Height To Weight Ratio?

mcguiver

Does anyone know what the recommended healthy/average weight would be for a male of 5ft 8 is??

I have a medical in a 8 weeks time and I'd like to figure out what range I should be in !!

Cheers

Goodshape

Not sure of the recommended, but if you know your own there's a diet calculator here that will work out your Body Mass Index (BMI) for you. Use Google to calculate between stone / pounds etc. if need be (search for "10 stone in pounds" or similar).

Personally, I could do with gaining an extra half pound or so

mcguiver

Thanks for that ...I'm bang on 140 lbs...so that gives me a BMI of 21.3... in theory
Normal BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9 .

Hard to know really...

rasherboy

mcguiver wrote:

Thanks for that ...I'm bang on 140 lbs...so that gives me a BMI of 21.3... in theory
Normal BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9 .

Hard to know really...

bmi...i never trust this thing as it dosent know the differences between muscle and fat! id advise getting a body fat test! this should tell you if your under/over weight

nesf

rasherboy wrote:

bmi...i never trust this thing as it dosent know the differences between muscle and fat! id advise getting a body fat test! this should tell you if your under/over weight

Agreed, any proper medical that takes a BMI, also takes a body fat test (can't remember the exact term).

My BMI once put me at obese when a doctor made it out. He looked at me and told me to ignore the result, since it was obivious that while I was a bit overweight at the time, I most definitely wasn't obese as the BMI would state.

The BMI only works if you are of average build for your height and not in heavy weights training. If, like me, you are very broad and have heavy bone structure, then your BMI will be not be representitive of your actual condition.

Good summation of the limitations here: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt/risk.htm#limitations

My BMI atm is 31.4, but to put it in perspective, I have a 36" waist, a 44" chest, a 17" neck, and hardly any fat on anywhere in my body except for my stomach and ass.

rasherboy

bmi says i am over weight! and im anything but overweight! its just i do alot of heavy weights training and it treats fat the same as muscle!

Sangre

nesf wrote:

The BMI only works if you are of average build for your height and not in heavy weights training. If, like me, you are very broad and have heavy bone structure, then your BMI will be not be representitive of your actual condition.

Fat people always say this...

Oh and mcguiver you're weight is pretty much bang on imo.

Sure the best way to tell if you're fat is by looking at yourself.

Pherekydes

Sangre wrote:

Fat people always say this...

It's a fact.

The BMI formula is weight in kilos divided by height in metres squared.

Nothing there about fat or muscle.

|Referee|

nesf wrote:

Agreed, any proper medical that takes a BMI, also takes a body fat test (can't remember the exact term).

My BMI once put me at obese when a doctor made it out. He looked at me and told me to ignore the result, since it was obivious that while I was a bit overweight at the time, I most definitely wasn't obese as the BMI would state.

The BMI only works if you are of average build for your height and not in heavy weights training. If, like me, you are very broad and have heavy bone structure, then your BMI will be not be representitive of your actual condition.

Good summation of the limitations here: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt/risk.htm#limitations

My BMI atm is 31.4, but to put it in perspective, I have a 36" waist, a 44" chest, a 17" neck, and hardly any fat on anywhere in my body except for my stomach and ass.

Do you look like that guy wgo was in Pop idol and then went to fat camp can't remember his name,
think of a sumo wrestler then twice as big?

SparkyLarks

BMI isn't the most reliable in the world.
for me to be not considered overweight by BMI I would have to loose all the fat on my body (15% ish currently)

At the moment I have a BMI of 29.6( almost obese)
I ran 5K in 24:40 last night ( new PB go me) so I'm not really worried

If you want to know If your fat or not either go to the doctor or look in the mirror.

mcguiver

My fear was that I was a bit underweight for my hieght....

Went for a check up yesterday with the doc.... asked his advice. His charts said theres actually a huge range of 8.5 stone up to 12.5 stone is a "healthy weight".

I agree on the BMI, I know bodybuilders who have huge BMI's.

Easygainer

|Referee| wrote:

Do you look like that guy wgo was in Pop idol and then went to fat camp can't remember his name,
think of a sumo wrestler then twice as big?

Lol rick weller - he was 65% bf or something, the same as a pork scratching - he's biologically identical to a pub snack (that joke complements of ricky gervais)

How's this for bollox on that chart -

BMI = 26.8
waist to height ratio = 0.44
% bf = 6.6
lbm = 189.7lbs

I am 6.7 kg overweight?? Hold on, isn't the average bf for a man 18%? Yet it tells me I need to lose 2.5lbs per month?

OK, my actual bf% would be defo above 10%, prob 12% (Good abs, no "fat" unless I sit down on stomach sort of thing). Still below average bf comfortably yet I'm overweight? Isn't that contradictory?

Also it matters not if you tick high or low activity rate for caloric intake! Idiocy!

Capt'n Midnight

Isn't there a way of calculating fat by weighing you in a swiming pool as well as out of it.

DrIndy

BMI doesn't work if you are a body builder - just average person who is either over, under or normal weight.

BMI is a very good universal standard and is excellent to use, however, like everything in medicine, you take it in the context of the overall picture.

Having a high BMI and a lot of muscle is not important.

When BMI's become significant is when you are starting to get over 30 as a result. Then you have to look very closely at the context.

Pherekydes

DrIndy wrote:

BMI is a very good universal standard and is excellent to use, however, like everything in medicine, you take it in the context of the overall picture.

The BMI is a crap universal standard.

If you don't believe me test an obese 10 year old.

Their BMI will be nowhere near 30.

Because we grow in 3 dimensions, the "obese standard" of 30 is only applicable to one particular height.

DrIndy

In children, you instead use a growth centile chart that calibrates height and weight for the average of their age. Then if they are overweight, it clearly comes up.

BMI is only applicable once you have reached your full (average) height.

Pherekydes

DrIndy wrote:

In children, you instead use a growth centile chart that calibrates height and weight for the average of their age. Then if they are overweight, it clearly comes up.

BMI is only applicable once you have reached your full (average) height.

By definition, half of the population will not reach the average height.

The BMI is useless. You'd be better off standing on a body fat scales.

DrIndy

BMI on its own is not helpful, as I said, it must be taken in the context (ie someone who uses weights would have to have that factored in).

However, as a screening tool to use to target people who may need to have their weight discussed, it is very useful.

There is a very strong evidence base for the BMI and that is why it is used in medicine.

But there are very few tests in medicine that are used on their own - it is all in the context of the overall health status of the individual. BMI helps.

4Xcut

Step 1:Eat what your doctor(cos you're going there in eight weeks) advises is a healthy diet

Step 2:Get regular exercise

Result:Whatever weight you are while you are living a healthy lifestyle is your healthy weight(unless you have some sort of extreme metabolism)

nesf

Sangre wrote:

Fat people always say this...

Oh and mcguiver you're weight is pretty much bang on imo.

Sure the best way to tell if you're fat is by looking at yourself.

Yes, but my point was that I while I am overweight and have a bit of a belly, I am nowhere near obese as the BMI would have it. I never said that I was at my perfect weight and was in good shape, just that I wasn't obese

Easygainer

A good rule of thumb to see if you need to drop some weight is if you move your ribs towards your hips - if there's no roll of fat you're ok, if it looks like a sausage counter in superquinn hit the treadmill.