BMI Is The Worst Body Fat Measurement

Trying to figure out a good body fat measurement for yourself? Don’t go with BMI.

Every time I see magazines or websites promoting their “find out your BMI” calculator I get annoyed. This is the worst determinant for body fat and the fact that so many fitness businesses post it as a way to get visitors is just yucky!

Haha.. I just used the word yucky, what am I… 6 yrs old and running from boys?

Anyways back to the BMI mess… it stands for Body Mass Indicator and you think it gives a clear idea if you’re “Obese” “Normal” “Below Normal”, but what it really tells you is… NOTHING.

This body fat measurement takes your height and weight and uses these two factors to give you your BMI. Forget the fact that lean body weight (muscle) is more dense than fat… meaning that a 5 lb block of fat will be huge compared to a 5 lb block of muscle!

5 Lbs Of Muscle And 5 Lbs Of Fat

This explains why slim people with great muscle weigh in more than you would expect. I know athletes that have below 14% body fat (very low for a woman) and is still considered obese by her BMI. It’s all because of all the muscle and has nothing to do with the fat… she has none!

What are the best body fat measurement tactics? Calibrators (pinches) work well and most gyms have them which their trainers can do to you to test for body fat by pinching specific areas with fat pinches. The thickness is read, and the average of all locations are used to give your body fat.

The best body fat out of everything is a submersion test. You get in a giant tank and the way your body sinks/floats and your water weight is read to reveal your body fat… this is very accurate but it has to be done at a lab and can cost quite some money (unless you can get in on a study).

But the point is… forget the BMI! It’s pretty much worthless for the active women lifter.