Is there a such thing as big boned?

DanIsACyclingFool

I am absolutely big-boned, large-framed, whatever you want to call it. The last time I was in really good shape I was 195lbs and had a 31" waist. The 195lbs came from being close to 6'4", think across the shoulders and rigcage, and a naturally heavy musculature.

As for the wrist test, if I wrap my finger around my wrist there's close to an inch between my thumb and middle finger!

lithezebra

I have never heard a thin person use the term "big boned", nor have I ever heard from one of the many people I know that have gone through medical school talk about the cadavour they worked on having big bones, unless only small boned people donate their bodies to science.

I can't speak for everyone who has dissected a cadaver, however we didn't remove the muscles from the bones. I did notice that people who died in the prime of life had much larger muscles than people who were bedridden from illness before their deaths. It's part of the reason that I lift. I don't want to end up with muscles that have dwindled to little strips of bacon.

When I took a physical anthropology lab, there were skulls that were larger than others, and skeletons that were larger than others, not just taller.

While it doesn't prove anything, I know plenty of thin people who describe themselves as "big boned" on the basis of their wrist size, broad shoulders, or bony, wide pelvises. I like the look of fit, muscularly curvy big boned bodies.

neandermagnon

I have never heard a thin person use the term "big boned", nor have I ever heard from one of the many people I know that have gone through medical school talk about the cadavour they worked on having big bones, unless only small boned people donate their bodies to science.

you've obviously never studied anthropology or any field in biology that deals with variation in human populations then....

BTW the scientific term used by anthropologists for what people describe as a large frame is "robust"(or "postcranial robusticity" to be more precise), of couse they don't say "big boned". For small framed, the term is "gracile" or you can talk about "postcranial gracility"

both of your posts seem so smart but have thouroughly confused me. i would like to ask for the purposes of this site, why questions like OP's are even an issue and come up so frequently. isn't bone something we cannot change and shouldn't we therefore focus our attention on that which we can, like cal counting and weight loss?

because if you have a larger frame you will have a higher BMI at a healthy body fat percentage, and some people with larger frames fall into the very high end of the "healthy" BMI range or even the "overweight" BMI range at a healthy body fat percentage. This is fine, until they're convinced (by BMI charts usually) they have to weigh the same as a small framed person and then try to diet off 20lb or so lean body mass to get there. And conversely, small framed people *should* be in the lower end of the BMI range, and could still have an obese body fat percentage at the higher end of the range, and I know very small framed people who get accused of being dangerously underweight because they fall in the "underweight" range of BMI when they eat a ton, lift weights regularly and have a body fat percentage in the healthy range.

then you get people who refuse to believe that frame size exists, and make smart-*kitten* comments implying that anyone who thinks some people have "big bones" must be obese, or whatever. Which just puts more pressure on people to diet down to weights that are unhealthy *for them* (weights which would be totally healthy for smaller framed people).

You are right though, it is something you can't change and no-one should be trying to change it. It's a factor they should be aware of before deciding on an "ultimate goal weight" - although my advice is for everyone to just focus on body fat percentage and let your weight be what it wants to be. There's no need to specifically measure your own frame size, but there is a need for people to be aware that such differences do exist and they do affect how much someone weighs at a healthy body fat percentage.

QuietBloom

I have never heard a thin person use the term "big boned", nor have I ever heard from one of the many people I know that have gone through medical school talk about the cadavour they worked on having big bones, unless only small boned people donate their bodies to science.

you've obviously never studied anthropology or any field in biology that deals with variation in human populations then....

BTW the scientific term used by anthropologists for what people describe as a large frame is "robust"(or "postcranial robusticity" to be more precise), of couse they don't say "big boned". For small framed, the term is "gracile" or you can talk about "postcranial gracility"

Yes yes! Gracile vs robust. Thank you for jogging my memory banks.

MathanMor

All through high school I was told that being "big-boned" was a myth and I was just fat. But 20 years later, 3 fitness experts, including one very famous one, 4 doctors and a US Navy Bud/s instructor there is such a thing as big-boned. Its not fat its the density of your bones; based on your genetics. I havent seen 180lbs since my sophomore year in high school, I got violently ill one year and lost 40lbs in one month, ended up hospitalized because of it, when I tipped the scales at 200 I looked like I had some disease that was killing me.

