For a 5’8″ male, the healthy weight range falls between 125 and 163 pounds based on BMI, with most clinical formulas pointing to an ideal weight somewhere around 150 to 160 pounds. But that single number can shift depending on your age, build, muscle mass, and how you carry your weight.
The Healthy BMI Range for 5’8″
The CDC defines a healthy weight as a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9. For a man who stands 5’8″, that translates to 125 to 163 pounds. At 164 pounds, you technically cross into the “overweight” category (BMI of 25), and at 197 pounds you’d reach a BMI of 30, the threshold for obesity.
These cutoffs are population-level guidelines, not precise health verdicts. A man at 170 pounds with visible muscle definition and a trim waist is in a very different situation than a man at 155 pounds who rarely moves and carries most of his weight around his midsection. Still, BMI gives you a useful starting point.
What Clinical Formulas Suggest
Doctors and pharmacists have used several formulas over the decades to estimate ideal body weight. For a 5’8″ male, here’s what the three most common ones produce:
- Hamwi formula (1964): 154 pounds
- Devine formula (1974): 160 pounds (about 72.4 kg)
- Robinson formula (1983): 153 pounds (about 67.2 kg)
These formulas all land in a tight range of 153 to 160 pounds, which is a reasonable target for a man of average build at this height. They were originally designed for drug dosing and clinical assessments, not as fitness goals, so treat them as ballpark figures rather than magic numbers.
How Frame Size Changes the Target
Your bone structure matters. The Metropolitan Life Insurance tables, which were built from mortality data, break ideal weight into three frame sizes for a 5’8″ male:
- Small frame: 140 to 148 pounds
- Medium frame: 145 to 157 pounds
- Large frame: 152 to 172 pounds
A simple way to gauge your frame: wrap your thumb and middle finger around your opposite wrist. If they overlap, you likely have a small frame. If they just touch, medium. If there’s a gap, large. A large-framed man at 170 pounds can be perfectly healthy even though that number falls outside the standard BMI “normal” range.
Why the Number Shifts With Age
If you’re over 65, the standard BMI categories may actually steer you too low. A large meta-analysis of older adults found that mortality risk increased for those with a BMI below 23, not below 18.5 as the standard guidelines suggest. People in the 20 to 21.9 BMI range (131 to 144 pounds for a 5’8″ man) had 12 to 19% higher mortality risk compared to those at a BMI of 23 to 24.
Meanwhile, being in the “overweight” BMI range of 25 to 29.9 carried no increased mortality risk in older populations. For a 5’8″ man over 65, a weight of roughly 155 to 175 pounds may actually be the healthiest zone. Carrying slightly more weight appears to offer a protective buffer against the muscle loss and frailty that naturally come with aging.
Waist Size Matters More Than You Think
Where your body stores fat is at least as important as total weight. Two measurements give you a clearer picture of your metabolic health than the scale alone.
The first is your waist-to-height ratio. The guideline is simple: keep your waist circumference below half your height. At 5’8″ (68 inches), that means your waist should stay under 34 inches. This ratio works across different ethnicities and body types, making it one of the more reliable quick checks for central obesity and heart disease risk.
The second is absolute waist circumference. For men, a waist of 40 inches or more signals significantly elevated risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. Even if your weight falls in the “normal” BMI range, a waist pushing toward 40 inches is a warning sign worth taking seriously.
To measure accurately, wrap a tape measure around your bare waist just above your hip bones, at the level of your navel. Exhale normally and read the number without sucking in.
Body Fat Percentage as a Better Gauge
BMI treats all weight the same, whether it comes from muscle, fat, or bone. Body fat percentage fills that gap. For adult men, healthy ranges generally break down like this:
- Athletic: 8 to 13%
- Fit: 14 to 17%
- Acceptable: 18 to 20%
The average American man sits at roughly 28% body fat, well above what’s considered healthy. A 5’8″ man at 175 pounds with 15% body fat is carrying about 149 pounds of lean mass and 26 pounds of fat. That same man at 175 pounds with 28% body fat has nearly 49 pounds of fat and significantly less muscle. The scale reads the same, but the health implications are worlds apart.
You can estimate body fat through skin-fold calipers, bioelectrical impedance scales (less accurate but convenient), or DEXA scans (the gold standard, often available for $50 to $100 at imaging centers). If you strength train regularly and your weight runs higher than BMI charts suggest, body fat percentage gives you a much more honest assessment.
Finding Your Personal Target
For a 5’8″ male of average build in his 20s through 50s, aiming for 150 to 165 pounds puts you comfortably within the healthy range across nearly every measurement system. If you’re naturally broad-shouldered or carry significant muscle, up to 170 to 175 pounds is reasonable as long as your waist stays under 34 inches and your body fat stays below 20%.
If you’re over 65, don’t chase the lower end of the BMI range. A weight of 155 to 175 pounds is likely healthier than trying to stay at 140. The real numbers to watch at any age are your waist measurement, your body fat percentage, and how your bloodwork looks, not just what the scale says.