Waist measuring - muscle makes it 'bigger'?

[BlueCorsair]

Hello,

Simple question... when measuring one's waist, does muscle (say lower back muscle which I have a fair bit of) distort waist size measurement, compared to a 'normal' person?

I used to use an online (I know, bad, bad, bad) bodyfat calculator that uses a height/waist/gender formula to help give an approximation of BF%. An approx. measure is ALL I want. Simply wondering if the semi-thick lower back I have, and/or abdominal muscle might 'distort' (for lack of a better word) my waist measurement into making it look fatter than it really is. (I do tend to keep almost all my fat around the middle, and absolutely nowhere else.... *sigh*)

Right, if anyone can follow my logic, feel free to reply

As it is, I weigh 160 lbs, 33.5/34 inch waist apparently.

 

[XcelKrush]

Yeah, my waist size increased a few inches after I started lifting and working my lower back,and my bodyfat % went down too. Abs will make your waist measurement a bit larger too, unless you lost alot of fat.

 

[BlueCorsair]

hmmm... ok, made sense to me, makes sense to you.

I know I am carrying more ab fat than I need, so I guess it's time to get it measured properly... the whole waist size thing isn't as indicative for lifters I guess

 

[kraziplaya]

in the last couple of months i been deadlifting real heavy and my pants are tighter at the waist...plus i havent even been eating bad...so i def think heavy muscle building in the waist area will affect size.... weighted ab movements...deadlifts...stiff legged deads... weighted hypertensions..etc