How does one measure forearms? Are the arms extended or curled?
Also, I assume thigh measurements are taken at the widest part of the thigh?
I’ll Play…
5’ 10" @ 200lb.
Body-part Grecian Ideal BlueCollarTr8n
Neck 17.32 17.12
Bicep 16.50 17.00
Forearm 13.50 12.75
Chest 45.00 44.00
Waist 34.00 33.00
Hip 40.50 39.50
Thigh 24.50 25.50
Calve 15.80 16.00
For bodybuilding purposes, the tape measure is an extremely flawed device for tracking success. It is all about how things “appear”. It is often an illusion. A lean and dense body just “looks” bigger than a soft and flat body. The concept of setting parameters with a tape measure is foolhardy. I have yet to hear a knowledgeable physique critic say something like…“those shoulders are too broad” or “that waist is too tight” or “those hips are too narrow” or “those biceps have too great a peak” or “those pecs are overly striated” for example. Bodybuilding is all about extremes. Bigger, leaner, and a more pronounced “X frame” wins the day.
Being overly concerned about the ratio of wrist-to-waist measurement is just silly. Like Stu suggested…let the mirror be your guide. It’s all about a visual display. When the day comes that a serious bodybuilder complains of having clavicles that are “too long” and that being “overly wide” from delt-to-delt has actually hurt his placings…don’t worry about the numbers. Just keep putting on muscle all-over. And the OP seems to be doing a great job of that.
Apparently, I need to add just about an inch and half on all of my measurements to reach the Reeves ideal. Combine that with lowering my fat % down to single digits and I’m probably looking at 2.5" or more added to my current measurements.
I have a long way to go.
[quote]studgorilla wrote:
For bodybuilding purposes, the tape measure is an extremely flawed device for tracking success. [/quote]
I disagree with the importance of tape readings and tracking progress. Along with the scale, mirror, and skin-fold calipers; the tape…used properly is a valuable tool. I will agree that the scale and mirror are used on a daily/weekly basis and tape/skinfold readings should be taken no more than a couple of times a year. I will alway concede the fact that the goal is to build the biggest body possible. That is going to take some time (10 years +)and keeping acurate records makes a difference over the long haul.
[quote]BlueCollarTr8n wrote:
[quote]studgorilla wrote:
For bodybuilding purposes, the tape measure is an extremely flawed device for tracking success. [/quote]
I disagree with the importance of tape readings and tracking progress. Along with the scale, mirror, and skin-fold calipers; the tape…used properly is a valuable tool. I will agree that the scale and mirror are used on a daily/weekly basis and tape/skinfold readings should be taken no more than a couple of times a year. I will alway concede the fact that the goal is to build the biggest body possible. That is going to take some time (10 years +)and keeping acurate records makes a difference over the long haul.
[/quote]
Agreed. No one has said take measurements on a weekly basis, but you DO need to keep track of whether you are making gains in the long run. It isn’t like you will put 3 inches on your biceps in less than a year.
although i do agree that a tape has its place in measuring progress, one major flaw i see in using it is the fact that the number it gives you doesnt necessarily reflect a weak point. say my bicep measurement is not where i want it to be. my biceps could be just fine but the tri (although it is relaxed) that gives alot of the measurement could be undersized. same thing with a chest measurement, the lats, posture, and even breath play a huge part, making it somewhat unreliable unless considerable gains have been made. in my opinion a tape can give you some direction but i agree with stu that a mirror never lies and should give the ultimate answer. it would be very cool to see 10 years of measurements like bluecollartr8n was talking about.
I have really small wrists, so according to the Grecian standard, I am very close to ideal. Perfect, I can quit doing all this lifting and crap. It’s hard.
[quote]kirchman wrote:
although i do agree that a tape has its place in measuring progress, one major flaw i see in using it is the fact that the number it gives you doesnt necessarily reflect a weak point. say my bicep measurement is not where i want it to be. my biceps could be just fine but the tri (although it is relaxed) that gives alot of the measurement could be undersized. [/quote]
?? No one said take measurements and AVOID the mirror. If your goal is really big muscles and you have 15" arms right now, taking yearly measurements is NOT going to hold you back at all. It can only help in the sense of making sure you are moving in the right direction.
There are tons of guys who we have seen right here who have a very distorted sense of how much muscle they have. They are still skinny yet apparently their “mirror viewing skillz” are impaired. Taking measurements simply enforces the understanding of whether gains are actualy being made at all.
