fat percentage is at 7%. I had no idea any one could suffer from muscular obesity!

When will our medical community start using body composition as one of the benchmarks to determine overall health?

Because of the way this pseudo measurement places an ignorant value on body weight, the average overweight knucklehead will assume that getting down to a lower body weight is all they have to do to be healthy.

“Lets see now, all I have to do is to starve myself between those super-sized, greasy, gut rotting meals at Mickey D’s and I’ll be ok.”

“Oh yes, and I remember hearing that muscle weighs more than fat so I don’t want to put on too much muscle.”

See what’s wrong with the picture here?

This site has a BMI calculator:

http://nhlbisupport.com/bmi/bmicalc.htm

Just for laughs, post your BMI and your body fat percentages! I bet the incidence of muscular obesity is very high on this board.

Brent D.

 

[xcelbeyond]

I still have another good 10# of muscle to regain from prior to my last contest. At my current weight my BMI is 29.4!! My BF is between 7 and 8%

xcel

 

[DIEZEL666]

Brent, I totally agree with you. I get more upset at this everyday. When I was in the Navy, it was a constant fight over weight even though I held the best PT score on the base, was SPECWAR qualified, and a SAR swimmer. Now that I'm out, I have tried getting on at several fire Depts and have run into the same problem.

 

[homonunculus]

BMI

Brent,

BMI is without a doubt a shitty (if even that) estimation of body composition. It really is meant as an index that is predictive of risk factors for heart disease, obesity (yep), diabetes, etc. This is supported by reams and reams of epidemiological scientic data.

BMI, instead of, say, a caliper estimation, was used b/c these studies were intended to follow thousands of people. BMI can be done anywhere w/o special training and even calculated retrospectively from standard medical info. (height and weight).

It is a measure with stastical power when applied to the general population. You, me, and probably everyone on this board are what you might call outliers in that general population - we're quite different from the average. We have much more muscle that the average person. In the U.S. especially, higher weights (higher BMI's) means more fat - generally speaking. The correlation between BMI and any estimate of % BF is quite far from 1.0. As I said, it is not a predictor of body *composition*, but rather of health risk. IT is an index that should be applied with a broad brush by anyone who understands it. If someone tells you you have a high risk of a heart attack b/c you have a BMI of 32 (when you're 220 and 7% BF), ask them to clarify the biological reasons for this. Only one I can think of is that the heart has to pump blood to the new muscle, a much better situation than what comes with 30lb of fat, elevated blood sedentary lifestyle, etc. of the average american with an equivalent BMI.

-Randy

 

[MAXM]

Totally agree with ya Brent!

Each year at work they have a nurse or whatever come in and figure everyones BMI! they use the machine you stand on and the impedence measures your fat %. I jumped on there weighting about 230lb and around 14% bf, Well she did her little measurements and gave me the print out said I was like 30 some % bf. So I argued with her that those machines dont account for muscle and she tried to dance around my question saying that i was very unhealthy and those machines are the best money can buy. Well I decided to stay in the room and watch some of my co workers do this process, And just as I thought, this guy I work with about 6" and 130lbs, smokes like a banchee 15 cups of coffee a day ( huge cups) eats like shit, gets his printout, according to the printout and the nurse he is the posterboy for health! WHAT THE FUCK! I geuss my point is this: why do they send these people around to do this for people when they themselves have no ides what these machines go by or how they work! when some scrawney cancer ridden fuck is the picture of perfect health! blah blah blah... sorry about the rant there but yes Brent it is bullshit!

 

[jawbreakerkid]

apparently I should be dead...lol...my bmi is 36.2!!! I always laughed at this as well. I'm 5'9" 245, right around 13% (full vascularity and outlined abs, no deep grooves). The "average" person has nowhere near the LBM a bodybuilder does, so I could see how this would be applicable for the usage outlined by homonun., but it can be very misleading.

 

[stackdizzy]

Yes its wrong! I don't get upset I just say damn that thing is inaccurate! Its not like I am worried about some mahine that says I am over weight! in fact I kinda like it! Think when they tell you your 70lbs over wieght I think I know isn't it cool!!

