How to Calculate BMI

Series Summary

Many people want to lose weight, and despite claims for quick fat-burning pills and powders, the best way to lose weight is still through proper diet and exercise. Exercise does more than just maintain physical fitness, though. Working out can also help build healthy bone density, muscle strength and joint mobility. It can also reduce general health risks, boost the immune system and help with depression and insomnia. Whether the reason for exercising is to lose weight or improve muscle mass, working out is always a good idea to help promote the health of the body and mind. In this free video series, a fitness trainer provides tips for staying healthy and keeping the body in shape. Find out how to get a flatter stomach, how to run faster and how to jump higher. Learn how many calories are burned doing push-ups, how to calculate body fat and how to train for a marathon. Discover how to exercise efficiently with this information.

Video Transcript

"So, you've heard a lot about BMI and how to calculate BMI, but what exactly is BMI, and what does it mean to you? I'm CarolAnn, with Studio Group X, and we're going to talk a little bit about how to calculate BMI. Now, BMI stands for body mass index, and essentially BMI is your weight divided by your height, so it's a height weight ratio. Now, if you're just an average person this is relevant to you, but if you're an individual who works out a lot, and you've got a lot of muscle tissue on you this may not be the best formula for you to calculate if you're within a healthy weight range. But let me show you quickly; it's a really easy formula. You can perform this with you and your numbers, but BMI; here it is, the formula, body mass index is equal to your weight in pounds, multiply it by 703, and then you divide it by your height, which is your inter, your inches squared. Now, if you're on the metric system then you're going to take your weight in kilograms and divide it by your height in meters squared. Now, once you figure out your BMI then you want to go to the chart. If it is below 18.5 then you're underweight. If it ranges between 18.5 and 24.9 then that's normal. If it's 25 to 29.9 you're overweight, and anything over 30 is considered obese. So, that's a real quick way to calculate your body mass index. I'm CarolAnn, with Studio Group X, and let's just keep those waistlines in check."