The best metrics are body fat percentage or fat-free mass index.
For what it’s worth, even vaguely muscular people are going to blow apart the BMI scale. I’m 5′10″ and 190lbs at around 13% body fat. My normal weight range according to BMI is 130-173lbs. If I got down to that without losing any muscle mass, I’d be 5% body fat, which is severely underweight. I was completely sedentary before weight training, and I’ve only been training powerlifting for 1.5 years with moderate results (ie, I’m not quite as strong as most high school football players).
even vaguely muscular people are going to blow apart the BMI scale
I disagree, it’s fairly hard for people to get much above BMI of 28 while lean. You are likely underestimating your BF, have you done a bod pod or other immersion test?
I haven’t. I use calipers and visual estimation compared to DEXA confirmed images. Calipers, if taken at face value, report me to be at 8-10% BF which is definitely too low. Visually, I currently look like pictures of guys in the 13-15% range, so I add 5% to the calculated result. Even at 16% BF (the highest estimate I can get), I’d be around 7% BF with a BMI of 24.8. That’s underfat yet very close to overweight.
The best metrics are body fat percentage or fat-free mass index.
Do you have a comparison study which included hip/waist as well as body fat percentage?
I have some doubt that your claim is true because the distribution of the fat seems to be very important eg fat around the hips is far less damaging than fat around the abdomen.
For what it may be worth, I am “vaguely muscular” and my BMI of 23.6 seems about right in terms of assessing my level of overweight.. I do agree that muscularity can foul up the BMI scale but I think it take more than just modest muscularity to do so.
The best metrics are body fat percentage or fat-free mass index.
For what it’s worth, even vaguely muscular people are going to blow apart the BMI scale. I’m 5′10″ and 190lbs at around 13% body fat. My normal weight range according to BMI is 130-173lbs. If I got down to that without losing any muscle mass, I’d be 5% body fat, which is severely underweight. I was completely sedentary before weight training, and I’ve only been training powerlifting for 1.5 years with moderate results (ie, I’m not quite as strong as most high school football players).
I disagree, it’s fairly hard for people to get much above BMI of 28 while lean. You are likely underestimating your BF, have you done a bod pod or other immersion test?
I haven’t. I use calipers and visual estimation compared to DEXA confirmed images. Calipers, if taken at face value, report me to be at 8-10% BF which is definitely too low. Visually, I currently look like pictures of guys in the 13-15% range, so I add 5% to the calculated result. Even at 16% BF (the highest estimate I can get), I’d be around 7% BF with a BMI of 24.8. That’s underfat yet very close to overweight.
Would you mind posting a self-pic?
ah, you sound more than just vaguely muscular then ;)
Do you have a comparison study which included hip/waist as well as body fat percentage?
I have some doubt that your claim is true because the distribution of the fat seems to be very important eg fat around the hips is far less damaging than fat around the abdomen.
For what it may be worth, I am “vaguely muscular” and my BMI of 23.6 seems about right in terms of assessing my level of overweight.. I do agree that muscularity can foul up the BMI scale but I think it take more than just modest muscularity to do so.