Not a good sign
Its circumference is more than 102 cm - this is a clear sign of abdominal obesity. This type of fat in the human body is perhaps the most dangerous. Due to excessive obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases can develop. Decreased insulin activity increases the release of free fatty acids, which contributes to the process of joint destruction. The situation is worsened by the fact that due to increased body weight, the load on the human skeleton increases.
If this happens, you should not think that the situation is hopeless. Everything can be corrected. This is something worth striving for. After all, even a small decrease in waist circumference by just 4 cm is equivalent to the health benefits obtained from reducing body weight by 5-10%. Even such small progress improves carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body, which helps lower blood pressure.
How does waist size affect your health?
Normally, a man’s waist circumference should be no more than 94 cm. Even exceeding this figure to 100 cm is a sign of excess fat. A waist circumference greater than 102 cm indicates obesity.
Even if the weight remains within the acceptable range, excess fat deposits around the waist negatively affect health and life expectancy. Obesity in the abdominal area leads to high cholesterol levels, cardiovascular diseases, and a predisposition to cancer pathologies. This is due to the fact that fat deposits create a high load on internal organs and the musculoskeletal system. Potency often suffers as well. Doctors have concluded that every extra 5 cm of waist circumference shortens a man’s life by about 15-17%.
You can determine whether the size of the waist zone is normal based on the man’s height. The waist should be no more than 1⁄2 of the height in girth. If the ratio is more than 0.53, then this should be alarming. An index of 0.58 indicates obesity.
Men often say that they have a hereditary tendency to develop belly fat. But in most cases this is not the case. Only 25% of a person's body composition is determined by genetics. Everything else depends on the person’s diet and lifestyle.
Most men are far from ideal
Determination of waist norm
So, the first thing to do is measure your waist circumference. It's important to do it right. The measurement is carried out with a regular centimeter tape. The girth for measurement is taken not at the level of the navel, but in the middle between the bottom line of the lower rib and the top point of the pelvic bone. Measurements are recorded as you exhale and taken twice. If the measurement values differ by 1 cm, the average result is taken.
What waist circumference should men have? Although an adjustment is made for body height, 102 cm, as noted earlier, is already a problem. We can say that the upper limit should be 94 cm. If a man’s waist exceeds 96 cm, then there is cause for concern. Then the person needs to take action to take control of the situation as soon as possible.
To understand in detail what waist size men should have, you need to consider the waist-height index. In short, this index is an indicator that characterizes a person’s physique. The body mass index, which is often used to check the correspondence of weight to height, does not reflect the situation with the physique as correctly as compared to the waist-height index. The latter is based not on weight, but on waist circumference. Because weight characterizes not only the volume of fat, but consists of different components. This indicator, by the way, is used by athletes, including professional ones. Men actively involved in bodybuilding regularly check their waist size before and after training, as well as during the process. It is very important for them to have a low fat content with a high muscle content. But the question of what a man’s waist should be is relevant not only for athletes. After all, which guy wouldn’t want to have a beautiful figure, without excess belly fat? And who needs health problems?
How to measure your waist and hip circumference correctly
There are rules developed by different organizations to make these measurements correctly. While everything is simple with hips, when measuring the waist, different organizations use slightly different measurement standards.
Measuring the hips and waist: for a thin person (left), the waist should be measured correctly at the narrowest point, while for a fuller person (right) it should be measured approximately 2 cm above the navel. The hips are measured at their widest part, regardless of the figure (approximately in the middle).
Waist and hip measurement rules used by world-famous organizations
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) protocol, waist circumference should be measured midway between the lower edge of the lower rib and the top of the iliac crest (the upper pelvic bone, seen from the side). A measuring tape is used for this (colloquially “centimeter”). When tightened, it should create a pressure equivalent to 100 grams. Hip circumference should be measured around the widest part of the buttocks, using the same tape, parallel to the floor.
The US National Institutes of Health and the National Nutrition Examination Program use results obtained by measuring at the top of the iliac crest—essentially where we typically have the waistband of standard pants.
Often, non-professionals measure the waist at the level of the navel, but studies have shown that this method can often result in an understatement of its actual circumference.
When measuring both circumferences, the person should have their feet side by side, arms apart, body weight evenly distributed, and no excess clothing. Breathing should be normal, calm, and measurements should be taken at the end of exhalation. Each measurement is repeated twice, and if there is a centimeter difference between them, then the average results are taken.
The easiest way to measure your waist and hips correctly
In practice, in order not to delve into all these subtleties, the waist with a slender figure is most correctly measured simply in the area of its smallest circumference, as a rule, slightly above the navel. In cases where the waist is convex rather than concave, for example, as happens during pregnancy or when you are overweight, the location of the smallest circumference is often more difficult to determine. In such cases, to determine the degree of obesity, a measurement is taken a couple of centimeters above the navel. Hip circumference can be measured simply visually at the widest part of the buttocks.
