Body frame and wrist size? I feel like it's lying to me.

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RomulanWarbird
RomulanWarbird Posts: 230
in Health and Weight Loss
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?
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Replies

  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    Why does it matter?
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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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.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    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.
  • tameko2
    tameko2 Posts: 31,634 Member
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    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.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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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 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.
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
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    throw the frame size out the window because none of it makes sense and go by bf %
  • Cranquistador
    Cranquistador Posts: 39,744 Member
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    meh

    who needs labels for their frame?

    and who cares what the weight range is?
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
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    meh

    who needs labels for their frame?

    and who cares what the weight range is?
    I WANT TO EFFECT GRAVITY THIS MANY!
  • Cranquistador
    Cranquistador Posts: 39,744 Member
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    meh

    who needs labels for their frame?

    and who cares what the weight range is?
    I WANT TO EFFECT GRAVITY THIS MANY!
    NO:angry:
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    meh

    who needs labels for their frame?

    and who cares what the weight range is?
    I WANT TO EFFECT GRAVITY THIS MANY!

    my lean mass stays the same regardless of the presence of any gravitational field... I :heart: my lean mass
  • gypsy_spirit
    gypsy_spirit Posts: 2,107 Member
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    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.
  • ROBOTFOOD
    ROBOTFOOD Posts: 5,527 Member
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    I'm not sure about the frame sizes but I just measured my wrists. 5.2'' I guessing that I have a small frame.
  • Cranquistador
    Cranquistador Posts: 39,744 Member
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    I like your profile picture OP.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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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)
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    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.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    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.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
    Options
    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%.
  • asamuels85
    asamuels85 Posts: 170 Member
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    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?
  • joeysfacts
    joeysfacts Posts: 83 Member
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    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.
  • RomulanWarbird
    RomulanWarbird Posts: 230
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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.

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