Find your reference ideal body weight using the Devine formula — the method most commonly used in clinical medicine, including for medication dosing.
The Devine formula was originally published in 1974 specifically to help clinicians calculate medication dosages, since many drugs are dosed relative to body weight and using someone's actual weight can be inaccurate in cases of obesity or unusual body composition. It's become the de facto clinical standard cited in pharmacology references and used in hospitals worldwide, which is why we use it here as a recognized, verifiable benchmark rather than an arbitrary fitness-industry number.
The Devine formula uses only height and sex — it has no idea whether you're a bodybuilder or sedentary, tall and narrow-framed or naturally broad. A muscular athlete will often weigh meaningfully more than their "ideal weight" while being lean and healthy. Treat this as one clinical reference point, not a personal goal.
Not necessarily. This formula doesn't account for muscle mass, frame size, or body composition. A healthy weight range varies meaningfully between individuals of the same height — use this as one reference point alongside body fat percentage, not a strict target.
Because it was designed for a specific clinical purpose — standardizing medication dosing — not as a general fitness or health target. Formulas designed for fitness goals (like a target body fat percentage) are generally more useful for personal health planning.
No. BMI compares weight to height as a ratio and applies to a body weight calculation across a range. Devine's ideal body weight produces a single reference number, calculated differently, and used for a different clinical purpose (dosing) rather than general population health screening.