Frame Size... Are You Weird Like Me?

GottaBurnEmAll
GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've seen a lot of posts lately bringing frame size into the discussion, and even links to some calculators.

Over the two years I've been losing weight, I've looked up various weight charts, and many of them include ranges for frame size.

I always thought I had a medium frame because my shoulders are broad.

But my wrist is tiny.

Then I measure my elbow breadth. It's got the measurement for a medium frame.

Then I lost enough weight to see my hips get really small. They're about right for a small frame.

I am so confused.

At this point, I give up. I'm going for a goal look. Right now my weight is at the bottom of the recommended weight for medium frames of my size and I'm still not happy with my thighs. I guess this means that in spite of my shoulders and elbows I have a small frame?

Or, maybe, just maybe, it means that I'm over thinking this.

Does anyone else have conflicting data on those calculators?

Replies

  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    Oh, my ribcage is pretty small, I think. I take a 30 band size bra, and the bras I just bought are getting big on me.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Does it matter whether you have a frame size label?

    Lose weight till you're happy with how you look, end of.

    Not at all. I just think it's an interesting quirk of biology.

    I also wish I could go back to the '80's and be this thin. I'd have no need of shoulder pads.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    The frame size results for elbow and wrist come up different for me too.
    I have been from 100 lbs to 180 lbs as an adult. I think I looked and felt my best around the middle of the healthy weight range for my height (about 125 lbs) so I guess my frame size is medium.

  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    Lounmoun wrote: »
    The frame size results for elbow and wrist come up different for me too.
    I have been from 100 lbs to 180 lbs as an adult. I think I looked and felt my best around the middle of the healthy weight range for my height (about 125 lbs) so I guess my frame size is medium.

    I think that was kind of what I was getting at in a round about way.

    I saw in another thread where someone else had conflicting measurements too. I guess those of us in that situation need to go by where we look and feel our best.
  • Vanilla_Lattes
    Vanilla_Lattes Posts: 251 Member
    Is frame size even real?
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    Haven't given much thought to frame size, but I think you're lucky to have big shoulders!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    brwelch1 wrote: »
    Is frame size even real?

    Um yeah... like OP says her ribcage is 30 inches. Mine is 34 and you can see my ribs (I'm 5'5" so not exactly tall either). We're all different.

    The elbow/wrist thing is messed up though, I get small frame for wrist (LOLNOPE) and medium for elbow. But let's be real, it's all genetics, some people have thin limbs and large torsos and whatnot.. Someone in the other thread was saying that they work with professionals and that they take basically all measurements into account.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    I'm pretty sure I'm medium frame size. I have wide straight shoulders, I'd be fooling myself if i called myself petite lol That aint never gonna happen. Even at my tiniest weight i still felt like a clobbering giant next to petite/small framed women.
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  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    brwelch1 wrote: »
    Is frame size even real?

    I honestly don't know that it really matters. I think that your body composition on top of the frame matters more.

    It's just interesting to me because of what I assumed about myself for years. I only realized that I was probably small once my weight dropped when I realized that I still had some body fat I could lose and where that loss would put me on weight charts.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    brwelch1 wrote: »
    Is frame size even real?

    Um yeah... like OP says her ribcage is 30 inches. Mine is 34 and you can see my ribs (I'm 5'5" so not exactly tall either). We're all different.

    The elbow/wrist thing is messed up though, I get small frame for wrist (LOLNOPE) and medium for elbow. But let's be real, it's all genetics, some people have thin limbs and large torsos and whatnot.. Someone in the other thread was saying that they work with professionals and that they take basically all measurements into account.

    I'm pretty sure that I'm shorter than you too. And yeah, you can see my ribs.

    I was reading the taller women thread... I think they were 5'8 or 5'9, and all of them at goal weight had 36 inch hips or so and wore size 8's.

    I'm only 5'2", I'm not even at goal weight yet. My hips are 34" and I wear a size 0.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    edited October 2016
    Noel_57 wrote: »
    The wrist/elbow measurements to determine "frame size" is all but meaningless and obsolete, as they do not take into account other parts of a persons bone structure. And frame size is especially useless in trying to determine your "ideal" weight, as everyone has a different ideal weight.

    I tend to concur. I think bodyfat probably is the most useful metric. It's hard to determine it with any precision, though without incurring some expense.

    I was sort of getting to that point in a round about way with this thread.

    I've seen a lot of discussions lately centering around frame size and weight and I don't know that they're really very useful in determining if you've reached some sort of "ideal".
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    Sloth2016 wrote: »
    From the waist up, I am fairly comparable to others I know in size, but my legs are shorter! It really limits my top speed when running.