Bottom line, guys are not growing like they used to. Too much conflicting info.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Bottom line, guys are not fully dedicated, consistently training hard, eating big, resting often like they used to, plus they have the attention span of a horny gnat.[/quote]
Agreed.
Are we having this argument again? Must be Friday…Mondays is TBT vs. Splits…
What day is “clean bulk vs. dirty bulk”?
[quote]SteelyD wrote:
What day is “clean bulk vs. dirty bulk”?[/quote]
That’s Wednesday…
Ah crap. I need to come back Weds and watch X throw burgers at people.
Unlike those I actually found this one interesting, but i havent been around too much so idk if this same topics been tossed around yet so its fresh to me:P
For the sake of clarity,…I said that the tape measure was an extremely flawed device for evaluating bodybuilding progress. I did not say it was useless. Occasional checking of numbers on the scale, and from the tape measures is a good idea. I would put more value on the mirror and your lifting numbers to chart progress.
[quote]studgorilla wrote:
For the sake of clarity,…I said that the tape measure was an extremely flawed device for evaluating bodybuilding progress. I did not say it was useless. Occasional checking of numbers on the scale, and from the tape measures is a good idea. I would put more value on the mirror and your lifting numbers to chart progress. [/quote]
How the hell is it extremely flawed??? if you gain an inch anywhere as the tape measure will tell you, you know youl be making progress. If you don’t measure you don’t know how big anything is.
Also, some people’s perception of what they see in the mirror is skewed in the other direction. I have put on a good amount of mass over the past two years, but I don’t see myself as being much bigger, even when I look in the mirror.
Without the tape measure and scale, I probably would have gotten discouraged long ago. I celebrate just a little (on the inside… well, ok, sometimes on the outside. but mostly on the inside) every time I see the tape showing another 1/8".
[quote]Blackaggar wrote:
[quote]studgorilla wrote:
For the sake of clarity,…I said that the tape measure was an extremely flawed device for evaluating bodybuilding progress. I did not say it was useless. Occasional checking of numbers on the scale, and from the tape measures is a good idea. I would put more value on the mirror and your lifting numbers to chart progress. [/quote]
How the hell is it extremely flawed??? if you gain an inch anywhere as the tape measure will tell you, you know youl be making progress. If you don’t measure you don’t know how big anything is.[/quote]
By that, I mean that bodybuilding is visual and subjective. It is not objective and precisely measuered. Frank Zane and Chris Dickerson were able to appear much bigger than they actually were, and were able to beat Olympia-level bodybuilders who indeed were much bigger than they were. Danny Padilla was known as “The Giant Killer” and had a tremendous physique. He frequently beat top level bodybuilders in his day, the 70s and 80s, who outweighed him by 40 pounds. His frame was absolutely jam-packed with dense, full, symmetrical muscle. But if the tape measure was used as barometer of success, he wouldn’t have placed very high. A smaller guy can create the illusion of being much bigger sometimes. Mad Titan and onemorerep are the examples from this web-site that project much bigger than they really are. Full muscle-bellys, small joints, good genetics, and great conditioning contribute to the visual of a physique that looks big, but on the scale, or with the tape, isn’t as big as it appears. The tape and scale can be a bit deceiving…that is what I mean by flawed. The tape measure doesn’t discriminate between fat and muscle. Imagine a guy with a 20 inch arm. After months of hard training and dieting he’s lost as much body-fat as he can tolerate. He’s kept most of his lean muscle, but has lost water-weight and body-fat as his contest date gets nearer. His dieted-down state has caused his arm measurement to go from 20 to 19 inches. That lean and contest-ready 19 incher, is likely to appear bigger than when it was 20 inches. The lack of body-fat and water beneath the skin allows the muscle to “stand out” more, visually. The opposite example would be when training and dieting are more lax, and a guy may gain an inch on his arm. If it is water-weight and fat, it may not look as big even though it stretches the tape an inch more. The tape is just one tool. It delivers very limited info, and that info can be misleading. Such a large part of bodybuilding is about creating an illusion when on stage. That is what I meant.
Holy bullshit. If you are SHORT then of course you will look “swole” at lesser body weights. That has jack shit to do with measuring your own progress ESPECIALLY WHEN WE FUCKING WROTE SPECIFICALLY A TIME RANGE OF ONCE A FUCKING YEAR. There is no way in hell this can iold someone back because if you aren’t making MEASURABLE progress over the course of a year, you are wasting your fucking time.
This is bodybuilding, not whateverthefuckeveryoneelseisdoing.