BMI Question

[meatneck]

Okay,

I tested my body fat at the gym with one of the hose hand held devices. I know they aren't accurate, because depending on how low or how high you hold the device, eye level, shoulder, or stomach level, it changes the body fat %. When I held it to stomach level, it was 10%, and eye level, 11.8 or 12%. Anyhow, that's really not the issue, but everytime I get onto a device that records my bmi, or this device, it always reports back that I'm a lard ass! LOL. My BMI is 25.2-25.5 % (depending on which device). I'm 5' 8 1/2, 168 lbs. I know a normal 5 ' 8 , depending on bone structure is around 135-145, which for me is about accurate. My question to you good bro's is, depending on how much muscle a person has, in my case, i have over 20 lbs of more muscle than a typical 5' 8 has, will that change the bmi and that is why the machines are telling me that I'm a big fatty ? lol. just curious

 

[UA_Iron]

BMI is a joke. Bodybuilders are considered Morbidly Obese using the BMI.

 

[meatneck]

lol..that's what I kinda thought..

 

[Maetenloch]

The problem with BMI is that it makes no distinction between a pound of muscle and a pound of fat. Unfortunately some insurance companies only use BMI when considering your weight, so a bodybuilder is rated the same as a fat couch potato. The military, I believe, uses BMI tables to calculate desired weights, but if you exceed the BMI, you can ask to have your body fat % used instead.

FYI BMI = (weight in lbs)/(height in inches)^2

 

[Snypr]

Okay,

I tested my body fat at the gym with one of the hose hand held devices. I know they aren't accurate, because depending on how low or how high you hold the device, eye level, shoulder, or stomach level, it changes the body fat %. When I held it to stomach level, it was 10%, and eye level, 11.8 or 12%. Anyhow, that's really not the issue, but everytime I get onto a device that records my bmi, or this device, it always reports back that I'm a lard ass! LOL. My BMI is 25.2-25.5 % (depending on which device). I'm 5' 8 1/2, 168 lbs. I know a normal 5 ' 8 , depending on bone structure is around 135-145, which for me is about accurate. My question to you good bro's is, depending on how much muscle a person has, in my case, i have over 20 lbs of more muscle than a typical 5' 8 has, will that change the bmi and that is why the machines are telling me that I'm a big fatty ? lol. just curious

Using the hand-held device(calipers), is the least accurate way to measure BMI. The most accurate way involves going to the doc/sportsmed facility. In the middle is a $40 scale(Tanita makes the one I use) that gives a fairly accurate reading of BMI. Sometimes, I still don't believe the readout, but when I first got it I went to the doc & got a comparable measurement.

 

[LoneTree]

This is the formula for BMI:

(Your weight in Kg): divided by : (Your height in meters) Square

It is useless for you anyway, because it measures obesity wrongly with very muscular people. It does not differentiate between fat weight (which is bad) and muscle weight (which is good). As long as you don't have too much fat on your body, you are not obese. Arnold Schwartznigger probably would come out morbidly obese at his peak by using BMI, which would be obviously wrong.

Trust me. I am an expert.

 

[Snypr]

BMI is an idiotic "measurement tool" that doesn't take nearly enough into account. Body fat composition is the actual percentage of fat in the body, which can be measured accurately using a few different methods.