Body ratios

[Drassk]

I've seen some mention of wrist to forearm ratios and such on the board recently and it got me wondering about body ratios in general.  I've forgotten the wrist to forearm one which is the one I'm most interested in but I also wonder about some other ones like bicep/forearm, height/forearm (diameter), thes things proportional to bodyweight, and even the ratio of the upper arm when measured with the bicep flexed and then with the tricep flexed.  Does anyone have any info on any sort of standard or accepted ratios for these things?

[Guest Mark]

Drassk,

    I think there are a couple of different formulas out there. SuperSquats by Randy Strossen gives the following:

Chest = 6.5 x wrist

waist= 70% of chest

hips= 85% chest

upper arm= 36% chest

forearm= 29% chest

Thighs =53% chest

calves= 34% chest

neck=37% chest

    As far as bodyweight, he starts with a height of 5 feet tall and a weight of 100 lbs. For every inch you are over 5 feet, add 10 lbs of bodyweight. Presumably, if you  are under 5 feet, you should subtract a like amount per inch under. This is your basic bodyweight. Maximum muscular bodyweight would be 30-40 pounds heavier on this formula.

    There is also a much more detailed sliding scale of proportionality developed by one of the Game's alltime great statisticians, the late David Willoughby. I have a copy but it is too difficult to describe and I do not have a scanner. It did appear in a book by Philip Rasch, I believe, titled Weight Training. This may be available at your local library.

    Hope this helps.

Mark

[Jeff T]

Mark,

Are these the ideal ratios, (like the forearm = twice the wrist one), or standard ratios that would be the same on everyone (like armspan = height)?

[Roark]

If the forearm is measured with elbow and wrist in

a straight line, with the fist clenched but not

goosenecked, a forearm twice the size of the wrist

is world class size.

This is how the pioneers did it.

[Drassk]

I'm at 12.75 forearm and 6.5" wrist...c'mon last .25"

Of course, I think this might have to do with my girlish wrists.

[bender]

I'd like to throw in my $0.02, I've been cursed with a body that will never enter any type of body building competition.  My chest, traps, back and legs grow like weeds, but I'm stuck with narrow wrists and disproportionately small arms.  I’ve done the measurements and tried the ratios, but the ratios are ideals.  Everyone has a different body type with different proportions.  IMHO, it doesn’t really matter what they say you should be, what matters is what you do and how you train your body.

[Tom of Iowa2]

I believe i read somewhere that Steeve Reeves had what many think was 'perfect proportion' and his neck was 18(or 18 1/2)his bicep was 18 (or 18 1/2)and his calves were 18 (or 18 1/2)?OR that these measurements(if i'm off) on him were very close?

Or perhaps these type of measurements gives an illusion of perfect proprtion?i.e first glance gives the visual sense of a symetrical physique?...i may have misinterpreted this.

Also and i may be mistaken but his waist and quad measurement were relatively close?

(i believe Juliet Bergman-female bodybuilder known for her symetry- had a waist that was the same or smaller than her quads?again creating that first visual impact of symetry?)