BMI is B.S. - Exercise & Fitness Message Board

ckritcoad · 01-07-2003, 02:06 PM

Has anyone been in the doctors office and seen the BMI charts in there. Meaning Body Mass Index. It is a chart that you find your height, then it tells you what your weight should be. Anyway, I am 25yo, 5'9" 190, very athletic and workout all the time. This chart says that I am 25 pounds over weight. It says I should be 165 pounds. I haven't weighed 165 since my sophmore year of highschool. It says I am obese and that I am at serious risk of heart disease.
I see these charts everywhere on the net and at the doctor's. You would think they would trash those things by now. Anyone else have a doctor or FORMER doctor who lived by those charts.

H8CC · 01-07-2003, 04:16 PM

for a good majority of the population they work well. For an athlete they really arent relevent at all.

H8CC

zooropa · 01-07-2003, 07:53 PM

BMI doesnt take into account your muscle mass...therefore u should go by body fat percentage instead as an indicator of how much fat u would like to lose.

zooropa · 01-07-2003, 07:53 PM

BMI doesnt take into account your muscle mass...therefore u should go by body fat percentage instead as an indicator of how much fat u would like to lose.

Eri©TheViking · 01-08-2003, 09:53 AM

These bug me too. BMI was designed by skinny guys at insurance companies. By their logic, most NFL running backs are way "obese." Last time I checked, guys like Edgerrin James and Michael Bennett are pretty lean and ripped. But like the posts above say, it ignores lean tissue. Body fat measures and the mirror will tell you everything you need to know. Charts like that are based on huge generalities.