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A superfit bodybuilder was branded overweight and put on a strict diet by an NHS nurse simply based on her BMI.
Anita Albrecht said she was told during a routine appointment she was ‘eating too much’ and needed to lose weight.
The 39-year-old, who works as a personal trainer, said her body mass index came out at 29 – four points over the healthy range and one short of obese.
But Ms Albrecht, who competes against some of the world’s leading bodybuilders, said the measure was distorted by her muscle-bound physique.
She said: ‘She insulted me by making assumptions about my lifestyle.
tmoody wrote:To a much lesser extent, the BMI calculation affects me the same way. I'm 6'1" tall, but my trouser inseam is just 30", which is to say I have short legs for my height. That means my torso is an inch or two longer than normal, since most men my height wear 31" or 32" length trousers. I'm pretty sure this skews my weight upward, relative to height. It also makes it harder to find shirts that fit properly, and an off-the-rack suit never fits!
Add to this the fact that I have lifted weights, on and off, for decades. I'm no bodybuilder but in terms of general body type I'm naturally fairly bulky and even modest weight training tends to increase that muscle mass. When I had my body composition tested some years ago, my body fat was significantly less than what my BMI predicted. None of this is meant to imply that I'm not seriously overweight. I definitely am, but probably not as much as my BMI says, unless even lean mass is a liability. I've seen arguments both ways on that point.
Poison Ivy wrote:StarchHEFP, you are a medical doctor, aren't you? Do you tell your patients about this WOE? Have any of them adopted? Do you reveal to them you eat this way? Do they know you post here? Have you told any of them about this forum?
Caller: Am I going to miss the incline?
Marjolein: Let’s talk about incline. Joe Pilates believed, this is really true, that flat was key because #1, when I am training my knees that maybe were injured, you know his dancers were injured or you have imbalances in your body, one shoulder is higher on one side then the other or you are stronger on one side then the other, if you put your body weight on those muscles, those imbalances stay there. If I lie you down and take gravity away, take your body weight away and the machine takes over, now the weak muscles are going to get stronger the tight muscles get longer and all of sudden you get off the first time and you going to see Wow I look, I stand and feel completely different. So it is important to be flat. We could have started incline on our machines but we don’t want too on purpose.
StarchHEFP wrote:Thank you so much for sharing, Patty! When I checked a few years ago, those reformers were over $2,000. Looks like the price came down. I actually have a total gym and do notice it's kind of hard on the knees. Appreciate your experience.
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