Body frame and wrist size? I feel like it's lying to me.
RomulanWarbird
Posts: 230
So I'm overweight still. Used to weigh 260, now at 157, and my goal is 140. So, I wanted to see how my goal matched up with my body frame. I'm 5'6" and female and the calculators online say that I have a small frame, because my wrist is 6" around. Others say I have a broad frame because my elbow breadth is 4". Does this mean I'm medium framed?
Also, my hands, wrists, feet, are very small and bony but despite my weight my collar bones and shoulder blades are clearly visible. So are my ribs which look very broad. I have no idea what my frame size is because I don't know if I can trust the wrist thing or the breadth thing. Should I just guess that I'm medium framed?
Are any of you having this sort of problem?
Also, my hands, wrists, feet, are very small and bony but despite my weight my collar bones and shoulder blades are clearly visible. So are my ribs which look very broad. I have no idea what my frame size is because I don't know if I can trust the wrist thing or the breadth thing. Should I just guess that I'm medium framed?
Are any of you having this sort of problem?
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Replies
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Why does it matter?0
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http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/fsz
try this one it uses both...my wrist is 6.5 and elbow is 3 3/4 puts me at large frame using both measurments.0 -
Why does it matter?
Because a woman with a larger frame has a different ideal weight than a woman with a medium or small frame....
I mean for me if I weighed 120lbs at my size I would technical still be "fine" as far as BMI goes for ideal weight but with me that's how much LBM I have so that's not good, and with my large frame I currently weigh 159 which puts me at the top of my ideal weight range but I still wear a size 5/6 so my ideal weight is actually right around 150-152.0 -
Why does it matter?
Because a woman with a larger frame has a different ideal weight than a woman with a medium or small frame....
I mean for me if I weighed 120lbs at my size I would technical still be "fine" as far as BMI goes for ideal weight but with me that's how much LBM I have so that's not good, and with my large frame I currently weigh 159 which puts me at the top of my ideal weight range but I still wear a size 5/6 so my ideal weight is actually right around 150-152.
I have a medium frame basedo n my wrist and am well over the 'ideal' weight for a so called 'medium frame' and I am perfectly healthy and comfortable with my size.
So.
*shrug*
its good general metric I suppose? But on an individual basis you just need to work on getting to where you feel you look good and is also a healthy weight.0 -
if you're trying to work out your goal weight, use body fat percentage instead, as that's the same regardless of height or frame size (it differs by gender... the healthy range for women is18-28%
large frame means you have wider shoulders, rib cage and pelvis than average for your height. Wrist measurement tends to correlate with that, but not always, ditto elbow breadth. I wouldn't rely on either measurement to be honest. Large framed women tend to lament (or in my case rejoice :drinker: ) about "linebacker shoulders" and when your lean frame size is usually fairly obvious.
Also look at your hands and feet... large framed people tend to have relatively wide hands and feet, i.e. from the bone structure of the hands and feet not from any fat around them. Note that these things correlate they're not always that reliable. What adds the extra weight for a large framed person is the wider shoulders, rib cage and pelvis, the larger muscles that attach to these and larger internal organs. If that applies to you then you have a large frame regarless of wrist/elbow etc tests.0 -
throw the frame size out the window because none of it makes sense and go by bf %0
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meh
who needs labels for their frame?
and who cares what the weight range is?0 -
I WANT TO EFFECT GRAVITY THIS MANY!meh
who needs labels for their frame?
and who cares what the weight range is?0 -
NO
I WANT TO EFFECT GRAVITY THIS MANY!meh
who needs labels for their frame?
and who cares what the weight range is?
0 -
I WANT TO EFFECT GRAVITY THIS MANY!meh
who needs labels for their frame?
and who cares what the weight range is?
my lean mass stays the same regardless of the presence of any gravitational field... I
my lean mass 0 -
Are you happy with your body? If so, congratulations - keep up the good work. If not, keep up the good work.
