You’re standing on the scale. The little digital numbers flicker and settle on something that makes you frown. If you’re five-foot-seven, you’ve probably spent a decent amount of time Googling exactly what you should weigh. It’s a common obsession. But honestly, the search for the correct weight for 5 7 is a bit of a rabbit hole because "correct" is a moving target that depends more on your mirror and your blood work than a standardized chart at the doctor's office.
Most people start with the Body Mass Index (BMI). It’s the old reliable—or the old annoying, depending on who you ask. For someone who is 5'7" (170 cm), the standard medical "healthy" range is roughly 118 to 159 pounds. That’s a massive gap. We’re talking about a 40-pound difference. How can two people with the same height have a 40-pound variance and both be "correct"?
It’s because your body is a complex stack of bone, water, muscle, and fat. A 155-pound person with a high muscle percentage looks and feels drastically different than a 155-pound person who rarely moves. One might be wearing a size 6, the other a size 12. The scale doesn't know the difference. It’s just measuring gravity’s pull on your mass.
The BMI Myth and Where It Fails You
Let’s be real: BMI was never meant to be a diagnostic tool for individuals. It was created in the 1830s by a Belgian polymath named Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet. He was a statistician, not a physician. He wanted to find the "average man" for social physics. He didn't care about your body fat percentage or your risk of heart disease.
If you are 5'7" and you hit the gym four days a week, your correct weight for 5 7 might actually land you in the "overweight" category on a BMI chart. This happens to athletes constantly. Muscle is much denser than fat. Think about it this way: a pound of lead and a pound of feathers weigh the same, but the lead takes up way less space. If you're "heavy" but lean, your BMI will say you're at risk, even if your metabolic health is perfect.
On the flip side, there is something called "Normal Weight Obesity." It sounds like a contradiction. It basically means you fall into that 118-159 pound range, but your body fat percentage is high while your muscle mass is dangerously low. You might look "thin," but internally, you could have the same metabolic markers—like high cholesterol or insulin resistance—as someone who is clinically obese. This is why the number on the scale is often a liar.
Real World Factors: Frame Size and Genetics
Have you ever heard someone say they are "big-boned"? People usually say it as a joke, but it’s a biological reality. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) actually recognizes frame size as a factor in determining your ideal weight.
You can check this yourself. Wrap your thumb and middle finger around your opposite wrist. If they overlap, you have a small frame. If they just touch, you’re medium. If there’s a gap, you’ve got a large frame. A 5'7" person with a large frame is naturally going to carry more weight safely than someone with a petite bone structure. For the large-framed individual, 160 pounds might be their "correct" weight. For the small-framed person, that same 160 pounds might be putting unnecessary strain on their joints.
Let's talk about age
Your body changes. It just does. A 22-year-old at 5'7" and a 65-year-old at 5'7" should not necessarily be aiming for the same number. Research suggests that as we age, carrying a tiny bit of extra weight can actually be protective against osteoporosis and frailty. The "correct" weight for you in your 20s might be 135, but in your 60s, 150 might be the sweet spot for longevity.
Beyond the Scale: What Actually Matters?
If we’re going to ignore the scale for a second, what should we look at?
Waist-to-Hip Ratio: This is a much better predictor of health than BMI. Take a tape measure. Measure the smallest part of your waist and the widest part of your hips. Divide the waist number by the hip number. For women, a ratio of 0.85 or lower is generally seen as healthy. For men, it’s 0.90 or lower. Why? Because abdominal fat (visceral fat) is the stuff that hangs around your organs and causes trouble. If your weight is "high" but your waist is small, you're likely in the clear.
Energy Levels: Honestly, if you weigh 130 pounds but you’re too exhausted to climb a flight of stairs, that is not your correct weight. Your weight should support your life, not hinder it.
Blood Markers: This is the "gold standard" of health. If your blood pressure is 120/80, your fasting glucose is under 100, and your triglycerides are low, your body is probably pretty happy where it is, regardless of whether you're 140 or 165 pounds.
Strength: Can you carry your groceries? Can you do a push-up? Functional strength is a better indicator of "correct weight" than a aesthetic goal.
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The Mental Trap of the "Perfect" Number
We often pick a number in our heads. Maybe it’s what we weighed in high school. Maybe it’s what a celebrity weighs. But trying to force a 5'7" body into a weight it wasn't designed for is a recipe for metabolic damage.
When you diet too hard to hit a specific "correct" weight, your body fights back. It lowers your basal metabolic rate (BMR). It starts burning muscle for fuel because muscle is "expensive" to maintain and your body thinks you're starving. Eventually, you end up at your goal weight but with a ruined metabolism and a higher body fat percentage than when you started.
Adjusting Your Perspective
Think of your weight as a range, not a point. For a 5'7" adult, a healthy range is typically a 15-pound window. Maybe you feel best between 145 and 160. That's fine. Your weight will fluctuate by 3 to 5 pounds in a single day anyway just based on salt intake, hydration, and sleep.
If you're trying to find your specific correct weight for 5 7, stop looking at the charts for a minute. Look at your lifestyle. Are you eating whole foods? Are you moving your body? Are you sleeping 7-9 hours? If the answer is yes, your body will eventually settle into its natural set point.
Practical Steps to Find Your True Healthy Weight
Instead of obsessing over a 19th-century math formula, try these actionable steps to determine where your body actually functions best.
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- Get a DEXA scan or a BodPod test. If you really want to know what’s going on, ignore the $20 scale. These tests measure exactly how much of your weight is bone, muscle, and fat. It’s the only way to know if your "weight" is actually "health."
- Track your performance, not your mass. Try to get stronger. If you can lift more weight this month than last month, you are moving in the right direction, even if the scale stays the same (or goes up!).
- Focus on protein intake. Aim for about 0.7 to 1 gram of protein per pound of your target weight. This protects your muscle mass and ensures that any weight you do lose comes from fat, not your metabolic engine.
- Check your "Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis" (NEAT). This is just a fancy way of saying "move more throughout the day." Fidget, take the stairs, walk while you're on the phone. This helps your body find its natural weight floor more effectively than an hour of grueling cardio.
- Listen to your hunger cues. Eat when you're hungry, stop when you're 80% full. It sounds simple, but most of us have lost this connection. Re-learning it is the fastest way to reach your biological "correct" weight.
The "correct" weight for a 5'7" person isn't a single number written in a medical textbook. It's the weight at which you have the most energy, the best blood markers, and the most mental freedom. If you're 165 pounds but you're hiking mountains and your heart is healthy, you've already won. Don't let a 200-year-old chart tell you otherwise.
To move forward, focus on one non-scale victory this week. Measure your waist-to-hip ratio to get a baseline of your metabolic health, and prioritize hitting a daily protein goal to support your lean muscle mass. This shift in focus from "weight" to "composition" is what leads to long-term health.