By Doc | Stronger Personal Training
I have a confession. I’m obese.
There I said it.
I’m obese.
I’m a Physical Therapist and gym owner who deadlifts over 600 pounds, runs 15 mile obstacle course races, and has spent the better part of my adult life perfecting my craft and performance. To the point some would call obsessive.
And according to a number invented in the 1830s by a Belgian mathematician who was studying population statistics — not human health — I’m obese.
This (my friend) is the Body Mass Index or BMI for short.
Over the years my BMI has gone up, and my health (apparently) is going down. Meanwhile I’m over 7% leaner in body fat than I was years ago and carrying at least 15 pounds more muscle. By every meaningful measure I am healthier, stronger, and more capable than I’ve ever been.
But the chart says obese.
This is the problem with BMI. And unfortunately, many fall prey to the fake perception and doomed outlook.
What BMI Actually Measures
Body Mass Index is a ratio of your weight to your height. That’s it. It doesn’t know if that weight is muscle or fat. It doesn’t know your age, your fitness level, your bone density, your body composition, or whether you can carry your groceries up three flights of stairs without stopping.
It was never designed to assess individual health. It was designed to study population trends in the 19th century. But it was simple.
So the medical system adopted it like a red headed step-child as a quick screening tool to give lightning-like information while imposing a crack of thunder.
And now it’s treated like gospel.
It’s not gospel. It’s practically a dull ax being used as a surgical scalpel. And I’m here to tell you why.
Two Stories That Prove the Point
Story one.
I had a member — let’s call her Carol — who came to us with a goal. Lose weight. Specifically, hit a number on the scale. We worked together, she showed up consistently, and the results were real. Her clothes fit differently. She was stronger. Her energy was noticeably better. By every measure that actually mattered, she was making serious progress.
She was confident until she wasn’t.
That scale number wasn’t moving fast enough.
She couldn’t let it go. Every week, same check-in, same disappointment, same spiral. The progress she’d made was invisible to her because she was only looking at one number. Eventually the motivation dried up. She quit.
Not because she failed. Because she was measuring the wrong thing…from the 1800’s.
Story two.
I have another member – let’s call him Steve – who has been with me for four years. In those four years his weight has not changed. Not a pound. If you handed him a BMI chart he’d look exactly the same as day one.
But recently we pulled out a photo from when he first walked through the door.
The difference was striking. Leaner. Jacked. Completely transformed — and not a single pound different on the scale.
Four years of work. Four years of showing up. Four years of getting stronger, moving better, living better. The scale said nothing changed. The photo told the whole story.
Two people. Similar story. One is still getting after it. The other quit — and her health paid the price.
What You Should Actually Be Tracking
If BMI is the wrong tool, what’s the right one? Here’s what we actually pay attention to at Stronger:
Body composition. The ratio of fat to muscle in your body. This is what changes when you do the work — even when the scale doesn’t move. A simple body fat measurement tells you infinitely more than your BMI ever will.
A DEXA is most appropriate, but also higher cost. There are many other cost-effective ways. Reach out to learn more!
How your clothes fit. Sounds simple. Works every time. Your hips (I mean jeans) don’t lie. Your favorite shirt doesn’t gaslight you. Clothes fitting differently is real, tangible, undeniable progress.
Inches. Measuring your neck, waist, hips, and arms over time shows you what’s actually changing in your body composition. Muscle is more dense. The scale is one dimension. Inches give you the full picture.
Energy levels. Are you getting through your afternoon without crashing? Are you waking up without dreading the day? Energy is a performance metric. Track it.
Resting heart rate. As your cardiovascular fitness improves your resting heart rate drops. This is measurable, trackable, and a genuine indicator of how healthy your heart is getting. Even better, wearable devices are cheaper and better than ever to track your progress.
Medications. How many people have reduced or eliminated blood pressure medication, cholesterol medication, or diabetes medication because they started exercising and eating better? You’re healthier! Throw a party, but don’t invite BMI. He had nothing to do with it.
Performance metrics. This is the one I care about most. Are you lifting more weight than you were three months ago? Are you leaving the gym feeling challenged but not destroyed? Is your recovery faster? Can you keep up with your kids without needing a nap afterward? Can you hike a mountain — literally or figuratively — that you couldn’t have attempted a year ago?
These are the numbers that tell your story. Not a ratio of your weight to your height calculated by a guy who died in 1874.
The Real Goal
Here’s what I tell every member who walks through the door fixated on a number:
The scale is one data point. It is not the whole picture. It is not the verdict. Quit treating it as the judge. This article gives you the jury.
Your body is doing things the scale will never show you. Your bones are getting denser. Your heart is getting stronger. Your joints are more resilient. Your metabolism is waking up. Your muscles are filling out the places where fat used to live.
None of that shows up on a BMI chart.
The question isn’t what does the chart say. The question is — can you do more than you could before? Do you feel better than you did? Are you showing up for your life in a way you couldn’t six months ago?
That’s health. That’s progress. That’s the number worth chasing.
If you’ve been stuck chasing a number that’s been lying to you — come talk to us. We’ll show you what’s actually changing.
Still obese,
Doc