Work on making your body as strong and as healthy as it can be. Stop focusing on weight and frame size. Be the best YOU.0 -
I'm not sure about the frame sizes but I just measured my wrists. 5.2'' I guessing that I have a small frame.0
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I like your profile picture OP.0
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if you're trying to work out your goal weight, use body fat percentage instead, as that's the same regardless of height or frame size (it differs by gender... the healthy range for women is18-28%
large frame means you have wider shoulders, rib cage and pelvis than average for your height. Wrist measurement tends to correlate with that, but not always, ditto elbow breadth. I wouldn't rely on either measurement to be honest. Large framed women tend to lament (or in my case rejoice :drinker: ) about "linebacker shoulders" and when you're lean frame size is usually fairly obvious.
Also look at your hands and feet... large framed people tend to have relatively wide hands and feet, i.e. from the bone structure of the hands and feet not from any fat around them. Note that these things correlate they're not always that reliable. What adds the extra weight for a large framed person is the wider shoulders, rib cage and pelvis, the larger muscles that attach to these and larger internal organs. If that applies to you then you have a large frame regarless of wrist/elbow etc tests.
I agree with this...
It's how I got my ideal weight of 150-152...puts me at 20-22% Bodyfat.
But I also know that having a large frame means my shoes will always be an 8, that I shouldn't weigh less than 135 (I did at one point and it wasn't pretty at all) and that I can weight a lot (relatively speaking) and not look it (which also has something to do with where I carry my weight)0 -
Why does it matter?
Because a woman with a larger frame has a different ideal weight than a woman with a medium or small frame....
I mean for me if I weighed 120lbs at my size I would technical still be "fine" as far as BMI goes for ideal weight but with me that's how much LBM I have so that's not good, and with my large frame I currently weigh 159 which puts me at the top of my ideal weight range but I still wear a size 5/6 so my ideal weight is actually right around 150-152.
BMI? I really don't suggest going by BMI. It's not necessarily correct. I'd suggest focusing more on body fat % if you are going to do that.
So honestly, it still shouldn't matter about trying to figure out your frame size as the BMI is not a good thing to go by.0 -
I have a medium frame basedo n my wrist and am well over the 'ideal' weight for a so called 'medium frame' and I am perfectly healthy and comfortable with my size.
So.
*shrug*
its good general metric I suppose? But on an individual basis you just need to work on getting to where you feel you look good and is also a healthy weight.
I think where you feel and look good is relative.
I know I look good now and I feel great but I still want 4-8lbs gone to be at my desired bf%...and some people may think...it's only 4-8lbs ...why bother...because I want what I want.0 -
Why does it matter?
Because a woman with a larger frame has a different ideal weight than a woman with a medium or small frame....
I mean for me if I weighed 120lbs at my size I would technical still be "fine" as far as BMI goes for ideal weight but with me that's how much LBM I have so that's not good, and with my large frame I currently weigh 159 which puts me at the top of my ideal weight range but I still wear a size 5/6 so my ideal weight is actually right around 150-152.
BMI? I really don't suggest going by BMI. It's not necessarily correct. I'd suggest focusing more on body fat % if you are going to do that.
So honestly, it still shouldn't matter about trying to figure out your frame size as the BMI is not a good thing to go by.
I don't go by BMI but some do...I was just using it as a reference.
But a woman my height who is a small frame could weigh 120 and be fine...
my ideal weight comes from BF%.0 -
when i go in to get my Body Composition done i am asked range of questions and one of them is my body frame size. I always kind of thought I was "bigger boned" than my friends of similar size and always used the fingers over your wrist method... something like: If you wrap your middle finger and thumb around your wrist and fingers touch or overlap than you have a small frame, if they barely touch or you can force a touch, you have a medium and if they are definately not going to touch even if you fell ill and looked like death.. you have a large frame.
