I really don’t think wrist size has a major issue except for deadlifting and other high-tension excercises. If you think about it, a larger cross sectional bone area will be able to support more load, but who’s ever had a bone pull off? So I guess that a bigger wrist would allow larger tendons too, and that could be the deal breaker.
My wrist is 8" around
My ankles are only 9" around.
I’m 5’9".
Anyway, using sufficient load on your UB pressing moves should provide enough stimulus to increase bone density. That should make a significant impact. Beyond that, embrace your small/average wrists.
My wrist is 8" around
My ankles are only 10" around.
I’m 5’9".
Anyway, using sufficient load on your UB pressing moves should provide enough stimulus to increase bone density. That should make a significant impact. Beyond that, embrace your small/average wrists.
I dont know the exact measurements but I have pretty small wrists (between 6-7") but I have huge ankles (always have). Back when I had absolutely no calve muscle, I truly had cankles (and I was skinny as hell)!
I, too, have tiny little wrists. Your theory is right, though: small wrists (and joints in general) make the muscles look far, far bigger.
Most high-level bodybuilders had small joints. Check out pictures of Flex Wheeler. He has little-girl wrists. Even Arnold, at 6’2", said that a normal sized man could close his hand around his (Arnold’s) wrist.
Plus…there ain’t nothing you can do about it, so don’t worry.
It’s all relative. My wrists (8.00)look small compared to my forearms (16.25) and upper arm (20.5). You “want” (take that with a pound of salt) relatively small joints, but you don’t want then too small or you compromise strength. PL’s have large joints/bones usually and it helps them with tendon attachments and strength to add muscle mass. Small bones may limit growth indirectly via lack of loading abiltiy, large bones may limit aesthetics unless you grow large amounts of mass. It’s all relative. Middle of the road would seem best, but who really knows. Anybody have access to any anthropometric data on wrist and ankle sizes to see what is deemed small, avg., and large?
DH
[quote]harris447 wrote:
I, too, have tiny little wrists. Your theory is right, though: small wrists (and joints in general) make the muscles look far, far bigger.
Most high-level bodybuilders had small joints. Check out pictures of Flex Wheeler. He has little-girl wrists. Even Arnold, at 6’2", said that a normal sized man could close his hand around his (Arnold’s) wrist.
Plus…there ain’t nothing you can do about it, so don’t worry.[/quote]
Sorry, I was guestimating on the ankles. They’re really 9 1/8". Barely larger than my wrists.
I went to a party a while back and was dancing and a woman happened to notice my ankles and was amazed at how small they were to support my size. Many comment on how small my joints are for my size, and the funny thing is my wrist is pretty decent is size. It’s the relative look. I will say that I have noticed some ankle discomfort since I’ve been around 240+.
DH
[quote]Nate Dogg wrote:
Disc Hoss wrote:
How’s this for ya:
My wrist is 8" around
My ankles are only 10" around.
I’m 5’9".
Anyway, using sufficient load on your UB pressing moves should provide enough stimulus to increase bone density. That should make a significant impact. Beyond that, embrace your small/average wrists.
[quote]Tokyoo wrote:
So why would bodybuilders want small wrists? Mine are 5 and a 1/4 inch…pretty small, but so am I. I never really looked at my wrists until now…[/quote]
Small risks for girls is not a bad thing, bodybuilder or no.
My wrists are 7"3/4, ankles 10"7/8, at a height of 6’3, and hovering around 8% bf if that means anything at all. According to others posts here it seems I’m most likely on the high end of average.
My shoulders on the other hand aren’t particularily wide and are probably considered more average or below average, for a guy that’s 230 lbs, despite doing a lot of shoulder work.
Found this: Kinda fun/interesting info. It appears I’m slightly taller than average too! By about 3/8" ;-0.
Average Bodies
Well girls, I was doing some research concerning Human Engineering and PL 91-596 and stumbled onto some interesting data that I thought you might be interested in.
The source is MIL-STD-1472D
This relates/compares the typical sizes of American Men and Women for Human Engineering uses. You might be interested in using it to determine where you fall relative to the average person or GG.
