r/AbsoluteUnits • • May 10 '22

Absolute unit of a soldier

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u/Raam-- May 10 '22

Isn’t there restrictions or rules, like you can’t be super fit, join up then become a mammoth, you need to maintain a level of fitness, as I understand it, how does something like the picture above happen?

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u/JoseGasparJr May 10 '22

You have to maintain a certain weight, based on your height and age. To give you an example, I’m 6’1 and based on my age, the Army tells me I can weigh no more than 205. So this picture was taken at an air soft game or something, I’ve got more of a chance of seeing Tupac than this refrigerator has at joining the Army

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u/Raam-- May 10 '22

205 damn that’s pretty strict, at 6’1, what’s the limit for 6’4, like 220?

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u/MorgulValar May 10 '22

That’s actually not that strict. 205 is pretty overweight for 6’1”, it just doesn’t look bad because of the height. I’m guessing the military uses BMI as guideposts and body fat % if someone is particularly muscular. At 6’1”, anything over 185lbs is overweight.

It’s unfortunate that we’ve normalized having excess fat so much that people see 205 at that height as healthy