Ideal Weight

Today, everyone is chasing model parameters, however, in practice, excessive thinness (especially when tall ) is quite dangerous for health. To be healthy and beautiful, you do not need to match the weight and parameters of photo models, but to know the ideal weight for your  body  structure and height , which will be proportional and harmonious.

Many women and men notice that having an average weight , which, however, does not correspond to model parameters at all, they feel healthy and attractive. While people with excessive thinness or excess weight often have heart and blood vessel disorders, pressure spikes, nerve problems, and women - with reproductive function.

Let's find out what your ideal weight should be and what fluctuations are considered normal for your body . Then it will immediately become clear to you when you should lose a few kilograms and when you should stop.

Ideal weight for body type

Body proportions and ideal weight  directly depend on the type of figure ( body structure or constitution). There are 3 types of body structure : asthenic, average and hypersthenic - each of them is characterized by its own features of height and weight , and it is impossible to deceive him, even with a strong desire to lose weight.

• People with an asthenic physique have thin skeletal bones and a fragile  body structure . Usually, they are tall , wrist girth less than 16 cm, weakly expressed muscles, elongated body . Asthenics are more fortunate than others: their metabolism is mostly fast, they gain weight to a small extent, with age, fat can be deposited in the waist area. Usually, asthenics have problems with weight deficit .

• People with an average build or normosthenic constitution usually have an average or higher than average height , a wrist circumference of 16-18 cm, their body is a harmonious combination of muscles and fat, and the bones of the skeleton are quite strong. The metabolism of such people is of medium intensity. To feel comfortable, they need to watch their diet and move more.

• Hypersthenics are usually stocky, short, have broad shoulders, pelvis, thick and strong bones. The circumference of the wrist is more than 18 cm. Their weight is usually average or above average. Their fat and muscle corset are the most pronounced. To reach the ideal weight , hypersthenics need to build muscle mass by burning fat.

If we take the average weight for each body type, it will be 100% for normosthenics, 10% less for asthenics, and 10% higher for hypersthenics, which is due to metabolism and the structure of the musculoskeletal system.

How to calculate ideal weight

In medicine, the simplest formula is used to calculate the approximate ideal weight for women up to 35-40 years of age (afterward, age changes occur and the weight increases slightly). In this formula , 100 units are calculated from height for normosthenics, 110 units for asthenics and 90 for hypersthenics. However, its fluctuations within 10% are considered variants of normal weight , so we will get such an example through simple calculations.

For three women of the same height , say 160 cm, with different body types, the ideal weight would be:

• A woman of average build has 60±6 kg.

• An asthenic woman has 50±5 kg.

• In a hypersthenic - 70±7 kg.

Unfortunately, no matter how much you sometimes want to change the type of constitution of your body , it is impossible, it is laid at the genetic level. If a hypersthenic becomes obsessed with losing weight, his body will have a disproportionate and ugly appearance due to a sharp weight loss.

Of course, such data are not very accurate and necessary for the initial weight calculation . More accurate results are given by the following formulas .

Quetelet index

Normal weight is height in centimeters minus 100 and minus 10 - this is what most people think. Today, the fallacy of such a calculation has been scientifically proven. Closer to the truth is the growth indicator minus 100, which allows fluctuations of 2-3 kg in one direction or another, depending on the constitution, age and gender. However, specialists make more accurate calculations using the Quetelet index (also known as body mass index - BMI): weight divided by the square of height in meters.

For women, a coefficient from 19 to 23.8 is considered optimal, for men - 20-25. An index higher than 28 indicates severe obesity. However, this calculation does not provide an answer to the main question - about the normal, and therefore healthy, ratio of muscles and fat.

• Less than 18 - underweight .

• 18-20 — normal weight , no need to lose weight.

• 20-25 is a normal healthy weight .

• 25-30 — excess weight .

• 30-40 - obesity.

• Over 40 is severe obesity.

Fat percentage

Most scientists believe that for a good figure and good health, women need to have 22-23% body fat , and men - 15-16%. The table proposed by American specialists L. Hart and L. Neporent will help determine whether your body has this amount of fat.

• Measure the circumference of the pelvis at the widest point. Check the first column.

• Measure your height exactly in centimeters. Check in the third column.

• With the help of a ruler, connect both points diagonally and in the second column at the point of intersection you will see the value of the fat content in your body .

Pelvic girth, see

Fat content, %

Do not focus on the scales

Stand on the scales and find out if you are at a normal weight or not. In fact, everything is not so simple. When you do not lead a physically active lifestyle, muscles gradually atrophy, giving way to fat. And the mark on the scales, at that time, will not change its position. If the critical mass of fat is out of balance, then you begin to distend before your eyes.

Let's imagine a woman leading a sedentary lifestyle. Let's say at 20 years old she has a healthy 22% body fat and weighs 55 kg. At the age of 35, she is proud of the fact that she gained only 2 kg, and, by the way, her body is already 30% fat. For some reason, in fact, she gained 5 kg of fat, losing 3 kg of muscle. All the fat-free mass of her body , including muscles, is only 40 kg today, and to have 22% fat (the optimum at which metabolic processes are not disturbed), she should actually weigh a little more than 51 kg.

We can talk about attractiveness and health when the fat-free body mass (BMT - muscles and skeleton, mainly) is equal to the following values. 

If your weight is higher or lower and not indicated in the table, the BMT can be calculated by dividing the total weight by 0.85 (men) and 0.78 (women).

The definition of normal weight is based on the ratio of muscle mass (the active part that burns calories throughout the day) and the amount of fat deposits, at which the metabolic processes in the body are not disturbed. And, nevertheless, normal weight is a purely individual value and depends on the type of body structure , age, gender, metabolic rate and lifestyle. The key is to feel comfortable while keeping your body slim (not skinny!) and toned.

Age and height-weight ratio

Does age affect the height - weight ratio ? The answer is undeniable: it definitely affects. It has been proven that the weight of men and women gradually increases with age - this is a normal physiological process. Kilograms that some people consider extra, in fact, may not be so. You can use a formula that takes age into account to determine the ideal weight .

Brock's formula for height-age-weight ratio

One of the most popular methods for calculating ideal weight is Brock's formula . It takes into account the ratio of a person's height , weight , body structure and age.

• Broca's formula for people under 40:

• After 40:

At the same time, 10% should be deducted from the result for people with an asthenic body structure , and 10% should be added for hypersthenics.

Nagler's formula for the ratio of height and weight

Also, there is Nagler's formula , which allows you to calculate the ideal ratio of weight and height . 152.4 cm of height should account for 45 kilograms of weight . For each inch (that is, 2.45 cm), after 152.4 cm there should be another 900 g. Plus another 10% of the received weight .

John McCallum's girth ratio formula

This is one of the best formulas created by medical expert John McCallum. Based on wrist measurement.

• 6.5% of the volume of the wrist is equal to the chest girth.

• 85% of chest girth is equal to hip girth.

• To get the waist circumference, you need to take 70% of the chest volume.

• 53% of the chest girth is equal to the hip girth.

• The girth of the biceps is about 36% of the girth of the chest.

• The girth of the shin is slightly less than 34% of the girth of the chest.

• The circumference of the forearm should be equal to 29% of the chest circumference.

However, not everyone's physical data will exactly correspond to such ratios, since they are based on the fact that the size of the wrist is strictly related to the sizes of all human bones. For some it is not.