QuietBloom

All through high school I was told that being "big-boned" was a myth and I was just fat. But 20 years later, 3 fitness experts, including one very famous one, 4 doctors and a US Navy Bud/s instructor there is such a thing as big-boned. Its not fat its the density of your bones; based on your genetics. I havent seen 180lbs since my sophomore year in high school, I got violently ill one year and lost 40lbs in one month, ended up hospitalized because of it, when I tipped the scales at 200 I looked like I had some disease that was killing me.

It is not only density, but your actual bone size as apposed to someone your same height, but with smaller sized bones in comparison to you.

TR0berts

Yes, there is such a thing as big boned.

Google Lexington Steele. Just don't do that at work.

arghbowl

Yes, there is such a thing as big boned.

Google Lexington Steele. Just don't do that at work.

Well played

wjstoj

heh heh heh...boned

revkhyler

I was told by a gym trainer that if you can put your fingers around your wrist and they touch (nails not counted, ladies!) then you have a smaller frame. If your fingers barely touch then you are a medium frame. If your fingers (like mine) don't touch then you have a larger frame... I'm built sturdy and strong just like my Saxon father and my Bulgarian grandfather but my mother and my half sister are both tiny little things; go figure, eh?

bobbilum

I am 5'6", and back when I was 23, I dieted myself down to a size 8, and was quite proud, until my physician pointed out that for my frame size, I was underweight. He did several measurements, and told me I had a large frame, and that a proper weight for my body was at least 20 lbs more than I weighed!

BinaryPulsar

I have never heard a thin person use the term "big boned", nor have I ever heard from one of the many people I know that have gone through medical school talk about the cadavour they worked on having big bones, unless only small boned people donate their bodies to science.

you've obviously never studied anthropology or any field in biology that deals with variation in human populations then....

BTW the scientific term used by anthropologists for what people describe as a large frame is "robust"(or "postcranial robusticity" to be more precise), of couse they don't say "big boned". For small framed, the term is "gracile" or you can talk about "postcranial gracility"

both of your posts seem so smart but have thouroughly confused me. i would like to ask for the purposes of this site, why questions like OP's are even an issue and come up so frequently. isn't bone something we cannot change and shouldn't we therefore focus our attention on that which we can, like cal counting and weight loss?

because if you have a larger frame you will have a higher BMI at a healthy body fat percentage, and some people with larger frames fall into the very high end of the "healthy" BMI range or even the "overweight" BMI range at a healthy body fat percentage. This is fine, until they're convinced (by BMI charts usually) they have to weigh the same as a small framed person and then try to diet off 20lb or so lean body mass to get there. And conversely, small framed people *should* be in the lower end of the BMI range, and could still have an obese body fat percentage at the higher end of the range, and I know very small framed people who get accused of being dangerously underweight because they fall in the "underweight" range of BMI when they eat a ton, lift weights regularly and have a body fat percentage in the healthy range.

then you get people who refuse to believe that frame size exists, and make smart-*kitten* comments implying that anyone who thinks some people have "big bones" must be obese, or whatever. Which just puts more pressure on people to diet down to weights that are unhealthy *for them* (weights which would be totally healthy for smaller framed people).

You are right though, it is something you can't change and no-one should be trying to change it. It's a factor they should be aware of before deciding on an "ultimate goal weight" - although my advice is for everyone to just focus on body fat percentage and let your weight be what it wants to be. There's no need to specifically measure your own frame size, but there is a need for people to be aware that such differences do exist and they do affect how much someone weighs at a healthy body fat percentage.

Yes, all of this!!

And to the first quote on this chain, of course thin people talk about bone differences. This issue is important to fit people that have large frames and very small frames because those are the people that fall outside of the range on the BMI and wonder why they are fit and healthy, but not in the range that everyone holds as being so important. For the smaller framed person they will only fall very slightly out of range or be at the low end and still in the healthy range (I'm not talking about an extreme situation). And being healthy at the lower range, there is also an obvious awareness that not everyone would be healthy at your weight because you can see that they have a larger frame and are fit at a higher weight.

BusyRaeNOTBusty

<- Big framed and "thin" (I think).

chopper_pilot

yeah but it has absolutely nothing to do with your body fat %