Originally Posted by
CliftonGK1
I don't go by charts, calculations, tables and any other nonsense. I go by what my doctor tells me.
My blood pressure is great. My midday HR is in the low 50s. My respiratory exchage volumes are fantastic. No cholesterol issues. Good fasting blood sugar. Aside from being nearsighted and having arthritic hands, I'm in great shape...
At 6'6", 250 pounds, and over 15% bodyfat. Could I stand to lose a few pounds? Sure. I'm slowly working my way back down to 10% or less, but it's apparently not impacting my health, no matter what the most recent doomsayer health magazines want to tell me about how my 40" waist is going to give me diabetes/cancer/aneurisms/harpooned or whatever.
That has got to be one of the most straight forward and correct statements I have seen on this topic in quite a while. CliftonGK, you are right on.
Now, let me address some of the problems I have with this topic of being "overweight".
A scale only tells you how much gravity pulls on you, that's it. It is not a statement of fitness,
nore should it ever be taken as one. I have several students that, if they just went by a scale, would be classified as over weight or obese (a 5'3" female that weighs 145, for example). She happens to be a track and field athlete and wears a size 1 dress. Call her fat, and she will re-arrange your anatomy for you, no charge.
BMI charts are averages (as others have said), but they are also averages for the general population. They are not accurate when looking at an athletic population (If you ride several times a week, work out, and eat right, or any combination of the above, you are an athlete, and not part of the general population). They just don't apply to people with an active lifestyle. For example. I'm 6' tall, and weigh 235#. According to the BMI charts, I'm obese. 36" waist, 19" calves, 26" quads, 45" chest, 15" biceps, and, last time I went to the Y, FitLinx said I lifted over 18,000#. Obese, my @$$!
When we discuss this topic in class (just covered sports nutrition and exercise physiology), we use %body fat to determine wether or not a person is obese. Adult males with a % body fat higher than 20%, and adult females higher than 30% are the standards we use. This is an objective measurement, that is repeatable and consistent. Resting heart rate, blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol, those are the things that tell you if you are fit (VO2 max and lactate threshold could be in there as well, but those are harder for the average person to test).
Sure, competitive cycling favors the "skinny minnies", but who do they all want to grab the wheel of when its windy on the Tuesday night club ride. Yup, the big guy that can move. Competition is all about the power to weight ratio, who can get the most force to the crank for the longest time wins. Being in shape is about being happy with who you are and being able to do what you want. Personally, I want to be able to still race my grandkids when I'm in my 80's, and win!
D