Maybe I have the shortest fattest fingers ever.. or maybe I have a large frame? My nutritionist that runs our fitness cener as well and does my body comp is totally opposite of my circumstance and we tried to sample a few other women and compared tehm tho the charts that measure inches of your wrist or elbow and calibrate that way and it seemed to be pretty close to the charts.
i have also read soemthing about the SHAPE of your palms and feet... square vs oval vs triangular or somethiing like that...google it?0 -
Get rid of your scale. Get yourself a mirror. When you are happy with how you look, you will know you are at your goal. There is no perfect text book weight for height. People focus "way" too much on the scale.0
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Yeah it's just all really confusing and my body looks so weird like now. It's like I'm fat-skinny. I think I'll just take Joey's advice and try not to think about the scale anymore, it's so weird compared to what I actually see.0
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Sounds like you could use some weight training then. Scales, BMI, frame size and body fat percentages all have their own problems, and are probably least to most accurate for determining a good weight from left to right. Working on fitness levels and strength levels within a reasonable weight range for your height is going to help you more than some number on these scales.0
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There is nothing wrong with that, I'm the same - small wrists, large elbows. I just assume I should go by the stats for medium.
The most important thing is you get down to a healthy weight at which you feel happy and confident in yourself. You can't change your bone structure, so there is no point in letting it get you down.0 -
Why does it matter?
Because a woman with a larger frame has a different ideal weight than a woman with a medium or small frame....
I mean for me if I weighed 120lbs at my size I would technical still be "fine" as far as BMI goes for ideal weight but with me that's how much LBM I have so that's not good, and with my large frame I currently weigh 159 which puts me at the top of my ideal weight range but I still wear a size 5/6 so my ideal weight is actually right around 150-152.
Yup, what SexyStef said. As a teenager to young adult I just assumed I was a big guy, large framed yadda yadda and at 6' tall 190 pounds I was doing pretty well. At some point though reality struck, I actually measured and found that I was in fact small framed (no wonder I wear small gloves) and actually 190 was very heavy for me. Sure enough when I managed to track my bodyfat and get down to sub 15% I was only 155 pounds at 6' tall but I looked good. For a large framed 6' man 155 pounds could be severely underweight.
Frame matters.0 -
Frame size is hella important to me.
I grew up fat. I assumed I was naturally a "big guy" with a large frame because I carried it pretty well; I always looked like I weighed less than I did. When I first lost a ton of weight in my late teens, assuming I was a larger framed person, I arrived at a weight that was healthy for a large framed person.
And still had a ton of excess fat on my frame.
Discovered that I actually have a medium frame, bordering on small, frame that my weight should be much lower than what people would expect.
Can't speak for anyone else, but the frame/BMI/ideal weight ranges I see on the charts fit me damn near perfectly with my body fat percentage goals. So if I'd taken the kind of advice in this thread to throw out frame size, I'd be baffled and ****outtaluck.0 -
Yup, what SexyStef said. As a teenager to young adult I just assumed I was a big guy, large framed yadda yadda and at 6' tall 190 pounds I was doing pretty well. At some point though reality struck, I actually measured and found that I was in fact small framed (no wonder I wear small gloves) and actually 190 was very heavy for me. Sure enough when I managed to track my bodyfat and get down to sub 15% I was only 155 pounds at 6' tall but I looked good. For a large framed 6' man 155 pounds could be severely underweight.
Frame matters.
I agree. I'm 6'1" and small framed (6.5" wrists). I just completed a bulk to 186 lbs., which is near the top of normal BMI for my height. I ended up around 18-19% body fat. At 165 lbs. I was 10-12% body fat. A larger framed guy would have no problem carrying 185-200 lbs. at my height.0 -
Frame does matter, but it's hard to tell when you are overweight because of the extra fat in your wrist etc.
I wasn't surprised when I found out I was a large frame though
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Yup, what SexyStef said. As a teenager to young adult I just assumed I was a big guy, large framed yadda yadda and at 6' tall 190 pounds I was doing pretty well. At some point though reality struck, I actually measured and found that I was in fact small framed (no wonder I wear small gloves) and actually 190 was very heavy for me. Sure enough when I managed to track my bodyfat and get down to sub 15% I was only 155 pounds at 6' tall but I looked good. For a large framed 6' man 155 pounds could be severely underweight.
