Weigh In

[DG99]

I’d like to hire one of you ”pure muscle” obese BMI peeps as my bodyguard

[bauerb]

I was so skinny in high school I had to tie the arm holes of my XC running singlet together so it didn't slide off. I was built for running and XC skiing. by my sophomore year in college I had been hitting the gym and found myself weighing 220...3 years after weighing 155 soaking wet. my muscle mass oriented genetics were a little slow to wake up, but it changed my body comp forever.
what I find interesting is watching WC Nordic ski racing. body types for men are pretty homogenous...body types for women are much more varied.

and if you want to see what it look like to see a football running back body type winning the Olympic triathlon a couple of years ago, watch the replay of Blumenfelt...that dude could run through a brick wall at a 5min/mile pace. never mind that his rib cage is the size of a 55 Gallo drum and he has a V02max of something like 90

[Manney]

Googled it. Blumenfelts bmi when competing was 24.3.

Looks can be deceiving. Massive chest can be muscle or lungs. Little guys look light but weigh in heavy. Super dense, lean muscle. Stronger than the big guys. Genetics + training2.

High bmi rare in elite endurance sports. Might look ripped. Probably are. No more than needed. Have massive heart and lungs. Outsized for their musculature. Heart and lungs deliver oxygen. Muscles use it. Performance will suffer if the balance isn’t right.

XC elites look massive. All ~6 feet. Big chests. Chiseled. Bmi pretty low though. All lungs.

Found something on elite skimo. Closest to tele? Dont know. Bmi surprisingly low. Like ~22. Way less than physique looks.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8219267/

[bauerb]

skimo has nothing to do with tele. I was racing at the National Skimo Championships in Utah last winter, and they were also having the youth national championships. people talk about women with eating disorders/body issues, but what I saw amongst the male youth was shocking. I have no facts, and I was there to race not observe, but I have never seen skinnier boys anywhere in any sport. Skimo is an anti-gravity sport...light weight of you and equipment is the highest priority, and the sport rewards light weight. for kids, it needs to be monitored very closely...in my opinion, the pressure to be light in skimo is far greater than in Nordic or even cycling.

[Manney]

Old school skis used to list lengths by skier height. Performance XC, BC skis today suggest optimal weight, height. So bmi must matter. DH skis less prescriptive. Difference is pocket, getting the power down. Dont need to worry about that with DH. Edge control, crud tolerance, flex, float.

Running the numbers from XC, BC charts points to a narrow bmi range. Does it matter when skiers can choose a longer ski? Pocket is longer. Designed for a taller skier. Does this change the optimal pin line if the skier is shorter? Yes. No. Influence of Norwegian rocker? Lots of Qs that have nothing to do with fitness or health. Everything to do with skis, pin lines, etc.

Ski companies say they know their buyers. If votes back a narrow bmi range (with a few outliers), then it’s clear they do. If votes are spread equally, maybe not. Either way, end of season. Good time to get on the scales. See if earning turns = earning beer or personal goals. Thinking about next ski purchase too.

[mca80]

Old school skis used to list lengths by skier height. Performance XC, BC skis today suggest optimal weight, height. So bmi must matter. DH skis less prescriptive. Difference is pocket, getting the power down. Dont need to worry about that with DH. Edge control, crud tolerance, flex, float.

Running the numbers from XC, BC charts points to a narrow bmi range. Does it matter when skiers can choose a longer ski? Pocket is longer. Designed for a taller skier. Does this change the optimal pin line if the skier is shorter? Yes. No. Influence of Norwegian rocker? Lots of Qs that have nothing to do with fitness or health. Everything to do with skis, pin lines, etc.

Ski companies say they know their buyers. If votes back a narrow bmi range (with a few outliers), then it’s clear they do. If votes are spread equally, maybe not. Either way, end of season. Good time to get on the scales. See if earning turns = earning beer or personal goals. Thinking about next ski purchase too.

So you're basing an assessment on the scientific value of bmi by what marketers from ski companies profess?

Maybe they include height just as a throwback, or for guidance on maneuverability.

BMI is, while not worthless, pretty insignificant as a measure for most anything. When I buy skis I want to know if I can squash camber and what I will use them for. Weight to height ratio is irrelevant.

@bauerb, what does high bmi do for windchill?

[Manney]

Don’t know if science has anything to do with it. Find the whole height AND weight thing curious. Lots written about xc, dh bmi. Nothing on tele. Zip. Posts about really big or small guys looking for skis here. Posts about different theories on pin line, camber mid point, forward back. Different grip strategies. Pocket and length grip wax. Skins. Folks giving up the climb, sticking to lifts. Got me thinking about why this might be hard. Then ran chart data on bmi calculator. Really narrow results. Too narrow to be a coincidence. Science? Same science that makes sleeves too long or shirts too baggy for average guys? Never know whether we’re the “average skier” or not without asking.

Ran this past a friend a week ago. Ski rep guy. He said that none of the mainstream guys make skis for fat people. But anyone will sell anything to anybody. Whether they work is up to them. It’s their choice. Once drilled, no going back. Lots of skis bought, ridden once or twice, put away forever.

Skiers here, so different than mainstream. Maybe the majority fall in the middle range so never get caught out. Ski brains out, climb, bushwhack, tele, carve. Doesn’t explain buying heavy tele to ski the groomers or walking trails though.

Never saw much of this on the competitive dh side. Younger then but still… weird.

[mca80]

Again, this whole argument stems to selling stuff, whether shirts or skis. You want to appeal to the greatest number to increase sales. "Science," maybe, if you call marketing a science. Whether it has any input on fitness and athletic ability bmi is questionable at best.

[Manney]

For sure. Is there any sense (not science) behind the marketing???? Lots of interesting possibilities for skiers. Like if your weight is above the range. What’s better… longer single camber ski designed for taller lighter person or maybe the right length ski in double camber. Or a longer low camber ski, cause the skier is shorter and can’t get weight over the front of the ski the same way a taller skier could. Skiers play whack a mole a lot trying to find the right ski. Maybe it’s not them. Maybe it’s the way skis are designed in the first place. Something we’re not exposed to because of not being inside the tent. Or asking what’s inside the tent. Reps paid to put smiley faces on things for retailers. They don’t connect with skiers much. Retailers sell to skiers. Rarely experts. Luck if you find one who skis. Luckier if they’re a pretty ski bunny.

[bauerb]

we all know that "windchill" is an urban myth invented by ski and clothing manufacturers to sell more specialized gear.

the last straw for me on the BMI topic is "High BMI Glide Wax"..."specially formulated to reduce excessive friction caused by above average pound/sq cm pressure of skis on snow surfaces"

and unless you are doing a full water displacement test, you don't know your BMI.

btw, has anyone tried a displacement test on their TXPros? I'm thinking that my boots are overly dense.