BMI

rafreedman

As a trainer I find BMI too general - its just meant as a guide not an absolute- I like tracking body fat % & lean muscle mass much better

Packerjohn

It's true, it's a general guide and tracking bodyfat % is better. However, if you're working with general pop clients I bet you don't find a lot of people with an obese or high overweight BMI and a low bodyfat %.

IMO, for most of the population the measures will result in the same classification.

MikePTY

BMI is meant as a general measure. It's purpose is for macro information about groups and populations, not so much for individuals. That being said, it works well on an individual level as well for most people. People who are very fit or very underfit may not match up well with BMI, but for most everyone else, BMI will give them a pretty accurate reading of where they stand with regards to their weight. I find it to be pretty accurate for myself personally.

I also think more often than not, people who dislike BMI as a measure do so because they don't like what it is telling them. BMI may be telling them that they are overweight/obese when they don't feel like they are. But most of the time BMI will be right about that an the person will be wrong.

I don't "feel" 50 pounds overweight, but that's what BMI says, and when I got my bodyfat read by an InBody 570 machine, it said more or less the same thing as well.

TonyB0588

Many people may know how to calculate BMI, but fewer have any idea about Body Fat %. I certainly don't know.

tigrig

For the general population it may give a roundabout point of where they are health wise but bf% is far more accurate. If you lift and have a fair amount of muscle or are very active you might as well throw bmi out the window. BMI says I'm obese and need to weigh in the 170 range, I weigh mid 230s right now and in my profile pic

jseams1234

tigrig wrote: »

For the general population it may give a roundabout point of where they are health wise but bf% is far more accurate. If you lift and have a fair amount of muscle or are very active you might as well throw bmi out the window. BMI says I'm obese and need to weigh in the 170 range, I weigh mid 230s right now and in my profile pic

Have a pic of your torso - including a relaxed side shot? When I was 240 every pic I took was of my shoulders and arms... because I otherwise had the “power belly” look going on. I had to drop 40 pounds to lose it and sport abs. In other words - I was a muscular fatty at 240.

I’m not saying you aren’t a true outlier - but a fuzzy black and white pic of your arm doesn’t really prove much except you like arm day.

Being “overweight” as a bodybuilder is entirely possible and easy enough to achieve while still being relatively lean. Being obese and still lean is reserved for genetic freaks and those who choose to push natural limitations using “supplements”.