Index norm for men
What waist size should men have for a particular height? Using the waist/height ratio mentioned above, a guy will be able to determine whether his waist size is within the normal range. For this, in addition to a measuring tape, you will also need a calculator. Here you will have to deal with specific numbers. The data obtained from the measurement in centimeters must be divided by the height in centimeters. The number that comes out as a result of division is the “waist-height” index. How to use these numbers? You can write down the following values for yourself, of course, they differ from the norms for women: the index norm for men is 0.43-0.53. With an indicator of 0.54 and above, a man can be “diagnosed” as overweight and obese. An indicator of 0.58 means severe obesity. But you should not think that the lower these numbers, the better. For example, an indicator equal to or less than 0.42 may mean severe thinness. A value of 0.35 means pathological thinness and underweight in a man. Therefore, there is a lower limit for this indicator (0.42).
How to measure
This type of measurement is not difficult, but there are a few basic principles to keep in mind. First of all, correct body position is important.
The waist is slightly below the level of the ribs and just above the navel. When measuring yourself, it is better to do it in front of a mirror. A correctly taken measurement is obtained when measuring a centimeter around the narrowest part of the body. The centimeter is applied horizontally. In addition, during the measurement you should be in a standing position, you must first exhale. Moreover, you need to ensure that the centimeter does not fit too tightly or too loosely around the body. It is best to take measurements with an accuracy of 0.5 cm. Of course, measurements are never taken while wearing clothes; in order for the result to be accurate, you need a naked body. Measurements should not be taken immediately after a heavy meal. The results in this case will be erroneous.
After several months of struggling with excess pounds, after liters of sweat shed in the gym, sometimes you get the feeling that little has changed in your silhouette. Checking the waist size in men using a table approximately every 2 weeks allows you to understand whether the training is actually bringing results. The centimeter doesn't lie.
Measuring is a much more accurate tool for tracking progress than weighing yourself. Human body weight is constantly subject to small or large changes. This is influenced by the fact that we live under stress, sometimes we eat more than we need, we drink a lot, or, conversely, we suffer from dehydration, for example, during illness. Weight is constantly changing.
Specific examples
Let's look at specific situations. For example, what should the waist be for men with a height of 180 cm? Suppose the waist circumference is 90 cm. Then 90 must be divided by 180. The action of 90 ÷ 180 gives a total of 0.50. The result is good, as it does not exceed the upper limit (0.53). In general, for men who are 180 cm tall, the permissible waist circumference limits are 77.4-95.4 cm.
Now let’s figure out what the waist should be for men with a height of 178 cm. A guy of this height should have it in the range from 76.54 cm to 94.34 cm. What should be the waist for men with a height of 185 cm? For this height, the corresponding dimensions will be 79.55 at the lower limit, and the upper limit will be 98.05 cm.
What is the normal waist size for a short man? More on this later. The same small calculation will help you find out what the waist should be for men with a height of 176 cm. By multiplying the numbers 0.43 and 0.53 (the index mentioned above) by 176 (height), we arrive at 75.68 cm (lower limit) and 93.28 cm (upper limit). It turns out that if a man 185 cm tall has a waist circumference of, for example, 96 cm, then everything is normal. That is, this does not cause much concern. But if a man with a height of 176 cm, measuring his waist, saw that the centimeter closed only at the number 96, for him this is already a clear overkill.
We figured out in detail what the waist circumference should be for men of different heights. Now the guys clearly understand how they are doing in this regard: everything is normal or there are serious signals. If measurements show that your waist size clearly does not correspond to the norm, there is no need to despair. There is a way out of this situation. With the right approach, diligence will undoubtedly help solve this problem. What should you do if you notice that your waist circumference is above normal? More on this later in the article.
Relationship with mass
To make it easier to figure out which direction to move, there is a norm table for men’s waist size. It takes into account the relationship of this indicator directly with body weight.
In order to compare a man’s waist size with the norm in the table, you only need a centimeter. But to determine the degree of obesity, you also need scales. The calculation is made as follows: body weight in kilograms is divided by height expressed in meters. However, there is a second method that uses waist measurements for men, the norm table.
It checks the ratio of waist circumference to hip circumference. You will need to measure your waist circumference (3-5 cm above the navel), as well as your hip circumference at the widest point. Then divide the waist circumference by the hip circumference. For example, a person with a waist circumference of 86 cm and a hip circumference of 96 cm has an index of 0.8.
