Introduce yourself

[swanso5]

you can't possibly tell me that bmi is more useful than %...it's about as outdated as crunches, leg ext and atkins

[sameey70]

[quote="swanso5"]you can't possibly tell me that bmi is more useful than %...it's about as outdated as crunches, leg ext and atkins[/quote

As I said before, BMI is not interpreted the same for athletes and those with a lot of muscle as it is for the average individual. Not everyone has access to the tools to obtain their body fat level. Skinfold measurements used to determine body fat levels are only as accurate as the tester and some methods of testing have high error rates. Measuring the exact amount of one's body fat is not easy. It's a well established fact that BMI tells you alot about your risk for disease, fat percentages just don't have enough research behind it to tell you how much risk of disease you face.

There are benefits and disadavantages to both. The debate continues.
....and be careful about blanket statements.

[swanso5]

it's pretty easy to look in the mirror and see if your fat or not, you don't need numbers for that...i'm well aware it's not ideal for athletes but for a 1 sixe fits all appraoch, % for me or just look in the mirror...if your happy with how you look, so be it...if not, lose

[SarahPT]

I wish you lived in CA so you could be pt.

Well thank you for the compliment. I train people over the internet, so it doesn't matter where people live.

Sarah

[natrix]

im a 20 year old university student... sort of just frustrated with fitness... i weigh about 120 - 125 and im probably 5' 10" - 5' 11"... i guess i kind of want to gain some weight but it seems way to easy to just gain that in the middle... in fat... i guess one question ive had is is there some period before your body can work with a larger amount of calories? like if i start eating more id gain weight and then itd sort of even out? if anybody has info on this id appreciate...

[swanso5]

increase gradually...if going from 1500 to 2500 straight away your activity level won't be high enough to use the extra cal's which will result in wt/fat gain...increase cal's 250 a week for 3 - 4 weeks maybe...just monitor where you are and if ytour getting fat, decrease them a little, maintain and then increase once your activity levels and intensity can match the new calorie intake