Body Roundness Index (BRI)

[Railbob1776]

I have a 29 BMI and an BRI well over 3. Do these matter at all? At 48yo (6ft1, 220, 41 inch waist around navel), I find it very difficult to get any amount of decent strength without having a waist that measures over 40 inches. At my lowest weight I was 194 but my waist was still ~38 inches at best.

Forget BMI - your 'body roundness index' says more about your health, use our calculator to measure yours | Daily Mail Online

[Robert Santana]

I've never even heard of this index. Keep in mind that you are over 6' and a lot of these metrics correlate poorly with short and tall people. How strong are you?

[Railbob1776]

I've never even heard of this index. Keep in mind that you are over 6' and a lot of these metrics correlate poorly with short and tall people. How strong are you?

I'm on the NLP now and my last work sets for the lifts were:
Squat 250x5x3 sets
DL 345x5
Bench 220x5x3 sets
OHP 158x5x3 sets

The squats and deads are moving along nicely but the bench and ohp are starting to get tough. I was also doing well on chins but I developed some golfer's elbow so I'm laying off those and in their place I'm doing pulldowns as I can tolerate it.

Here is the final set of five reps on my last squat workout:
Squat 250x5 (third set) - YouTube

[Robert Santana]

I'd keep pushing onwards you are only getting started with those numbers. The squat looks pretty good, I'd just get the knees forward and out over the toes IMMEDIATELY. It looks like you are hesitant at the start of the descent so just get that cleaned up and you should be good. You have a lot of room on the bar on those. Get your deadlift well into the 4s and squats well into the 3s and you'll see your body start to change some more. You are in a good place though. May be time to move the Press and Bench Press to intermediate training and start thinking about which one you want to prioritize beyond early intermediate.

[Railbob1776]

I'd keep pushing onwards you are only getting started with those numbers. The squat looks pretty good, I'd just get the knees forward and out over the toes IMMEDIATELY. It looks like you are hesitant at the start of the descent so just get that cleaned up and you should be good. You have a lot of room on the bar on those. Get your deadlift well into the 4s and squats well into the 3s and you'll see your body start to change some more. You are in a good place though. May be time to move the Press and Bench Press to intermediate training and start thinking about which one you want to prioritize beyond early intermediate.

Thanks for the reply Robert. Do you think I should try and hold my bodyweight at 220 as my numbers increase? My bodyweight is already drifting upward as the new norm is quickly becoming 223lbs. I wouldn't be as concerned if my waist was under 40 inches, but it isn't.

[Robert Santana]

I wouldn't worry at your height. I've had guys go to 240 before, just depends on how strong you get and your structure. I would get as strong as you can for as long as you can, don't eat like an asshole while doing so, and when you can't get any stronger and hit a wall, clean up the diet, trim down the body fat, and recycle the process.