 

[stackdizzy]

Yes its wrong! I don't get upset I just say damn that thing is inaccurate! Its not like I am worried about some mahine that says I am over weight! in fact I kinda like it! Think when they tell you your 70lbs over wieght I think I know isn't it cool!!

 

[Brent D.]

The fat fold is too big!

Stackdizzy,

You hit the nail on the head when you said the people who take these measurements don’t have even the slightest clue what they are measuring.

As far as keeping it simple for the ignorant, figuring out Body Mass Index only takes a scale and a tape measure. I guess that the “magic formula” in figuring out health using just these two measurements is way beyond my intellectual grasp!

The funny thing is I could train a chimpanzee to use skin fold calipers. I know that calipers aren’t the most accurate way in determining body composition but they work far more consistently then any bioelectric impedance device.

Calipers will also give a glimpse at real body composition where as BMI does not.

The only reason I can see that the “health care community” (disease care) doesn’t use calipers is, too many people are so fat that no caliper would be able to grab the huge roll around the gut! The fat fold is too BIG and we don’t want to hurt any feelings.

Brent D.

 

[mike man]

According to the BMI

I'm OBESE! A 33, is that high? lol.
Oh yeah, and Brent, you DO have to be politically correct nowadys. Don't want to offend anyone!
YEAH RIGHT! lol.

 

[BigBoyJ]

HAAAAHAAAAA. My bmi is 33 too. I mean come on now, 13% bf isn't ripped, but I don't think I'm obese. I feel so unattractive now. I need a doughnut.

 

[IJ26]

Those things are b.s. I come in at obese and Im around 8%. During one of my college health classes we got a bunch of formulas using height weight as well and I came up as obese on all of them.

 

[massmonster32]

33%
Yeah when I was in the military they always had to bring out the calipers. I think now days alot of people who workout like to think or brag that they are at 3-4% bodyfat which is barely what the body needs to survive at normal conditions anyway.

 

[Brent D.]

BigBoyJ,

I need a doughnut too!

Brent D.

 

[Brent D.]

Its about money...

massmonster32,

Yep, the military is on the cutting edge for our society when it comes to fitness, right behind the world of pro sports.

Still light years behind the average body builder though!

It's all about money and when the insurance companies realize BMI is a completely convoluted way of measuring overall health, things will really change!

Brent D.

 

[PHIL HERNON]

BMI

Mine told me that I was shredded and vascular.

 

[tbonus]

hehe, mine said I am kinda bloated 31.4% holy mother of God! I am obese?

 

[Dad]

Reliable guides for clinicians will state that the BMI is NOT useful for "very muscular" individuals.

Some insurance companies will allow you to submit a more detailed physical exam result with things like bodyfat percentage as measured by skinfold, and cholesterol numbers, etc., to give health evaluations if you don't fit the BMI or height/weight charts.

For bodybuilders the BMI is worthless, as "mass" says nothing about composition, just as "weight" says nothing about composition.

 

[BigBoyJ]

Re: BMI

Mine told me that I was shredded and vascular.

I think that machine must be biased then. Really Phil, what is yours? I don't know what you weigh now, but I bet that thing would say that you and BigKiwi are ready for embalming. I haven't seen any resent pics of you without a shirt, but I can say for sure that BigKiwi is a lardo. You guys really need to consider losing 150 pounds or so. You're both so out of shape. Maybe you guys could recruit Tony Little, or if you're really lucky, maybe Richard Simmons could help you with those unwanted pounds. Just stick with it guys, you can both mold your bodies down to the perfect BMI if you just quit eating and training for a few weeks. I wish you both luck.

Personally, I am going to find the best 145 lb personal trainer money can buy and I'm going to get my bmi down to perfection. I've already started the slim fast shakes and my ephedra free metabolife is in the mail.

 

[gravityfighter]

33.9 guess life insurance is outta the question!funny ...bet the guy makin the decision at the insurance company does'nt have abs