Your BMI,
read like a lifter.
BMI only sees weight and height, so muscle looks like fat to it. Get your BMI and healthy range, then add body fat to see your FFMI and what the number misses. Free, no signup.
Add it to see your FFMI and whether your BMI is muscle or fat.
26.2
Overweight
Healthy weight for your height: 60 to 81 kg.
Lift and land in the overweight band? Estimate your body fat with the body fat calculator and add it here to see whether it is muscle.
Go deeper with the body fat calculator and the FFMI calculator.
Your BMI
26.2 That number is the input.
Where the muscle goes is the output. See it with a free physique scan.
Free physique scanHow to calculate your BMI
Enter your height and weight to get your BMI and category, then add your body fat to see your FFMI and what the BMI number misses.
1
Enter height and weight
Use centimetres and kilograms or feet, inches and pounds.
2
Read your BMI
See your BMI, its WHO category and the weight range that counts as healthy for your height.
3
Add body fat for the full picture
If you know your body fat, add it to see your FFMI, a muscle measure that tells you whether a high BMI is muscle or fat.
Why BMI misreads people who lift.
Weight over height squared
BMI is your weight in kilograms divided by your height in metres squared. It was built to study populations, and it cannot tell a kilo of muscle from a kilo of fat.
Muscle pushes BMI up
A lean lifter carrying extra muscle often scores overweight, and a strong one can score obese, while being leaner than most people in the healthy band.
Body fat and FFMI fix it
With your body fat, the calculator works out your fat-free mass index (FFMI), which measures muscle for your height. High BMI with low body fat and high FFMI is muscle.
BMI for lifters, explained.
- Is BMI accurate for bodybuilders?
- No. BMI divides weight by height squared and cannot tell muscle from fat, so muscular people are often labelled overweight or obese while being lean. For anyone who trains seriously, body fat percentage and FFMI describe the body far better than BMI does.
- What BMI counts as overweight?
- The World Health Organization counts a BMI of 25 to 29.9 as overweight and 30 or more as obese, with 18.5 to 24.9 as the healthy range. These cut-offs are for adults and are designed for populations, not for judging one muscular individual.
- What is the difference between BMI and body fat?
- BMI uses only weight and height. Body fat percentage is the share of your weight that is fat, so it separates fat from muscle, bone and water. Two people with the same BMI can have very different body fat, which is why body fat says more about health and physique.
- Is BMI the same for women?
- The BMI formula and categories are the same for adult women and men, but women naturally carry more body fat at the same BMI. That is why this calculator uses different body fat levels for men and women when it compares your BMI with your body fat.
- What BMI do athletes usually have?
- It depends on the sport. Endurance athletes often sit at 19 to 22, while strength athletes, rugby players and bodybuilders commonly score 26 to 32 with low body fat. For them a high BMI reflects muscle, not a health risk from fat.
- What is a healthy BMI range?
- For adults, 18.5 to 24.9. The calculator turns that into a weight range for your exact height. Use it as a rough guide: if you lift and sit above the range, check your body fat before deciding the number means you need to lose weight.
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