Body Mass Index Calculator
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The Body Mass Index, referred to as the BMI scale, is PURELY an estimation of body fat based percentage, based on an individuals weight compared to their height. The National Institute of Health claims that a healthy BMI ranges from 18.5 to 24.9-percent. Men with a BMI above 27.8-percent and women with a BMI over 27.3-percent are considered overweight to obese. Men with a BMI less than 20.7-percent and women with a BMI below 19.1-percent are considered underweight.
Now I have a ton of criticism when it comes to the BMI. For example my friend Brad is 5-feet, 8-inches tall and 200-pounds. According to the standard BMI calculators he gets a body fat percentage of 30.4 on the BMI scale; which classifies him as obese. Now the BMI has no clue that Brad eats a healthy diet, hits the gym 5 days per week to do a mixture of weight training and cardiovascular activity. It also has no idea that the majority of Brad is made up of lean muscle mass and a very low percentage of body fat.
So if youre calculating your BMI , please keep in mind that the higher percentages may apply to people with a great deal of muscle mass and a low percentage of body fat. It takes the place of a more advanced instrument used to measure body fat known as body fat calipers. These actually measure skin folds (or fat folds) so there is little room for error.
While on one hand I was very skeptical to put a BMI calculator on this site, I believe that my readers are all very intelligent (and likely super-intelligent) folks that know their own bodies far better than anyone else. So if you happen to get a high BMI reading, but you hit the gym regularly, consume a healthy diet and are a considerably active person; chances are the BMIs reading for obese translates to built like a brick house; however if youre aware you need to shed some pounds, are very inactive, have never seen the inside of a gym and eat a poor diet the BMI may be telling you the truth.
To discover your BMI, simply enter your weight in pounds and your height in feet and inches.
