12/29/2025
🎤🎤🎤🎤 absolutely agree!
STOP SAYING 70% OF FIREFIGHTERS ARE OVERWEIGHT BASED ON THE BMI EQUATION FROM 1832.
AND YES, THAT'S THE YEAR, NOT AN NFPA NUMBER.
This is not an excuse for the out-of-shape firefighter.
This is about using the right metrics to measure firefighter fitness and readiness.
And the concern with sharing this is that you will always have the firefighters who refuse to do what they said they would do, show up in shape, and use what I wrote here as an excuse.
IT IS NOT AN EXCUSE TO SHOW UP OUT OF SHAPE.
More than 70% of U.S. firefighters are classified as overweight or obese based on Body Mass Index (BMI) data — a figure cited frequently in health studies and media reporting, and from our own fire service, to expose a lack of readiness dramatically.
This comes from a 2011–2012 CDC analysis of data from over 1,000 career firefighters showing that over 70% fell into the BMI categories of overweight (BMI ≥25) or obese (BMI ≥30).
Using the Body Mass Index—an equation created in 1832 for population-level observations—to declare that 70% of firefighters are overweight is not only misleading, but it’s also professionally irresponsible.
Before we even touch the data, we have to ask a more important question: what do we actually care about?
Do we care about a number on a chart?
Do we care about body composition?
Or do we care about the ability to physically perform the job under load, stress, heat, and time pressure?
Firefighting is not a sedentary occupation. It is a high-risk, high-load, work-capacity-driven profession that demands strength, endurance, power, skill, and decision-making under extreme physiological strain.
BMI does not measure any of that. It does not distinguish between muscle and fat. It does not account for physical ability to work in gear, task demands, or performance under stress.
It was never designed to evaluate tactical athletes, yet we continue to apply it as if it were a readiness metric.
When we say “70% of firefighters are overweight” based on BMI alone, we are collapsing a complex, performance-based profession into a crude height-to-weight ratio.
We aren’t using the right metric to measure what matters most, one’s ability to meet the physical demands of the job.
That number tells us nothing about whether a firefighter can drag a victim, force a door, advance a charged line, climb stairs in full gear, or sustain work output on air.
A firefighter with a high BMI may be metabolically healthy, strong, and operationally effective.
Another with a “normal” BMI may lack the strength, endurance, or work capacity to do the job when it counts.
BMI cannot tell the difference.
I’ve worked with guys whose BMI puts them at obese, who look like Goliath, and have a very high work capacity in gear under load.
I’ve worked with skinny firefighters with no muscle who can’t fight their way out of a wet paper bag, can’t throw a ladder, and are overwhelmed by the weight of their gear alone, who are considered normal body weight.
If the concern is health, then we should be talking about metabolic markers, cardiovascular fitness, recovery, sleep, and long-term resilience.
If the concern is performance, we should measure work capacity in gear, endurance, power, and strength relative to task demands, as well as the ability to recover and repeat effort.
If the concern is body composition, then we should measure body fat and lean mass directly, not infer them from a formula that was never intended for individuals, let alone firefighters.
This isn’t about avoiding hard conversations. It’s about having the right ones.
Throwing around a statistic like “70% of firefighters are overweight” based on BMI alone is not accurate, not actionable, and not aligned with the realities of the job.
What we should care about is whether firefighters are fit to fight fire, capable, durable, and ready to perform when someone else’s life depends on it.
Readiness cannot be reduced to a number invented in the 1800s.
Fitness for this profession demands better questions, better metrics, and a much higher standard.
Here is a recap of why BMI does not apply to firefighter readiness.
1) BMI does not distinguish muscle from fat
BMI only looks at height and total body weight. It cannot tell whether that weight comes from fat, muscle, or bone density.
Firefighters often carry significant lean muscle mass because the job demands lifting, dragging, forcible entry, stair climbing, and work in heavy PPE. A muscular, high-performing firefighter can be labeled “overweight” or “obese” by BMI despite having low body fat and excellent fitness.
2) BMI was created for population averages, not individuals
BMI was developed in the 1800s to study large civilian populations, not to assess individuals, athletes, or high-risk occupations. It was never intended to:
- Predict job performance
- Measure readiness
- Determine safety in extreme environments
Firefighting requires individual readiness, not population trends.
3) BMI does not measure job performance or work capacity
BMI tells us nothing about whether a firefighter can:
- Sustain work on air
- Move efficiently under load
- Recover between high-intensity tasks
- Perform repeated efforts in heat and stress
A firefighter with a “normal” BMI can still be operationally unprepared, while one with a high BMI may outperform them on the fireground. BMI cannot differentiate between the two.
4) BMI ignores the realities of load-bearing work
Firefighters routinely operate with 50–75+ pounds of external load (turnouts, SCBA, tools). This type of work favors higher muscle mass and absolute strength—traits that often raise BMI scores.
Using BMI penalizes the very adaptations that make firefighters safer and more effective.
5) BMI does not reflect metabolic health
BMI does not measure:
- Blood pressure
- Lipids
- Insulin sensitivity
- VO₂ max
- Recovery or sleep quality
A firefighter can be metabolically unhealthy at a “normal” BMI or metabolically healthy at a higher BMI. Using BMI alone obscures the real health risks we should be addressing.
6) BMI shifts focus away from what actually matters
When BMI is used as the primary metric, it redirects attention toward weight loss instead of performance readiness. That leads to:
- Poor training priorities
- Disordered fueling
- Avoidance of strength development
- False confidence or false condemnation
The fire service should be asking:
Can you do the work, in gear, repeatedly, under stress, without becoming a liability to the community, your crew, and yourself?
BMI cannot answer that. So stop using it to make dramatic claims.
Bottom line
BMI is easy to calculate, but easy does not mean accurate. However, hitting the easy button is what we often do to avoid the work of addressing the real issue: firefighter readiness.
For firefighters, readiness should be measured by:
- Work capacity in full gear
- Aerobic fitness and recovery
- Strength relative to job tasks
- Body composition (lean mass vs fat mass)
- Long-term health markers
Using BMI to judge firefighters oversimplifies a complex, performance-critical profession and leads to conclusions that are not only inaccurate but potentially dangerous.
Fitness in the fire service is not about fitting into a chart. It’s about being fit to do the job.
50 year old male with 11% body fat
VO2 MAX = 60
Based on age - height - weight:
• Height: 5′6″ (66 inches)
• Weight: 160 lbs
Your BMI is ~25.8
How that’s classified (by BMI standards)
• Underweight: < 18.5
• Normal: 18.5–24.9
• Overweight: 25.0–29.9
• Obese: ≥ 30
This firefight is in the 70% of firefighters are overweight category.
