You're standing in the doctor's office. You've just stepped off the scale, and that little digital number is staring back at you. If you’re a woman who stands 5'8", you’ve probably spent a fair amount of time wondering where you "should" land on that spectrum.
But honestly? That number is a bit of a liar.
It doesn't know if you spent your morning lifting heavy at the gym or if you’ve got the kind of dense bone structure that makes you sink like a stone in a swimming pool. When people ask how much should a woman weigh at 5 8, they are usually looking for a target—a destination. But health isn't a GPS coordinate. It’s a range. And that range is wider than most "standard" charts want you to believe.
The BMI trap and what it actually says about you
We have to talk about the Body Mass Index. It’s the old-school metric everyone loves to hate, yet it remains the primary tool used by organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) and the CDC. For a woman who is 5'8", the "normal" BMI range—defined as 18.5 to 24.9—typically translates to a weight between 122 and 164 pounds.
That is a massive 42-pound gap.
Think about that for a second. Two women can be the exact same height, one weighing 125 pounds and the other 160, and both are technically "perfect" according to the charts. This is where the frustration kicks in. If you weigh 168, you’re suddenly labeled "overweight," even if you’re a competitive athlete with 12% body fat. The BMI doesn't distinguish between a pound of jiggly fat and a pound of hard, functional muscle. It’s just math. Specifically, it’s your weight in kilograms divided by your height in meters squared. Simple. Maybe too simple.
The origins of the BMI are actually pretty weird. It wasn't even designed by a doctor. It was created by a Belgian mathematician named Adolphe Quetelet in the 1830s. He wasn't trying to measure health; he was trying to define the "average man" for social statistics. Using a nearly 200-year-old math equation to determine your self-worth today feels a little bit ridiculous, doesn't it?
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Why frame size changes the game
You’ve heard people say they are "big-boned." Most people roll their eyes at that, but it’s a real medical thing. Clinical researchers often use elbow breadth or wrist circumference to determine a person's frame size.
If you have a small frame, your "ideal" weight at 5'8" might truly be on the lower end, perhaps 125 to 135 pounds. But if you have a large frame—meaning your skeleton literally weighs more and has more surface area for muscle attachment—landing at 155 or 165 pounds might be your healthiest state. You can check this yourself. Wrap your thumb and middle finger around your opposite wrist. If they overlap, you're likely small-framed. If they just touch, you're medium. If there's a gap? You’ve got a large frame. It’s a low-tech way to realize that your "ideal" is personal.
Muscle, bone, and the "skinny fat" phenomenon
Muscle is dense. It’s compact. It’s the reason why a 5'8" fitness influencer might weigh 160 pounds but look smaller than a sedentary woman who weighs 140. When you ask how much should a woman weigh at 5 8, you really need to be asking about body composition.
High muscle mass is protective. It boosts your basal metabolic rate, meaning you burn more calories just sitting on the couch watching Netflix. More importantly, for women as they age, carrying extra weight in the form of muscle is a massive insurance policy against osteoporosis.
The danger of the lower limit
There is a huge cultural pressure to be at the bottom of the "healthy" range. For a 5'8" woman, that’s 122 pounds. But for many women, maintaining that weight requires an unsustainable level of calorie restriction.
When your weight drops too low, your body starts making sacrifices. The first thing to go is often the reproductive system. Hypothalamic amenorrhea—the loss of a period—is common in tall women who try to maintain a weight that is too low for their frame. Your bones also pay the price. Without enough body fat, your estrogen levels can plummet, leading to decreased bone density. Being "thin" isn't worth a hip fracture when you're 50.
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What the medical experts are looking at now
Modern medicine is slowly moving away from the scale. Doctors like those at the Mayo Clinic are increasingly looking at waist-to-hip ratio and visceral fat levels rather than just raw weight.
Visceral fat is the "angry" fat. It’s the stuff that lives deep in your abdomen, wrapping around your organs. You could weigh a "perfect" 140 pounds at 5'8" but if you carry all your weight in your midsection and have very little muscle in your legs and arms, you might actually be at higher metabolic risk than a "plus-size" woman who carries her weight in her hips and has high muscle tone.
