The Power of One Push-Up

The Power of One Push-Up

Several simple ways of measuring(ˈmeZHər) a person’s health might matter more than body weight(wāt).

By James(jāmz) Hamblin(hanˈblin)

The numbers used to assess(əˈses) health are, for the most part, not helpful.

There are the vital(ˈvīdl) signs: heart and respiratory(ˈrespərəˌtôrē, rəˈspīrəˌtôrē) rates(rāt) and body temperature(-ˌCHo͝or,ˈtemp(ə)rəCHər). Sometimes blood(bləd) pressure(ˈpreSHər). These are critical(ˈkridək(ə)l) in emergencies(əˈmərjənsē). If you’ve been stabbed(stab) in the chest(CHest), paramedics(ˌparəˈmedik) want to know no numbers more than these.

But in day-to-day life, the normalcy(ˈnôrməlsē) of those numbers is expected(ikˈspekt). It doesn’t so much grant you a clean bill of health as indicate that you are not in acute(əˈkyo͞ot) danger(ˈdānjər). What if you just generally want to know whether you’re on pace(pās,ˈpäˌCHā,ˈpāˌsē) to live(liv,līv) an average life or longer?

The most common numbers are age and body weight. The U.S. health-care system places tremendous(trəˈmendəs) value on the latter(ˈladər), in the form of body-mass(mas) index, or BMI, a simple ratio(ˈrāSHēˌō,ˈrāSHō) of weight over height(hīt). BMI is used to define obesity(ōˈbēsədē) and “overweight,” and so to stratify(ˈstratəˌfī) risks(risk) in insurance(inˈSHo͝orəns) and health-care industries. This number has come to be massively(ˈmasivlē) consequential(ˌkänsəˈkwenCHəl) in the lives of millions of people, and to influence(ˈinflo͝oəns) the movement of billions of dollars.

Despite(dəˈspīt) all this emphasis(ˈemfəsəs) on body weight, the ability(əˈbilədē) of BMI to predict(prəˈdikt) mortality(môrˈtalədē) and disease(dəˈzēz) has been called into question. Its inadequacy(inˈadikwəsē) is famously(ˈfāməslē) evident(ˈevədənt) in examples such as the human(ˈ(h)yo͞omən) muscle(ˈməsəl)-mound(mound) Dwayne “The Rock(räk)” Johnson(ˈjänsən) qualifying(ˈkwäləˌfī) as obese(ōˈbēs). BMI also ignores(igˈnôr) the health problems among the “skinny(ˈskinē) fat(fat)” (or “overfat” or “normal-weight obese”).

Health is more strongly correlated(ˈkôrəˌlāt) with body-fat percentage(pərˈsen(t)ij) and distribution(ˌdistrəˈbyo͞oSH(ə)n) than with overall weight, but getting an accurate(ˈakyərət) measure of one’s muscle-to-fat ratio is not especially(iˈspeSHəlē) simple—and still draws(drô) focus to body image in ways that can introduce its own risks(risk) of eating disorders(disˈôrdər), depression(dəˈpreSH(ə)n), social isolation(ˌīsəˈlāSHən), and all manner of things that may be more dangerous than body fat itself.

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https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/06/push-ups-body-weight-bmi/592834/