    So, when the zombies come, I need to be able to beat on 'em not just out run 'em.

    I enrolled in a boxing bootcamp...

    I have long legs for my height. Do you know what this does to my squatting form?

    My running continues to improve. Take that, zombies! Then again, I'm so short I don't think it will matter. I'm zombie meat.
  • Catawampous
    Catawampous Posts: 447 Member
    I could NEVER figure this out. I have tiny wrists ... so small ... elbow, same thing. I do have broader shoulders and farm girl hips! So people say I'm curvy. I haven't decided if that's a compliment yet. :| I'm 5'6 and my best weight ever was 145lbs. It's where I looked and felt the best so that's what I'm going for LOL
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,148 Member
    I'm pretty sure I fall under "medium" with wrist and elbow measurements. If I squeeze really, really hard on my wrists, I can be "small".

    I don't think it matter much for anything. I just know I'm an XL jacket on a Barbie doll hanger.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »
    I've seen a lot of posts lately bringing frame size into the discussion, and even links to some calculators.

    Over the two years I've been losing weight, I've looked up various weight charts, and many of them include ranges for frame size.

    I always thought I had a medium frame because my shoulders are broad.

    But my wrist is tiny.

    Then I measure my elbow breadth. It's got the measurement for a medium frame.

    Then I lost enough weight to see my hips get really small. They're about right for a small frame.

    I am so confused.

    At this point, I give up. I'm going for a goal look. Right now my weight is at the bottom of the recommended weight for medium frames of my size and I'm still not happy with my thighs. I guess this means that in spite of my shoulders and elbows I have a small frame?

    Or, maybe, just maybe, it means that I'm over thinking this.

    Does anyone else have conflicting data on those calculators?

    Same. Those calculators that only use wrists put me at a small frame. But my head size, shoulder width, shoe size etc. are all medium or even above average.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    brwelch1 wrote: »
    Is frame size even real?

    How can frame size be real if our eyes aren't real?
  • Arizona_C
    Arizona_C Posts: 1,476 Member
    Hi, in France we use different letters for different types of builds:

    A (small shoulders large hips)
    O (Generally round)
    8 (shoulders and hips even, small waist)
    H (Shoulders and hips even, waist less defined)
    V (shoulders larger than hips)

    I'm a V, larger shoulders than hips, very slender ancles and wrists. It sounds like you are a V too, if that helps you to get a clearer image?

    Afterwards, the frame for each category can be either small, medium or large, as well as you can be tall or short

  • DeficitDuchess
    DeficitDuchess Posts: 3,099 Member
    edited October 2016
    I just measure my wrists, to determine my frame size! In other areas where you deposit majority of your fat, might not accurately reflect; your overall frame size. I've never seen anyone with Popeye's wrists, therefore I believe that that's; the most trusted area to measure!
  • JessicaMcB
    JessicaMcB Posts: 1,503 Member
    Elbow breadth is easier to mismeasure I've been told and I experiences the same as you, mini wrists and medium elbows. I am definitely small framed though.
  • tomteboda
    tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
    The only way I'm weird is that so of my measurements say I'm large. Very large framed. I'd be large framed if I was a man, and I'm a woman. I like to say that it's my viking ancestors...they didn't call women "shieldmaidens" for nothing.
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,110 Member
    tomteboda wrote: »
    The only way I'm weird is that so of my measurements say I'm large. Very large framed. I'd be large framed if I was a man, and I'm a woman. I like to say that it's my viking ancestors...they didn't call women "shieldmaidens" for nothing.

    Im in the same boat and naturally very muscular for a woman. I used to hate this body type because I didnt feel feminine or pretty. Now I have embraced it and learned how to dress for my shape.
  • Jeyradan
    Jeyradan Posts: 164 Member
    I have an absolutely tiny frame. I'm male and 5'2", and I still have visible (grabbable) excess body fat when I weigh 102 lbs. My wrist size yields a "small" frame, but my elbow says I'm medium (ahahaaa no).
  • afatpersonwholikesfood
    afatpersonwholikesfood Posts: 577 Member
    My wrists = small and my elbows = large.
  • Mumu190672
    Mumu190672 Posts: 76 Member
    My wrist are very large and don't change size healthy weight or overweight around 7 and half inches. I am a woman and this number is large for a man. I have no fat on my feet but I need to buy extra large shoes.
    As a woman even when I was at healthy weight I could see my hands and feet were larger than my partner.
    I can't buy bangles or watches or shoes in the high street.
    I can see there is no fat there but make me feel very embarrassed.

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