Braxton Gilbert Fitness

BMI is one of the most commonly discussed measurements of health, but for many people, they find this to be a confusing and inaccurate system. When discussing the topic of good health, there are many factors that need to be taken into account in order to get a good overall picture of your current health and wellbeing. Here we’re going to share with you how to measure your BMI and what the best tools are for measuring good health.

What Does BMI Measure?

Body Mass Index (BMI) calculation takes your weight in kilograms and then divides it by your height in meters. BMI is used to measure your body fat and can help to indicate whether someone is overweight or underweight. However, many people we work with at Braxton Gilbert Fitness Mobile believe that it’s an indication of their overall health. This is not the case at all, as these measurements don’t take into account anything other than your height and weight. While it can be a useful tool, it must be used with caution, and your personal body shape will alter the results dramatically.

How Accurate is a BMI Measurement?

One of the most common criticisms of BMI is that it fails to take into account an individual’s fitness levels, muscle mass, and body fat percentage. BMI groups individuals into categories, stating they are obese or underweight based on their score. It doesn’t give you a full picture of what’s going on inside your body. BMI has been used around the world by medical professionals for many years, but today it’s often considered to be an outdated method of judging someone’s health. BMI fails to take into account other information about your personal life and health. It doesn’t look at your heart rate, blood pressure, and other critical readings, which would give you a better picture of your health.

BMI uses the same calculations for both men and women, and we all know that both genders have very different body shapes. Our team of Mobile fitness trainers often see clients who are worried about their BMI, and we always encourage them to take a step back and look at the bigger picture instead of just fixating on this number. Especially for anyone who is considering Mobile fitness trainers to increase their muscle mass, you’ll find BMI won’t take muscle into account in the measurements, so you may want to look at measuring your body using a different system.

How Does BMI Correlate to Weight Loss, Good Health, or Other Fitness Standards?

BMI can be a good tool for anyone looking to lose weight, however, you won’t find it offers much more than weighing yourself would do. While you may find that you can set a weight loss goal based on the recommended BMI for your height, you’ll want to consider if the weight that’s recommended would really be healthy for your body size and height. For example, shorter men and women may find their recommended weight to be dangerously low using BMI, and these individuals often read as ‘obese’ on the scale if they are particularly muscly from working with various types of fitness instructors.

What SHOULD I use to measure good health?

BMI is most often used alongside weight as a measurement of health, but we also recommend looking at your blood pressure, heart rate, blood sugar levels, body fat percentage, and cholesterol levels to get a better picture of your overall health. BMI is not relevant to all individuals, and it often leads to a late diagnosis within some parts of the population. We encourage anyone to take a balanced approach when comparing various health and fitness standards and measure yourself using a good selection of tools to get an accurate picture of your overall health.

If you are just starting to train with our team at Gilbert Fitness, they can work with you to ascertain the measurements that would be best for you to track on your fitness journey. Instead of fixating on weight, we encourage individuals also to track their waist circumference, which can be useful for minimizing your risk of sleep apnea and heart disease. Blood pressure is something you can easily measure at home or in your doctor’s office and is worth monitoring throughout your life to avoid complications later on. On top of these measurements of health, we also encourage people to track their food and water consumption daily, which can our team of personal trainers in Mobile, AL can help with, to get a better idea of how well you take care of your health currently.

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How Do I Know If I Am in Good Health?

Knowing you are in good health is something we are all concerned about today. Good health may look different for everyone, depending on their age and any underlying health conditions they may have. On top of that, these indicators will vary for men and women. Generally, if you are in good health, you’ll find you have good energy levels every day and feel well-rested every morning when you wake up. When you walk or exercise, you won’t feel exhausted or out of breath and will find you can carry out your daily activities with ease.

As well as feeling healthy, you’ll also be able to judge your health from your appearance, including how your skin, nails, and hair look. As well as physical health, pay attention to your mental health and how you feel in your mind. This is a good indicator of how balanced your life is and whether you are taking care of yourself on a daily basis by attending our gym in Mobile, AL.

Looking after your health is critical for living a long and healthy life, and our team offers personal training in Mobile to help you work towards your fitness goals this year. While BMI is one measurement of health, we encourage you to take a look at the bigger picture instead of just fixating on this one figure while working towards your ideal body shape and fitness levels.