Body Mass Index BMI
BMI was introduced in the early 19th century by a Belgian scientist, then a BMI calculator is used to calculate statistics of someone’s health. BMI is an abbreviation of “body mass index”. You can measure body mass index BMI by processing the mass (bodyweight) and height of a person. It helps in reducing health risks.
Having a healthy weight can bring risks to your life. The risk could be in the form of serious diseases. Therefore, BMI performs an important role in an athlete’s life. Every athlete is known by his/ her body mass index.
Having a low BMI and good body shape is proud of most athletes. Nowadays, many websites are providing online BMI calculators. You can easily get your BMI by providing the essentials on any body mass index calculating site.
How to calculate BMI?
BMI can be found by diving the weight (in kilograms) of a person by the square of his/her height (in inches). BMI can also be found by using the BMI chart. 18.5 is most acceptable for athletes. The formula for the measurement of BMI is as follows:
BMI= Weight in kilograms/square of height in inches
BMI ranges:
Body mass index is usually used to categorize someone’s weight or to diagnose his/her fatness. BMI is usually categorized as underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese. The categorization depends upon the mass of tissue(muscle, body fat, bone) of the body and the height of the person. Acceptable BMI ranges by the World Health Organization are:
- underweight ( below 18.5 )
- normal weight (18.5 to 24.9 or 25)
- overweight ( 24.9 or 25 to 30 )
- obese (over 30)
Does BMI work for athletes?
Fitness matters the most to athletes. To some extent, BMI is an important factor to become a good athlete. A good athlete needs low body fat and low body mass index to stay active, efficient, and energetic.
But sometimes after so many workouts, you can be considered overweight or obese, thanks to body mass index. BMI technique is not fair to even good athletes having a healthy weight and muscular body.
BMI is commonly used nowadays to brief the statistical state of someone’s health. It is introduced by the National Institute of Health and the World Health Organization to measure obesity or weightiness. But the body mass index is much far from perfect.
The disadvantage of this hundred of years old concept calculator is that even a good athlete with the best body composition, healthy weight, and height could be considered obese.
Common athletic BMI:
A normal body mass index is at or above 18.5. Most of the athletes have a body mass index from 23 to 27, which is not categorized as obese. BMI calculator doesn’t matter much to athletes, but still many great athletes have perfect or ideal body mass index. THE normal BMI of every human varies with his/her age and body fat.
Is BMI accurate if you are muscular?
A pound of body fat is much larger than a pound of muscle. But muscles are denser than body fat, that’s why muscles weigh less.
Therefore, if you are muscular you would also be categorized as obese. You have prepared your muscular body after so much handwork, but this cruel body mass index BMI calculator will not hesitate to label you as “obese”.
So, as an athlete or good muscular person, do not pay much attention to the BMI calculator as it is too cruel with heavyweight or body mass persons.
Alternatives (measuring body fat)
You can check statistics of your health by measuring your body’s height and weight and then comparing it with ideal athletic height and weight. You need to consider your body composition, genetics, and bone display to know the ideal athletic weight for you. Average sportsmen weight 72.8 kg.
Body fat percentage:
Body fat is also necessary for your body composition. The ideal body fat percentage for men is about 3% and for women is about 12%.
The best way to know your health statistics is to predict your weight percentage and height. Then, gain or lose your body fat to get the desired weight or to reach the optimal range.
Which is the best BMI calculator?
Well, the ideal body weight for some wrestlers is about 300 to 400 pounds. The ideal calculator for is your own eyes. After determining your BMI, look closely at yourself in the mirror and feel how much workout your body height and weight (size) still needs. Your own self can sometimes be proved as the best BMI calculator for you.
Health Risks due to overweight:
But do not ignore the BMI calculator completely as sometimes BMI could be true that you are obese. Take good care of your fitness as obesity can cause serious diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart diseases, stroke, and hypertension.
It can also cause high cholesterol, gall bladder diseases, osteoarthritis, etc. You can overcome this risk by taking care of your fitness and size. You need to work on your weight loss if you are considered obese by the BMI calculator and you also feel that you are obese.