Thursday, September 22, 2022

By the way, the Body Mass Index is total bullshit.

 It doesn't take into consideration your body shape, your workout regimen, muscle vs. fat, it's just your Weight and Height.

This makes much more sense.

New research suggests that waist-to-hip ratio, and not body mass index is a better measure of healthy weight -- and may predict early death better than BMI.

The researchers urge using the new method to replace BMI, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has called "an inexpensive and easy tool" because that calculation requires only a person's height and weight.

But researchers said the waist-to-hip ratio also is a "quick and easy measurement," calculated by dividing waist circumference by hip circumference.

Their work is being presented this week at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Stockholm.

I've been "overweight" by Army standards since 1997.  That was when I was told that I needed to start working out and build some mass.  So I did.  PFC Ragin' Dave went to the gym and started lifting weights.  As it turns out, my physiology is really, REALLY good at putting on muscle mass.  I went from 172 to 189 in a matter of months.  My waist stayed the same size.  And the Army told me that I was overweight.

Dude, I was maybe 10% body fat.  Maybe.  I was fucking ripped, and I could run with a Mk-19 in my arms and the tripod on my back.

For reference, the Mark 19 Automatic Grenade Launcher weights 77 pounds unloaded.  And I could haul ass with that fucker, get it on the truck, mount it and get it ready to rock and roll without anybody else helping.

Overweight?  Bullshit.  So lets do away with the BMI and other bullshit tests to see if someone is overweight.  

2 comments:

pigpen51 said...

I know what you mean. I was a senior in high school. A football player. I was a half inch under 6 foot. I weighed at my playing weight 210. I was strong as an ox, and could run, lift, and was like you, really in shape. I actually tried to enlist into the Air Force. The recruiter, a woman, told me that I would have to lose 30 pounds.
30 pounds, hell, my skeleton weighed more than that.
I actually had offers to play college football, but things were not right for me to do that. First, I fell in love. Biggest obstacle, of course, but also, I had at least 5-6 major concussions in high school, which still cause me trouble to this day.
We have know for a long time, a man with a apple shape will have more trouble with his health than a man with a more slim or even straight body.

Ragin' Dave said...

One of the kids I mentored in LA was a tae kwon do blackbelt. She went to join the Marines. They told her to lose weight. This kid was rock fucking solid muscle. She couldn't lose weight without losing that muscle. She ended up never enlisting.