And the people who are more muscular _know_ that BMI isn't going to be accurate for them. The complaints seem to be somewhat bad faith arguments from the population for whom it is accurate, but wishes it weren't.
> And the people who are more muscular _know_ that BMI isn't going to be accurate for them
That is not necessarily true. There are plenty of casually fit people around. They tend to be active but not necessarily all over fitness literature. They tend to be lean and have above average muscle composition, though are not necessarily "muscular".
These people will tend to receive an "overweight" analysis at the doctor's, and they might actually believe there's something wrong with them. I've seen that happen. I had to explain why BMI is bullshit to many friends who came out of an appointment thinking they had to change their diets despite being quite fit and healthy already.
You may argue that the doctors should know better but the unfortunate practical reality is that a good amount of them either don't, or just don't care enough to clarify it to patients. It's a lot easier to print out a report and hand over a set of general recommendations based on it.
This pretty much nails it. Im fit and on the muscular side, i'd say im pretty ok for a natural and i've always rode on the line of overweight on the BMI scale. But i never really cared, and nobody that is a bodybuilder cares either.
Like you said, the complaints are always from the population for whom it is accurate. They're usually in denial and typically vastly overestimate how much muscle they're actually carrying underneath their visible layers of fat.
Check the reddit/bulkorcut subreddit for some examples. If i had to spitball, i'd say only 20-30% of people that post their actually have a good idea of where they are in terms of BMI and body fat. There is an alarming amount of people that i'd consider their physique in the top 1% to top .1% in the world that believe they are fat. And there is an extremely alarming amount of people who are likely 25%+ and even sometimes 30%+ body fat that think they're in a healthy BMI range and ask if they should bulk.
TL:DR - BMI is more accurate than not for people who need the scale. And if anything, it underestimates obesity for people who may not weight enough to be overweight, but still sit at 30%+ body fat.
> people who are likely 25%+ and even sometimes 30%+ body fat that think they're in a healthy BMI range a
Something I've observed is that people don't perceive weight on an absolute scale, but relative to other people. Really skews things depending on their local obesity rates.
When I was younger and in shape bulked up with single digit body fat it was not useful. I was obese/overweight in BMI only.
Now that I am more sedentary due to office job and less time because I have kids it’s a useful gauge to help find my ideal weight.