Pro Performance

The health and fitness world, like many others, is prone to trends with people looking for shortcuts to the “next big thing.”  Unfortunately, very few people take (or even have) the time to investigate things thoroughly.  One catchphrase that has been getting a lot of use lately is Body Mass Index, or BMI.  Many people use the BMI formula to determine where their body composition is within a healthy range.

While people paying attention to their body composition is, of course, a very good thing, BMI, as it turns out, can be frighteningly inaccurate in certain circumstances.  Because BMI is calculated by an equation only containing the variables height and weight, other variables that may affect the results are not considered.  For example, someone with high bone density may have a BMI number that suggests they are overweight even though their body composition may be very healthy indeed.  This can also happen for someone who has a very high amount of lean muscle.  Similarly, someone with abnormally low lean muscle mass can show up in the healthy range, even though the makeup of their body is not that of a healthy person.

There are also other factors of a person’s body composition that need to be considered when measuring his or her overall health and fitness level.  For example, someone whose overall weight is within a normal range may still have an unhealthy or altered body composition.  This could be a high fat-to-lean ratio or they may have body fat that gravitates to specific areas of the body suggesting the presence of a hormonal imbalance.  These factors are not taken into account by the Body Mass Index.

All of this is not to say that the Body Mass Index does not have its uses – for some people, it can be a reasonable tool to obtain a (very) generalized idea of their health.  To get a more accurate and useful picture that can be acted on in a real and targeted way that can yield real results, it is important to get measurements not only of one’s weight, but also accurate measurements of overall body fat percentage and, specifically, where on the body that fat is stored. 

For more information on this, you can visit the Fat Loss And Health Optimization section of our website, or feel free to contact me directly.