A 5’8″ man is generally considered a healthy weight between 125 and 158 pounds, based on standard BMI classifications from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. That said, the “right” weight for you depends on more than just height. Body composition, muscle mass, and where you carry your weight all play a role in what’s actually healthy.
Healthy Weight Range by BMI
BMI (body mass index) is the most common starting point for gauging whether your weight falls in a healthy range. For someone who is 5’8″, the categories break down like this:
- Underweight (BMI below 19): less than 125 lbs
- Normal weight (BMI 19 to 24): 125 to 158 lbs
- Overweight (BMI 25 to 29): 164 to 190 lbs
- Obese (BMI 30 or higher): 197 lbs and above
You’ll notice a small gap between the normal and overweight ranges. That’s because BMI values are rounded to whole numbers, so a few pounds around 159 to 163 land right on the boundary. For practical purposes, anything above 158 starts edging into overweight territory.
What Clinical Formulas Suggest
Beyond BMI, doctors and researchers have developed several formulas to estimate an “ideal” body weight based on height. For a 5’8″ man, they land in a tight cluster: the Devine formula gives 154 lbs, the Robinson formula gives 155 lbs, the Miller formula gives 158 lbs, and the Hamwi formula gives 161 lbs. These formulas were originally designed for medication dosing and clinical assessments, not as personal weight goals, but they offer a useful ballpark. For a 5’8″ man, most of them converge around 154 to 161 pounds.
How the Average American Compares
CDC data from 2021 to 2023 puts the average weight of an American adult man at 199 pounds. The average American man is about 5’9″, so that number applies to someone roughly your height. It means the typical guy in the U.S. falls solidly into the overweight BMI category, and is about 40 pounds above what most formulas consider ideal for this height. “Average” and “healthy” are not the same thing here.
Why BMI Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story
BMI treats all weight the same, whether it comes from muscle, fat, or bone. That’s its biggest limitation. A study of college athletes found that among those with a BMI of 25 or higher (technically overweight), only 4% of the men actually had excess body fat. The vast majority were classified as overweight purely because of high muscle mass. BMI frequently overestimates fatness in people who strength train or play sports regularly.
On the flip side, BMI can also miss people who carry too much body fat but happen to weigh within the “normal” range. If you’re 5’8″ and 150 pounds but rarely exercise, you could still have an unhealthy amount of body fat relative to muscle. Researchers define overfat as a body fat percentage of 25% or more for men, with 30% or more classified as obese, regardless of what the scale says.
Waist Size as a Better Health Indicator
Where your body stores fat matters more than total weight in many cases. Belly fat (the kind that wraps around your organs) is strongly linked to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic problems. Two simple measurements can give you a clearer picture of your risk than BMI alone.
First, raw waist circumference: a waist of 40 inches or more signals high cardiovascular risk for men, regardless of height or total weight. Measure at the level of your navel, not where your belt sits.
Second, waist-to-height ratio. The NHS recommends keeping your waist measurement below half your height. For a 5’8″ man (68 inches), that means your waist should stay under 34 inches. This ratio adjusts for body size and tends to be a more reliable predictor of metabolic health than BMI for most people.
Finding Your Personal Target
If you’re 5’8″ and looking for a concrete number to aim for, the 140 to 160 pound range is where most guidelines and formulas overlap for this height. But treating that as a hard target misses important context. A man at 175 pounds with visible muscle definition and a 33-inch waist is in a very different health position than a man at 155 pounds with a sedentary lifestyle and 28% body fat.
The most practical approach combines a few data points: keep your BMI under 25 if you don’t carry significant muscle mass, keep your waist under 34 inches, and if you want precision, get your body fat percentage tested. Methods like a DEXA scan or skinfold calipers give you a direct measurement of how much of your weight is fat versus lean tissue, which no formula based purely on height can do.