# Exception to waist size recommendation?

**URL:** <https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/t/exception-to-waist-size-recommendation/9324>\
**Category:** Nutrition Q&A \[Moderated\]\
**Tags:** fat, nutrition, weight, waist, bmi\
**Created:** [August 20, 2020, 10:07am UTC](https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/t/exception-to-waist-size-recommendation/9324 "2020-08-20T10:07:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![asdfpji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@asdfpji](https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/u/asdfpji)\
**Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 10:07am UTC](https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/t/exception-to-waist-size-recommendation/9324/1 "2020-08-20T10:07:05Z")

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Hi Jordan,

I’ve been under the impression that, in general, a waist size under 40 inches​ is okay. Upon further reading this forum, I found this post

> [@What would be considered the upper limit for waist circumference in my case?](https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/t/what-would-be-considered-the-upper-limit-for-waist-circumference-in-my-case/6313/3):
>
> While I don’t think it’s useful to delineate whether or not someone is overweight or obese, I do think it’s useful to have some handy cut offs for determining if someone is carrying too much body fat:
> 
> 1. BMI \> 35
> 2. WC \> 37"​ for caucasian or black male, 34"​ for male of Asian descent
> 3. Have obesity-related disease, e.g. high blood pressure, dyslipidemia, type II diabetes, etc.
> 4. Bodyfat \> 22% as a male
> 5. I’m probably forgetting something off the top of my head

The only criteria I meet of the above is 2), because my waist line is 36.5"​ as an Asian male. My BMI is 26.6 and my bodyfat is about 20% (have never tested above 22% bodyfat using a skinfold caliper test, US navy test [calculated using neck+waist+height+weight], and my bathroom scale).

My question is have you known clients/people whose waistlines exceeded 34"/37", and you didn’t see a need for them to lose weight because they just had a disproportionately large waist? Or am I just overthinking it and should lose/maintain weight?

The main reason I ask is that 36.5" is quite a bit more than 34".

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**Author:** ![Jordan\_Feigenbaum](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/forum.barbellmedicine.com/jordan_feigenbaum/32/1315_2.png) [@Jordan\_Feigenbaum](https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/u/Jordan_Feigenbaum)\
**Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 4:08pm UTC](https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/t/exception-to-waist-size-recommendation/9324/2 "2020-08-20T16:08:03Z")

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> My question is have you known clients/people whose waistlines exceeded 34"/37", and you didn’t see a need for them to lose weight because they just had a disproportionately large waist? Or am I just overthinking it and should lose/maintain weight?

Nope, as I don’t think that’s really a thing.

I do think you should lose weight, yes.