How does a Strength Athlete know when he is 'overweight' ?

milsy said:Bmi is complete bo***cks I dowt you will have to worry about any of this I'm 5'8 ish and weigh between 105 -108 depending on what stage I am leading Upto comp

Are you eating to gain weight ( look bigger in appearance)

Or are you doing it to give your body all it needs to recover and repair and gain weight by default

If I was you I would just eat and lift see where you end up in regards to weight class then drop fat and get intolightest class you want don't let weight gain be about your ego its about gaining strength

streak said:It's a totally subjective thing. It depends on your goals. Personally, if I gain weight too fast I get a big gut, which I hate. Some guys don't mind getting fat so long as their strength is booming. Do what makes you content in your own mind.

Steve said:
Whether a person is happy being fat or not might be subjective, but how can the amount of fat which is bad for your health be subjective?

terryhollands said:either get your BF measured or as earlier mentioned the simplest way is to look in the mirror! Waist measurements are useless too as you have to take someones bone structure into account.

Every person should be looked at as an individual not by reading charts

ranathari said:People need to stop knocking BMI. It's a tool based on population averages, which is why it doesn't work for people who lift weights properly. However, those people are a proper minority and BMI holds true for the majority.

Saying BMI is worthless because it doesn't work for muscular men is like saying tampons are worthless because they don't work for men. It just reveals your ignorance about the underlying science/medicine and your inability to appreciate that you're not 'normal' by the standard of medical statistics.

terryhollands said:either get your BF measured or as earlier mentioned the simplest way is to look in the mirror! Waist measurements are useless too as you have to take someones bone structure into account.

Every person should be looked at as an individual not by reading charts

milsy said:
I have a lot of friends who do not train and some have high bmi but very low bodyfat due to there body composition I also know afew girls who have above normal body fat yet they are spot on when it comes into it I understand it can be a ruff guide for the average Joe but how can it be accurate when it doesn't take into account muscle and bone density

ranathari said:
Averages. BMI is valid when you're using it for millions of people at once, not the 10% who fall outside the normal distribution. That's why slagging it off based on "oh it doesn't work for me or for my mates" is wrong.

ranathari said:
Averages. BMI is valid when you're using it for millions of people at once, not the 10% who fall outside the normal distribution. That's why slagging it off based on "oh it doesn't work for me or for my mates" is wrong.

Steve said:I wonder if being very heavy (overweight) is good for your health even if very little of the extra weight is fat.

Won't being say five, maybe even 10 stone over a normal weight (even if that weight is all muscle) subject your whole body to a far greater stress?

I guess strongman is too young a sport to tell, but looking at say weightlifting, shotput ... do the really big guys have more health problems in later life?

Olli1990 said:
What's average about strength athletes though? Its a thread about strength athletes not the average person been overweight

Steve said:
Even for average people there are now many experts who believe hip to waist ratio is a far more useful measure of CV risk than BMI.