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Weight – why?…
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The only true calculation of accuracy is hydrostatic weighing……..and most people are not going to pay that kind of money…
The BMI calculations are a guideline…..only a guideline. As it was pointed out, they don't take into account a whole bunch of variables.
My reccomendation to my clients…….Go with how your clothes fit and how you feel.
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I agree with all of the above. BMI is just a guideline which is not accurate most of the time. Which is why I recommend using BODY FAT % to determine if it’s muscle or fat. It goes by your measurement proportions of forearm, wrist, waist, hips, plus height and weight.
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Yeah…anthropometric measurements are generally more accurate for determining an excess off body fat %. They can be tricky to get an accurate reading though….To measure progress—the measurments must be done in exactly the same spot as the original measurment.
But~I use this in combination with a multitude of other tools to assess fitness levels.
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Heathalynne, this intrigues me. Why does this calculator only require height and weight for men, but all of those other measurements for women? How does it calculate these things?
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Where did you see those requirements Rune?
These measurments(if Heathalynn and I are talking about the same thing) Use a skin caliper to "pinch" measure the excess in particular areas.
There is a master chart we use as a gauge..
When I measure women—I generally measure differently than men. Only because men tend to gain weight in different areas than us. Especially around the mid section.
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@Runemist – IDK, beats me! Lol! It’s okay, we don’t have to worry about the men. 😉 Although Reenie might be onto something about men gaining in diff areas. It just calculates the proportions from wrist to forearm, then waist to hips. Compared to ht/wt. Then there’s a chart that says athlete, fitness, acceptable, etc.
@Reenie – It’s on the link I posted above. The body fat skin caliper and body fat calculator are pretty much the same thing when it come to measuring fat percentage. I want to pick up a BF caliper or if I find the scale that supposedly zaps and measures body fat.
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I used the same link as what Heathalynne put up- it's way up at the top there! It says I'm "average," at 26.8% body fat.
I find this curious, because I know that if I were to lose the weight I have (I would know, I lost all of it when I was starving for several months, several years ago), my hips go to about 40 inches (I'm currently at 41 inches), and my waist doesn't really change. I put most of my fat pretty evenly through my body, though there is something of a concentration in the thigh region 😉
So, how does this thing account for things like, genetically huge hips, like mine? They aren't really fat, it's all mostly bone! Or, what if you've got gigantic, muscly arms, where the wrists are significantly smaller than your big, sexy forearm muscles?
I'm always curious about this kind of stuff- as I said, I don't generally like to measure and weigh, but I'm curious because I like to know how things work!
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I just needed to jump in this thread with a bit of information because you ladies are singing my song. I find once we set benchmarks for health that have little or nothing to do with actual image, we get more appreciation out of our bodies, become less focused on nitpicking appearance, and find we’re more confident in appearance just because of that focus on health.
The best two indicators of overall health, particularly for active women whose body muscle to fat ratios are inconsistent with the math for BMI and will mislead scales, are resting heart rate in BPM and total body fat percentage.
You can look up what resting heart rate is normal for your age and compare to that by using a stopwatch to count how many beats in 30 sec and doubling it. Take three measurements breathing slowly and evenly in a relaxed state and average those three numbers for a good bench mark. The best way to measure body fat percentage is with a 12 point caliper average. If you look up caliper points, make sure you look up the points for women as they are slightly different from the ones they use on men. If both of those figures are within normal, and your scale or BMI scale says you’re not normal, THROW OUT THE SCALES. If you must judge your progress in that sense, go by how you’re looking in the mirror and in your clothes. And don’t be afraid to directly ask a close mate if they’ve noticed your progress. Particularly if you’ve got male mates like I do, they won’t always come right out and say they’ve noticed your hard work.
Keep track of those two figures, update them regularly, every 3mos or so. In addition to being a helper for self-esteem when the scale has been lying, it’s good info for your doctor to have since their scale won’t give them enough info either. And it shows your dr you really look after yourself more than most do.
