Body Mass Index

[Stephen]

Does anyone have details off the Army's BMI limits?

I can't wait the max and min BMI is for entry.

Thanks.

[Guest]

There was a recent article on the Freeserve website where you just enter your weight and height and it works it out for you. A good BMI is about 20. Anything less is underweight and much over 25 is overweight.

James

[Gary_amsterdam]

There was a recent article on the Freeserve website where you just enter your weight and height and it works it out for you. A good BMI is about 20. Anything less is underweight and much over 25 is overweight.

James

wrong, a good BMI is anywhere between 17 - 22

[AdamR]

AFAIK the Army will take you if its between 18 and 28.

[mr-cooper]

Heres a calculator for it:

http://nhlbisupport.com/bmi/bmi-m.htm

or this one just to see the picture of the happy fat man:

http://www.stuffucanuse.com/BMI.htm

Make sure it's in English for us 'Brits' haha

Enjoy!

Coop

[m-a-s-s-e-y]

what is a body mass index all about? mine was 20.2 was does that mean? cheers

[Stephen]

It's way of calculating the amount of fat in your body.

Muscles are 80% water, or fluid for a better word, a BMI machine which you stand on sends a pulse through your bare feet round your body and 'detects' tissue containing water/fluid and returns it as a percentage, for example, it returns a result of 80%...that means there is 20% of body matter which doesn't contain any water whatsoever and this is deemed as fat.

The calculations are a little less accurate although they are a decent guideline. Your BMI fluctuates every day depending on how much fluid you've drunk, so the advice I was given is to check it once a week at around the same time under same conditions. For example, I check mine every Monday at the gym before I start training, and its always 7pm, 2 hours after I ate my tea. If you checked it after a workout when you've lost body fluid it will be different.

[Stephen]

Just a thought..

The army careers bloke took my height and weight then used a formula to calculate my BMI.

If you've been weight training and running etc. so you were losing fat but gaining muscle, so in effect you're still the same weight just about, this formula can't be accurate?

The scales you stand on which give you a digital readout would surely be more likely to detect the change in body fat and muscle?

[Scooter]

Check this BMI calculator. Does it in Metric and Imperial.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/yourweight/bmi.shtml

[Ploggers]

I'm not convinced by this test. At the fittest I have ever been - passed Army PTI course and AACC within a 6 months period in 1981, my BMI would have been a borderline 27.1.

It doesn't seem to take into account natural muscular bulk.

[Ploggers]

A little research provided this info;

" 1. Body Mass Index (BMI)

BMI is a reliable indicator of total body fat, which is related to the risk of disease and death. The score is valid for both men and women but it does have some limits. The limits are:

It may overestimate body fat in athletes and others who have a muscular build.

It may underestimate body fat in older persons and others who have lost muscle mass. "


So I guess it's unreliable then !!

[jlitt]

right mines 24.5 and I could do with losing about 2kg.
But to get below 22 i'd need to be 63 kg, if I was i'd probably be dead through malnutrition.

[cannon_fodder]

My BMI is something like 27, but i'm neither fat or incredibly muscular... i'm just stocky.

Mat.

[Ploggers]

As William Shakespeare once said; "It's friggin bollocks!"

[mr-cooper]

Ah yes, one of my favourite past times - jumping up and down nude in front of the mirror