I’m 170cm and 90kg, which puts me in the ‘obese’ category according to BMI. But I can lift twice my body weight, swim regularly with a team, so my cardio is pretty good. Plus, I don’t look obese at all. Is this something to worry about?
Hard to say without a picture. If you’re that weight and muscular, you might be fine. BMI doesn’t account for muscle at all.
BMI isn’t everything. Maybe try checking Body Roundness Index (BRI), your waist size, and body fat percentage to see if you really need to drop some weight.
Waist size and body fat will tell you a lot more than BMI, especially for muscle. Just from asking this, I’d guess you’re a bit overweight, though not necessarily obese. Check your waist size for health risk.
BMI doesn’t work for people with lots of muscle. If it did, even bodybuilders would be labeled as obese, which doesn’t make sense.
Pax said:
BMI doesn’t work for people with lots of muscle. If it did, even bodybuilders would be labeled as obese, which doesn’t make sense.
A funny thing about this forum is how much people believe in BMI without understanding what it actually measures. It’s not the best tool for everyone.
@Zuri
I’d go as far as saying BMI is kind of useless. You might want to find someone who can measure your actual body fat instead.
Honestly, lifting twice your weight can be easier for heavier folks. I’ve seen lots of bigger guys lifting heavy with no issues.
But yeah, you might want to work on dropping a bit of weight.
I’m about the same height and weight and I don’t look overly obese either.
Your BMI is around 31.1. It’s good that you’re active, but if you’re gaining despite all that exercise, maybe look at your eating habits too.
Madden said:
Your BMI is around 31.1. It’s good that you’re active, but if you’re gaining despite all that exercise, maybe look at your eating habits too.
But if it’s mostly muscle, does it still count as a problem? You can definitely see I’ve got a lot of muscle.
Madden said:
@Cameron
If you’re not open to the advice, why ask in the first place?
I’m just trying to understand better, not arguing.
Madden said:
@Cameron
If you’re not open to the advice, why ask in the first place?
I’m just trying to understand better, not arguing.
Actually, BMI isn’t very accurate anyway. It’s just a height-to-weight ratio and doesn’t consider muscle.
But yeah, 90kg at 170cm is a lot if you’re trying to swim well. Swimming might get easier if you lean out a bit. More weight just means more energy to move through the water.
For what it’s worth, I’m 98kg and 183cm, and even though I’m in great shape from tennis, I still feel a bit heavy. I can lift double my weight too, but I think a little weight loss would make a difference.
@Fox
BMI isn’t totally useless; it works for most people. But yeah, it doesn’t cover outliers like people with a ton of muscle.