This is how an indicator called WHR (Waist/Hip Ratio) is calculated. It expresses the ratio of waist circumference to hip circumference and determines body type and degree of obesity. If it is equal to/above 0.8 in women or equal to/above 1.0 in men, we are dealing with apple-type obesity, also called abdominal obesity. This is the most dangerous type of obesity, which is prone to the development of cardiovascular diseases and many other serious ailments. If the indicator value is less than 0.8 in women and 1.0 in men, we are talking about less serious obesity - pear-type obesity. But this does not mean that it does not increase health risks.
Change in diet
In this case, you should be extremely careful with diets. This is because we are dealing with abdominal fat. This fat is deposited around internal organs (mainly in men) due to metabolic disorders in the body. Since diet can provoke such a disorder, it is better not to risk it. Instead, it is recommended to reduce your daily caloric intake by just 300 kcal. The frequency of meals should also be changed. It is recommended to eat little and often, while reducing the energy value of each serving. Under no circumstances should you sharply restrict your diet. This “shock therapy” will not lead to anything good. On the contrary, in such a stressful situation for the body, the normal functioning of the cells will be disrupted, and they will make reserves. As a result, body weight will increase again.
Correct nutrition is one in which the diet is balanced and based on foods that benefit the body.
What is abdominal visceral obesity
To understand whether a person suffers from this type of obesity, it is necessary to know the size of the waist and hips. Measurements are taken with an ordinary tailor's centimeter, placing the tape 2 cm above the level of the umbilical line. This is how the waist circumference is measured. Hips are measured at their widest part.
If the ratio of these values is less than 1, then this indicates the absence of abdominal-visceral obesity. If the index exceeds 1, then you should worry about your health.
Obesity can be detected in other ways. To do this, squeeze the fold of fat on your stomach between two fingers. If it is more than 2 cm, then you should seriously think about losing weight.
Abdominal-visceral obesity is most common in men. In this case, fat forms around the internal organs. In the future, this can lead to impaired glucose metabolism and the development of diabetes mellitus. Fat metabolism is also disrupted, which leads to hypercholesterolemia and cardiovascular pathologies.
The following types of fat deposits in the waist area in men can be distinguished:
- Loose belly . This indicates excess fat under the skin.
- Ball-shaped belly . A firm abdominal wall does not mean a lack of fat. In this case, fat accumulations are deposited mainly on the internal organs.
- "Beer Belly" . This also indicates obesity in the area of internal organs. In this case, the stomach has an egg shape.
Abdominal obesity
Most often, such obesity occurs in men after 30-35 years, when testosterone production in the body decreases.
What can you eat?
What does this include? The menu should contain as many vegetables and fruits as possible. Meat is also possible, but only in limited quantities and preferably low-fat varieties (for example, poultry). And as an alternative to red fatty meat, doctors advise men to eat fish. There is no need to exclude dairy from your diet. It is only advisable to reduce the fat content of milk to 1.5%.
In terms of changes in diet, it should be in favor of consuming proteins, vegetable fats and complex carbohydrates instead of animal fats and simple carbohydrates.
Cereals and water
Proper nutrition also includes a sufficient amount of grains. In addition to the fact that cereals provide the body with the necessary nutrients and give a lot of energy, they saturate and make you full for a long time. Eating grains improves digestion. Therefore, porridges made from various cereals are simply irreplaceable in the diet. In addition, doctors recommend trying separate meals. Adequate water consumption, about 8 glasses every day, will help establish the required metabolism. And this, in turn, is a big step towards reducing fat deposits and a beautiful appearance. Increasing the amount of fiber in your diet will also be helpful in this regard. This is what healthy and wholesome food is all about.
What foods should you avoid?
But food that clogs the body and gives the body excess calories, while not satisfying the feeling of hunger, should not be present in the house. Undoubtedly, you need to know what constitutes junk food.
This includes:
- fast food;
- semi-finished products;
- instant food products;
- sweet;
- roast;
- very salty;
- dried;
- smoked meats
It is important to remember that flour is also harmful (especially for men). And of course, this applies to any alcoholic beverages. If all this gets into the body, the problems will be much more serious than those described earlier in the text.
Healthy lifestyle and sports
You can start with something as simple as replacing the elevator with steps. If, out of habit, it’s difficult to walk through all the floors at once, you can start with one floor and add one more floor each time. If your willpower is not weak, then carefully, without strong jerks, do morning/evening jogging (or brisk walking to begin with). Biking will also help. Local exercises specifically for the abdominal muscles will also be very useful. Wave-like movements of these muscles are also recommended. They have a massaging effect on the digestive organs. Ideally, it would be good for a man to take up some kind of sport.
You can go to the gym or to the swimming pool. You may never get any medals, but it will help shape your waist and help you fight excess weight. Yoga also helps. If you are not lazy and do strength exercises, this will not only strengthen a man’s muscles, but will also stimulate the production of testosterone, which helps fight fat deposits, especially in the waist area.