Frame matters.
I agree. I'm 6'1" and small framed (6.5" wrists). I just completed a bulk to 186 lbs., which is near the top of normal BMI for my height. I ended up around 18-19% body fat. At 165 lbs. I was 10-12% body fat. A larger framed guy would have no problem carrying 185-200 lbs. at my height.
That's great, but I still don't see why this matters. If you know your bf %...why worry about comparing what someone who has a larger frame would come in as? Why even worry about the weight unless you are going into a competition broken into weight class?0 -
Yup, what SexyStef said. As a teenager to young adult I just assumed I was a big guy, large framed yadda yadda and at 6' tall 190 pounds I was doing pretty well. At some point though reality struck, I actually measured and found that I was in fact small framed (no wonder I wear small gloves) and actually 190 was very heavy for me. Sure enough when I managed to track my bodyfat and get down to sub 15% I was only 155 pounds at 6' tall but I looked good. For a large framed 6' man 155 pounds could be severely underweight.
Frame matters.
I agree. I'm 6'1" and small framed (6.5" wrists). I just completed a bulk to 186 lbs., which is near the top of normal BMI for my height. I ended up around 18-19% body fat. At 165 lbs. I was 10-12% body fat. A larger framed guy would have no problem carrying 185-200 lbs. at my height.
That's great, but I still don't see why this matters. If you know your bf %...why worry about comparing what someone who has a larger frame would come in as? Why even worry about the weight unless you are going into a competition broken into weight class?
A. The vast majority of people are totally clueless about their body fat %, and will remain so.
B. For those many people, frame size is vitally important. Do you have any idea how many people of small or medium frames set a goal weight based off the high end of a large frame, and arrive at that goal severely disappointed and upset that they're still fat?0 -
Yup, what SexyStef said. As a teenager to young adult I just assumed I was a big guy, large framed yadda yadda and at 6' tall 190 pounds I was doing pretty well. At some point though reality struck, I actually measured and found that I was in fact small framed (no wonder I wear small gloves) and actually 190 was very heavy for me. Sure enough when I managed to track my bodyfat and get down to sub 15% I was only 155 pounds at 6' tall but I looked good. For a large framed 6' man 155 pounds could be severely underweight.
Frame matters.
I agree. I'm 6'1" and small framed (6.5" wrists). I just completed a bulk to 186 lbs., which is near the top of normal BMI for my height. I ended up around 18-19% body fat. At 165 lbs. I was 10-12% body fat. A larger framed guy would have no problem carrying 185-200 lbs. at my height.
That's great, but I still don't see why this matters. If you know your bf %...why worry about comparing what someone who has a larger frame would come in as? Why even worry about the weight unless you are going into a competition broken into weight class?
Because its a lot easier to get an accurate read on your frame size and look at a chart to determine what your ideal weight should be than it is to get an accurate bodyfat measurement especially if you are overweight. Bodyfat measurements (with the exception of a full on dunk tank or DEXA scan) can be pretty wildly innacurate especially for those with high bodyfat.
Now of course going off of "ideal weight" can be misleading because muscle can add weight but "good" weight that could skew your goals. That said its just easier to check your frame and go off a weight chart and yet its much better to do that then to just randomly shoot for some really low weight when you are in fact large framed (which a lot of people unfortunately do).0 -
Heck here is how easy it is to check our frame in general terms:
Wrap your thumb and index fingers around your wrist at the narrowest point.
1) Does your thumb and index finger not touch? Then you are large framed
2) Does your thumb and index finger barely touch? Then you are medium framed
3) Does your thumb and index finger overlap? Then you are small framed.
Done.
I can get my thumb completely over the nail of my index finger and sure enough my low bodyfat percentage weight and lean mass are quite low for a 6' tall man as a result. My profile picture is me when I was about 154 pounds as a 6' tall guy and I'm not rail skinny. If you were a 6' tall large framed guy at 154 pounds you'd probably be skeletal.0
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