Elvish Legion

Well I have been reading some cycling material and other peoples posts and I find my self stareing in shock at what a lot of people are weighing in at. I am 5'9" and 166lbs. I don't get how I could be over weight as I am a lot smaller than my friends of the same height. Is it just a different build muscle? I have a rather thick upper body, but defined (not cut) abs, and pecks(sp).
Elvish

pletcgm

It depends. Do you work out in the gym a lot? Is your upper body muscular? Do you race?

I am 5'6 and weigh 164. I am a size 31. Ya, if I didn't workout, I would be overweight. I am still classified as overweight by the BMI scale. I want a balance of muscle and speed. I don't want to be a bean pole like pro racers are. I definitely want muscle volume in my upper body!

aadhils

Check you BMI (Body Mass Index). To do that...Multiply your weight in pounds by 705.
Divide that number by your height in inches, and then divide it again by your height in inches.

So that means for 5 feet 9 inches or 69 inches:

705 X 166 = 117,030

117,030 Divided by 69 = 1696

1696 Divided by 69 = 24.6

Scientists at the National Institutes of health have determined that a BMI under 18.5 is considered very low risk for heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure, 18.5 to 24.9 is low risk, 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight and high risk, and 30 or above is considered obese and very high risk.

(I got this info from the book 'The Lance Armstrong Performance Program' pg. 123).

Elvish Legion

I don't work out at the gym much anymore, I used to be really into martial arts and stuff. Maybe thats the reason, but I have a fairly muscluar upper body (like I said you can see the abs but they aren't all the way to a full blown 6 pack yet ) I know I have a couple of extra pounds of fat laying on me but it happens.

Elvish

ed073

BMI is outdated and not applicable to athletes/trained individuals.

How is your training load?
Are you riding more than about 20 hours per week?
Does your weight fluctuate?
Have you had your diet looked at by a dietician/coach?
DO you race? Are your performances below your expectations?

Elvish Legion

Pretty good
Right about 20
No
My uncle wrote me up one that I follow, he is a personal trainner...does that count?
No, Not really, sometimes I fell I could have ran the course I selected at a faster tempo...but wasn't sure at the start.

Elvish

eelozano

If you don't feel unhealthy (and you're not obese) then I think you're fine.

Then again....I'm fat

ed073

In my e-expert opinion, I would say definitely "no" to overweight...

Elite cyclists are seriously underweight in comparison to the general public.

ajay677

As Ed073 said above, the BMI scale does not take into consideration people who are trained athletes. Fro example a male bodybuiler who weighs 210 lbs is 6 feet tall and has 8% bodyfat is considered overweight by the BMI scale. (BMI 28.55)

Guest

Just go to a gym and get a bodyfat comp test. That'll tell you exactly what's going on with your weight.

Koffee

H23

BMI is a very useful indicator that is applicable to the vast majority of the general public. With notable exceptions, cyclists and runners are typically in the normal BMI range.

The only way the OP can definitively answer his "am I fat?" question is by actually measuring his body fat percentage-- a decidedly more involved procedure than a simple height/weight/gender calculation.

Guest

BMI is a crock. It's supposed to be a standard to measure how fit you are, but the problem is, the fitter you are, the more it's off by, which is insane.

If you lift weights, and you tend to carry more muscle than what the BMI states to be the "average", you are screwed. That's part of the reason why some insurance companies are created especially for athletes. If these athletes tried to get insurance through a regular insurance company, a BMI would put them at obese, whereas an insurance company that caters to athletes and athletic types will use other more realistic measurements to determine fitness (such as water displacement and skinfold tests).

Koffee

H23

The intent behind BMI is to give some rough idea of whether or not someone is at an approximately proper weight for their height and sex. For this to work in the absence of more elaborate measurements, it simply must exclude a very small population of people with low body fat percentage and a lot of muscle. Furthermore, people for whom BMI is not valid probably already know this and don't need to asses whether or not they are overweight.

Since not everyone has access to skin fold tests and tanks of water with scales-- what other basis can one use besides height and weight?

I see your point about insurance companies inproperly using BMI, who does that, BTW?

Guest

Anyone living near a Bally Total Fitness or any fitness club, for that matter, has access to a skinfold test. You are very right to say that underwater weighing is pretty inaccessible to the general population, but for the majority of people living in the USA, they can find a fitness club in the area. If you belong to a club, they can do it for you, and if you don't, you can pay a little extra for the test.

Regardless, the more muscle you have (regardless of the amount of fat on your body), the more off the BMI will be. That is pretty much accepted, which is why people with athletic body proportions usually have to go through different standards for stuff like insurance policies.

All those insurance companies (at least, the ones I know of) that use the "get on a scale, now how tall are you) measurements can easily incorporate a skinfold test into their assessments. It is not rocket science to learn how to do a skinfold test. Better yet, if they did the skinfold test, checked weight, and asked for your fitness regime, they would get a BETTER understanding of just how fit you are. Insurance companies don't want to do that, though, because if they did, they know they'd have to include more people into their highest premium group, which costs less for the consumer, and that wouldn't work for their bottom line.

Koffee

williszd

Proof that BMI is chalk full of lies. I am 6'2" and 190. My BMI is 24.5 and I am the most out of shape person around. I barely even ride these days. Worhtless! You can judge your condition, by your goals. How fit fo you want to be? What kind of fit do you want to be? If your riding your bike about 20 hours per week your in good shape. If you want to slim down just adjust what kind of work out you're doing.

msparks

Your on crack.

I just went to this site and typed in my numbers.

162 and 5'11" my BMI is 23.

If I put in 145lbs it would still be a BMI of 20. I would have to get down to 132 to make it 18. That would anorexic in my book.

I would like to loose about 10 lbs, just so I can climb faster. But not 132. That would be crazy.

JavaMan

All you need is a tape measure -

Measure your waist at belly button level.
Measure your hips at the widest point.
Divide waist measurement by hip measurement.
A ratio above 0.9 in men and 0.8 in women means you are too fat.

Dewbert

Even easier method....ask your sister--if you have one--if you don't you can borrow mine. If your sister is like mine, she'll look at you say "well, yah, you're overweight!" Then you know for sure! <g>

jrennie

never heard of this method, where does it come from?

SimpleCycle

Actually, below 18.5 is UNDERWEIGHT, and there hasn't been much research done on the effects of being underweight, because it is such a small proportion of the population. But there is some evidence that underweight people are slightly more likely to die prematurely. I read this in an article in Scientific American this past month, but I can't find the link right now.

JavaMan

It's in the book "The Maffetone Method" by Dr. Philip Maffetone, and actually I misquoted it. What it says is that if your ratio is higher than the number given, it "may indicate that a significant proportion of body fat comes from excess carbohydrates in the diet, especially the refined type found in bagels and all sugar (especially sugar hidden in foods)."

operator

Well I can tell you that people who are slightly overweight are more likely to die prematurely as well.