What is Your BMI and How Does It Figure in to Your Body Building?
To make optimum gains in body building, it is important you include a scientific and accurate approach to the process. Individuals can rely on the body mass index or BMI to determine how much you need to improve in your program. You will find that knowing the exact digits will lead to faster progress and enhanced muscle mass. Discover which category you belong in, then make the needed changes.
What is BMI?
Body mass index, BMI or Quetelet index is a form of statistical measurement that determines whether an individual’s weight is proportionate to his or her height. BMI was created by Adolphe Quetelet, a Belgian polymath between 1830 and 1850 as he was developing social physics.
The percentage of body fat is not measured, but a person can estimate how much body weight is ideal for each particular height. It is commonly used as a diagnostic technique to determine levels of obesity in a given population, because it is very easy to use. It is not, however, used as a final tool to diagnose individuals of obesity.
Your body mass index is your actual body weight divided by the square of your height. The universal unit of measure is kg/m2. Health professionals were able to measure if a person is too thin or too fat more objectively during the 1950s and 1960s. One of the main purposes of BMI is to determine how sedentary people are based on their average body composition.
The value settings for individuals are: 18.5 to 25 BMI can mean ideal or optimal weight; below 18.5 can mean underweight and above 25 can mean overweight. If a person has a BMI lower than 17.5, it can mean that anorexia or other eating disorders are present. If a person has a BMI higher than 30, it can mean that obesity or morbid obesity is present.
The Categories
Knowing your BMI will identify and compare your actual body weight from the desirable or normal values proportionate to your height. Excess weight or lack of it usually stems from abnormal body fat or adipose tissue levels. Muscularity may alter or present inaccurate values since muscle is heavy. The BMI values apply as statistical categories only when used among adults. These do not determine whether a person is healthy or not.
Severely underweight individuals are described as having a BMI lower than 16.5 and a BMI Prime below 0.60. Underweight individuals have a BMI of 16.5 to 18.5 and a BMI Prime of 0.6 to 0.74. Individuals with normal weights have a BMI of 18.5 to 25 and a BMI Prime of 0.74 to 1.0. Overweight individuals have a BMI of 25 to 30 and a BMI Prime of 1.0 to 1.2.
Persons classified under Obese Class I have a BMI of 30 to 35 and a BMI Prime of 1.2 to 1.4 Those classified under Obese Class II have a BMI of 35 to 40 and a BMI Prime of 1.4 to 1.6. Those in Obese Class III have a BMI higher than 40 and a BMI Prime above 1.6.
According to a U.S. national survey, 59% of all men and 49% of all women in America are categorized as overweight or have a BMI above 25. 2% of men and 4% of women were classified as extremely obese. Children use BMI differently. The calculation is similar as the adults, but values are compared to typical ones in children belonging to the same age and gender group.
What It Means to the Body Builder
Knowing your BMI will help identify whether or not you need to lose more body fat or gain more muscle mass. In some cases, body builders may find that they fall in the overweight or even obese category because their weights are described as too heavy for their heights.
There are body builders with only 4% to 8% body fat but weight over 200 pounds on a less than 6-foot frame. Natural body builders will find BMI values ideal in zoning in on the proper training program that will lead to their ideal fitness level and physique.
In most cases, the categories and values provided in the BMI index are appropriate for body builders in the beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. Beginners will benefit the most since they can determine how near or far they are from the ideal value based on the numbers. Each point will indicate how close you are to your goal. You may add other measuring tools and methods such as callipers and water measurements to get accurate details about your body fat percentage and muscle mass composition.
