[Closed] BMI targets.

Safe?

They are completely pants actually. Chris Hoy apparently has a BMI of 27.

Ton.

How was your BMI measured ?.

After reading posts by TSY, I was under the impression its not so easy to get an accurate reading.

Discuss those weight targets with your GP.
Sound him out about how realistic those figures are.

If you're even vaguely muscular then BMI is useless.

the nurse in the cardiac ward weighed me and worked it out.

[i]the nurse in the cardiac ward weighed me and worked it out.[/i]

Its quite a crude measurement.

Heres an idea.

Rather than focus on the numerical value the nurse generates.
Use the readings / results to track that your BMI is heading in the correct direction.

Whatever the accuracy, you can see that you've reduced your BMI.
So you're doing some good work.
😉

well 15 stone is never going to be life threatening! surely the aim is "keep going til not fat" though? certainly "safe" if you do so steadily.

BMI is pretty unreliable, especially in folk doing lots of exercise and carrying plenty of muscle, but I wouldn't have thought it was so unreliable as to render 36 an OK score. Well done for progress so far though.

Try combining BMI with some other markers - waist measurement, body fat percentage etc. It may give you a better picture of how you're doing and what a realistic target is.

I'm the fittest I've been for yonks, and my BMI is only just nudging out of the overweight category. And I'm quite a small guy. I put a lot more store in getting my waist size down by about four inches.

Depends, It's a good if slightly simplistic measure for the average person.

The problem is that this method makes no differentiation between muscle and fat so the real anomalies; Jonah Lomu, Chris Hoy etc tend to be athletes that partake at a high level in sports requiring a very dense musculature. Heavily muscled fella's will knock the results out of whack very quickly.

I seem to remember that you used to play rugby at a decent level. If you've kept some of the muscle from your playing days then you might need to take that into account when setting your targets.

BMI targets are aimed at people who basically do no exercise. If you built up even a moderate amount of muscle by cycling, or basically any form of exertion, you will never hit your BMI.

[i]well 15 stone is never going to be life threatening! surely the aim is "keep going til not fat" though? certainly "safe" if you do so steadily[/i]

Not sure if you realise this, but.
Ton is quite tall, so while 15 stone for me ( 6' 1" ) would be a disaster.
For tall folk, its probably approaching a leaner state.

I don't think BMI is realistic, i'm 5'10", yet am 109kg giving me a BMI of around 33, making me obese in their terms. Never stopped me playing international rugby! Though since i've stopped playing more of it may be pie related..

BMI might not be realistic for "edge" cases, but for most of us mere mortals it's probably a reasonable way to measure yourself. I reckon Solo has the right idea - use it as a check on progress, if it's going down you're heading in the right direction. Or you've started growing again 🙂

I think there's a lot of people kidding themselves that they're 'muscular' and therefore BMI doesn't apply.

Lance Armstrong was considdered overly muscular for a cyclist and had an average BMI.

Chris Hoy I seem to rememebr reading was 26 at the olympics, and could leg press 550kg.

So if you're leg pressing an Austin Mini and measure gear inches in three figures and power output in four, then yes, you're allowed to be slightly over a BMI of 25 😛

My targets 23 as my body fat scales (boos and hisses) say I'll run out of fat (under 10%) at that point.

BMI is just a guide. Body fat measurement is better. But it needs to be done correctly, not on some Boots scales with inductive circuits. They get confused with fluid in the body.

Everyone needs to eat fat and have a store of body fat. It's what a health body needs to function.

Ton, use BMI as a tracking device by all means, your weight or more importantly your size would be a better tracker, you will see a regular change rather than smaller incremental changes the lighter you get with BMI.

The anomolies such as SIr Chris Hoy and Jonah Lomu, BMI of 33 when he ran over Rory Underwood / England, are just freaks of nature and are working their bodies far and above anything that "normal" folks do.

I think there's a lot of people kidding themselves that they're 'muscular' and therefore BMI doesn't apply.

Seems to me that (for most blokes anyway) we put on belly fat first and lose it last. So a simple rule of thumb might be: if you can't see your abs, you have more fat on you than you need.

As others have said - use BMI as a guide. Body fat % is better.

You will almost certainly have a higher amount of muscle than some - but 15 - 17 stone sounds like a reasonable number to aim at?

High end of "normal" on bmi would be a good place to be. Its where I am and I am deffo still a stone overweight or more with a BMI of 26 - and very powerful legs compared tot he majority

BMI was invented for measuring groups and population trends, not individuals.

Pitt, Stalone, Cruise, and Arnold were all "obese" in their prime so I guess it depends if you have the physique of a Hollywood star or not! Sounds more serious from your username and visiting a cardio ward so well done for dropping it so far - you're clearly doing something right. I favour the other rule of thumb which doesn't require a calculator: If you can "pinch an inch" or more round your midriff, it may be time to put down the pies, mtfu and ride more.

I think there's a lot of people kidding themselves that they're 'muscular' and therefore BMI doesn't apply.

Exactly. Chris Hoy has two legs that probably contain more muscle than the whole of my body, and yet he has a near-normal BMI, then 99% of 'normal' build people should be aiming for a normal BMI, or at least +/- 2 units.

BMI and the WHO range for normal or overweight do seem a bit flawed so should really be taken as a guide in conjunction with fitness, waist size, fat percentage etc. I know for a fact that I am very skinny at the top of my normal BMI range and don't really want to go down to that weight again so with a bit of searching I found the below amended ranges that seem a bit more realistic, I'm aware that sounds like the "My scales are more accurate because I'm lighter" mentality 😉 The ideal weight calculator linked below is also worth looking at which may stop you worrying or give you a kick up the arse.

underweight < 20.7
in normal range 20.7 - 26.4
marginally overweight 26.4 - 27.8
overweight 27.8 - 31.1
very overweight or obese > 31.1

http://www.halls.md/body-mass-index/bmirefs.htm

http://www.halls.md/ideal-weight/body.htm

His belly looks quite big, actually;

[img] [/img]

(that is 631kg, though)

BMI is rubbish. Take a stopwatch, stand in front of the mirror, jiggle a bit, stop and start the stopwatch. How long it takes you to stop jiggling is the true test.

But what length of jiggle is desirable? 😮

I'm aiming for single figures by July.

I cycle weekly and have an active job. I'm 75kg/5'10" and that puts me right at the top of the healthy band. any heavier and I start to get a bit flabby 🙂

Take a stopwatch, stand in front of the mirror, jiggle a bit, stop and start the stopwatch. How long it takes you to stop jiggling is the true test.

Who did you play for scud?
I'm 6ft and 15 stone is not only perfectly achievable for me, it's a goal!
I'm 14 1/2 at the moment and heading in the right direction due to lots of training ( including a fair amount of CV) and a healthy diet with lots of protein.
BMI is a poor and simplistic indicator, as others have said take some measurements and monitor. It's pretty poor that the nurse doesn't know better than to set you unrealistic goals. Get down the boxing gym, they'll sort you out.