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I should clarify that the calipers are specifically designed to not be thrown off by statistically significant deviations from average in bone mass or muscle mass or whatever as water submersions or other math methods can. They all presume certain percentages and ratios of different tissues in your body that might just not be average. Who the heck wants to be average, anyway? We’re all extraordinary just for being able to do pushups. I think that’s a good kind of abnormal!
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Hmmm….I will have to do some measuring and see how I compare….LOL
Sorry guys~~missed the link in that post.
In my mind—the only measurement that I honestly care about it—is the hip/waist ratio as it tells you whether or not you are at a potential higher rate for heart disease.
At the end of the day–we all gain/lose weight differently. I have a client who would be considered class 1 obese…….but she isn't.
She is 6ft 2 to start with. She weighs 280lbs there abouts, but she is damn near rock solid all over. Large bone frame. Very large bones actually.
We bitch about finding a good fit in clothes—-holy hannah~~I feel for her. She is ALL legs…..
Anyway, going a bit off topic. As for these calculators, really—guidelines.
I will see if I can drum up some better resources…..
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This is a really good topic! I love that BMI is being challenged! When it first came up as the new ubiquitous measurement I could not understand why we had traded 5 variables (height, weight, age, gener and body type) for two variables (height and weight) and were acting like we had more or better information! It makes no sense at all!!! My husband is a martial artist who is 6'6" and weighs 210 pounds…. he is extemely slim and muscular but his BMI is "overweight" That is a useless tool! If you have gone up a bra size and are fitting your close a little tighter then you have probably gained some fat. If you are much stronger and have been working out a lot more then you have deffinitely gained muscle! If you feel good and look good and are comfortable with where you are AND you are not continuing to gain then relax, forget you ever heard of BMI and enjoy your new strength and your more voluptuous figure! 🙂
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lol, Can I point out that boobs can also gain size up to (I'm hoping) the age of 25, and then they settle down! It's a hormonal thing. After I stopped taking the birth control pill, I gained 4 cup sizes in 2 years or so, and no other part of me really changed. I had to learn a lot about boobs, and bras, pretty quickly! I actually learned that I was smaller in the band size than what I was wearing.
But I agree, if you're gaining strength that you want, and you fit into all your clothes, and you feel good, then just…feel good! Seriously!
(I should take my own advice :P)
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Ok so my original post to this thread was F the scale, go by how you feel. I stick by that. But I have had body comp tests done before I started pole and after 1year of doing pole. In one year I lost 20 lbs of fat and gained 10lbs of muscle. So my bathroom scale only showed 10lbs of weight loss but I had really lost 20lbs of fat. THAT is why you should never trust a scale. They really do lie. And as for BMI… It’s the single largest load of BS that I have ever come across. The upper range of healthy BMI for me would leave me at 12% body fat (unless I loose muscle). The average body fat % of a swimsuit model is 18%. I hope to never enter a healthy BMI range.
P.S. Your boobs don’t stop growing till your 21(if you are lucky). That’s why good plastic surgeons won’t do breast augmentations on teenagers. So if you’ve gone up a cup size consider yourself lucky.
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although I will admit to getting on the scale daily I really take my measurements and clothes fit into consideration. When i first added Jillian workouts last year my weight didn't budge when I first started doing them, however my clothes were getting loose and those that had seen me over the summer then saw me in Jamaica all commented on my weight loss ( I hadn't lost a pound just inches) I did after that lose 17 lbs and even more inches and went down a size, now when my scale tells me I'm gaining I consult my measurements and as long as they are the same or lower I tell my scale its lying to me 😉 I wear a size 6 (actually 6's are a bit big on me) and am right at 140 at 5'5.
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Cocoa0, I actually said "I hope" because I'm 25, and I want them to stop growing! Buying a bra every 3 months because they've gotten bigger is very expensive…especially when you've passed (and then completely left behind) the DD's.
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