The Hamwi formula is another old-school method often used by dietitians. It suggests a "base" weight of 100 pounds for the first five feet of height, and then adding five pounds for every inch after that.
- 5 feet = 100 lbs
- 8 inches x 5 lbs = 40 lbs
- Total = 140 lbs
Under this formula, 140 is the "ideal." But even the Hamwi formula allows for a 10% swing in either direction to account for frame size. That puts the range at 126 to 154 pounds. See? Even the "strict" formulas can't agree on a single number.
Real-world examples of 5'8" women
Let's look at how this manifests in the real world.
Think about a professional volleyball player. They are often around 5'8" to 6'0". A 5'8" outside hitter might weigh 170 pounds. On a BMI chart, she’s borderline "overweight." In reality? She’s a powerhouse of lean tissue with a resting heart rate of 48. She is objectively healthier than someone who weighs 125 pounds but can't climb a flight of stairs without getting winded.
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Then you have the "lifestyle" side of things. If you're 5'8" and weigh 155 pounds, you’re likely wearing a size 6 or 8. You have enough energy to work, exercise, and enjoy your life. If you fight your biology to get down to 130 just to see a specific number, you might find your hair thinning, your skin getting dry, and your mood swinging wildly. Your body has a "set point"—a weight it wants to stay at to keep your hormones happy.
Age changes the math
The rules change as you get older.
There is something called the "obesity paradox" in geriatrics. Research suggests that for older adults, carrying a little bit of extra weight (being in the "overweight" BMI category) can actually be protective. It provides a reserve if you get sick and helps prevent fractures if you fall. If you are 5'8" and 65 years old, being 170 pounds might actually be "healthier" for your longevity than being 130 pounds.
Menopause and the 5'8" silhouette
When estrogen drops during menopause, weight tends to shift. It moves from the hips to the belly. This is the "menopause middle." At this stage, focusing on the scale is less important than focusing on strength training. You want to keep the weight you have in the form of muscle to protect your metabolism.
How to find your own healthy range
Instead of obsessing over how much should a woman weigh at 5 8, look at these functional markers. They tell a much more accurate story than the glass square on your bathroom floor.
- Energy Levels: Do you wake up feeling refreshed, or are you dragging yourself through the day on caffeine?
- Blood Markers: What are your triglycerides? Your A1C? Your HDL and LDL cholesterol? These are the real indicators of heart health and diabetes risk.
- The "Pants Test": How do your clothes fit? Are you gaining inches around your waist while your weight stays the same? That might indicate a loss of muscle.
- Strength: Can you carry your own groceries? Can you do a push-up? Physical capability is a better metric for quality of life than gravity's pull on your body.
- Mental Space: How much of your brain is "rented out" to thoughts about food and weight? If you’re miserable trying to maintain a weight, it’s not your healthy weight.
Actionable Next Steps for the 5'8" Woman
If you’re feeling lost regarding your weight, stop weighing yourself every day. It’s useless data. The scale can fluctuate 3-5 pounds in a single day based on salt intake, menstrual cycle, and hydration.
Instead, try this:
- Get a DEXA scan or a BodPod reading. These aren't just for pro athletes anymore. They will tell you exactly how many pounds of bone, fat, and muscle you’re carrying. Knowing you have a high bone density can make that "high" scale number feel like a badge of honor rather than a failure.
- Focus on the waist-to-height ratio. Keep your waist circumference less than half your height. For a 5'8" woman (68 inches), that means aiming for a waist under 34 inches. This is a much better predictor of health than BMI.
- Prioritize protein. To maintain the muscle that makes a 5'8" frame look and feel "toned," you need roughly 0.8 to 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass.
- Shift the goalpost. Aim for a "performance goal" rather than a "weight goal." Try to deadlift your body weight or walk 10,000 steps a day for a month. Usually, when you focus on what your body can do, the weight settles exactly where it belongs.
The "perfect" weight for a woman who is 5'8" isn't found on a chart in a sterile office. It's the weight where your blood work is clean, your bones are strong, and you have enough energy to actually live your life instead of just measuring it.