I’m a Body Mass Index Victim

June 20th, 2006

Well it had to be done. Once I’d seen the body mass index chart lying on a desk at the gym, I just had to have a look at it.

I’m pretty fit, I thought, I’m sure I’ll be in the “normal healthy range”.

Oh dear!

I’m about 5′10″ so with trembling hands I followed the line on the graph for my weight. Past the normal range and into the dreaded overweight part of the graph!

I weigh 85kg so as I had crossed into the overweight section at 80Kgs, this meant that I was 5 kilos overweight! Not five pounds - 5 kilos, which is about 12 pounds!

I tracked down a senior gym instructor and had a chat with him about it. Don’t worry, he said. Someone who is in the ideal BMI range is going to be pretty skinny - probably with the physique of a long distance runner.

As I do a lot of swimming and muscles are heavy components of the body, I am very unlikely to be in the ideal BMI range.

Phew, but I reckon that not all of those 12 pounds are muscles, so if I see a meter lying around that measures percentage body fat, I’ll probably leave that well alone!

Entry Filed under: Fitness