Dangerous Abdominal Fat

[Alicia521]

I am writing this from memory, so I may not have this exactly right. My gym has a bulletin board up about dangerous abdominal fat. It states to find out your ratio to measure your waist 1 inch above your navel and the widest parts of your hips. Then divide your waist by your hips

Waist inches
___________ = Ratio
Hip inches

Women should less than .8 and men should have less than 1.0. Being higher than that will put you at increased risk for heart disease, stroke, etc. According to the board a man w/ a ratio of greater than 1 is twice as likely to die from a cardiovascular related health condition. It states the best way to lose this dangerous fat is cardiovascular exercise (DUH). Strength training will strengthen abdominal muscles but you still need to lose the fat.

Anyway, it made me realize a few things. Getting your 30 minutes of cardio x 5 weekly is vital to staying in good health. Also that although ab exercises are great for toning the abs, it's not enough. So that being said, suit up in your workout clothes and get your butt moving so you are NOT in this category of adults!

[JDru]

Well I'm a big fat pear so my ratio is .76. I carry most of my weight in my thighs and butt...lucky me. That being said, I still have a lot of work to do on my abs too!

[Neal R.]

THanks for the info, I need to do my measurments. When i go in to the doctor tomorrow, I am going to get my original measurements and then take my current ones.

[kebsa]

hI alicia
those are the figures I have seen too, I used to work with newly diagnosed diabetics and this information was always considered important- greated than these ratios is referred to as central obesity and carries higher health risk, this ratio is considered a better health indicator than BMI by some authorities as BMI does not distinguish between fat mas an muscle mass eg someone who is really fit can have a higher BMI than desirable because muscle weighs more than fat- hip weight ratio is supposed to be a more accurate indicator. Central obesity also means that you have more fat around the internal organs than someone the same weight who is pear shaped

[Alicia521]

Jess I am right there with you @ .76. Even before I lost weight my ratio was just barely .8. I guess being a pear comes in handy for some things! :)