NOTE:
Sizes are in inches
Nominal +/- sigma represents approx 68.3% of the
given population
Nominal +/- 3*sigma represents approx 99.7% of the
given population
SOME of the data provided includes the following:
IN HEIGHT FROM THE GROUND:
normalized
nominal nominal to height
ITEM MALE sigma FEMALE sigma MALE FEMALE
---------------- -----|----- ------|----- -----|------
Top of Head 68.60 | 2.74 64.25 | 2.58 1.000 | 1.000
Shoulder 56.65 2.46 52.50 2.49 .826 .817
Nipple 50.05 2.22 46.65 2.22 .730 .726
Elbow 43.10 2.01 40.50 1.88 .628 .630
* Waist 41.65 2.22 40.00 2.07 .607 .623
* Crotch 33.05 1.85 29.90 1.89 .482 .465
Knee (top) 20.90 1.34 18.95 1.06 .305 .295
DIFFERENCE MEASUREMENTS:
Shoulder-Crotch/Torso Length
23.60 | 2.16 22.60 | 2.19 .344 .352
Shoulder-Knee/Slip Length
35.75 | 1.90 33.55 | 1.78 .521 .522
HEAD / HAND / FOOT SIZES:
Head Circumference / Hat Size
22.05 .68 21.65 .66 .321 .337
Head Breadth 6.00 .25 5.73 .24 .087 .089
Ear Length(Height) 2.45 .17 2.06 .17 .036 .032
Neck Circ/Size 14.80 .79 13.10 .79 .216 .204
Palm Length 4.19 .26 3.90 .21 .061 .061
Hand Length 7.49 .39 7.10 .48 .109 .111
Finger Length 3.30 .32 3.20 .35 .048 .050
Hand Breadth 3.52 .19 3.03 .19 .051 .047
Hand Circumference/Glove Size
8.48(XL) .49 7.22(M) .36 .124 .112
Heel\Ankle Circumference/Sandal Strap size
13.45 .68 12.16 .58 .196 .189
Foot Circumference @ ball/Vamp "length"
9.83 .59 8.91 .45 .143 .139
Foot Breadth/Shoe Width
3.91 .23 3.50 .21 .057 .054
Foot Length/Shoe Size [Size 10.5] [Size 8]
10.53 .53 9.58 .51 .153 .149
MISCELLANEOUS:
Bust Size 37.35 2.64 35.15 2.64 .544 .547
[Size 10]
Waist Size 32.35 3.31 28.15 2.89 .472 .438
[Size 16W] [Size 14/12W]
Hip Size 37.80 2.61 37.75 2.46 .551 .588
[Size 12W] [Size 12]
Trunk Circumference/Bathing Suit girth/Full Torso
64.80 3.34 60.75 2.89 .945 .946
[Size 17] [Size 11]
Bicep Circ(flexd) 12.60 1.22 10.60 .91 .184 .165
Forearm Circ(flx) 11.65 .82 9.75 .64 .170 .152
Wrist Circum. 6.75 .33 5.90 .30 .098 .092
Upr Thigh Circ. 22.00 1.88 22.30 1.88 .321 .347
mid Calf Circ. 14.30 1.16 13.70 1.03 .208 .213
Ankle Circumf. 8.75 .70 8.30 .55 .128 .129
==================================================================
NOTES:
It appears that WOMEN have longer TORSOs (35.2% vs 34.4%)
MEN are more LEGGY - if looked at from the crotch (48.3% vs 46.5%)
but WOMEN edge out men if looked at from the WAIST (62.3% vs 60.7%)
MEN have longer THIGHs (17.7% vs 17.0%)
and longer CALVES (30.5% vs 29.5%)
GGs are big headed {relative to height}
Glove size (6.5-7 = S 7-7.5 = M 7.5-8 = L 8-8.5 = XL 8.5-9 = XXL)
Women's shoe sizes [RE: Sears]
Foot LENGTH of 10" defined as SIZE 9
Change 1/2 size for each .1875" of length
(eg Size 10 = 10+.1875+.1875 = 10.375" length foot)
[quote]jsbrook wrote:
Tokyoo wrote:
So why would bodybuilders want small wrists? Mine are 5 and a 1/4 inch…pretty small, but so am I. I never really looked at my wrists until now…
Small risks for girls is not a bad thing, bodybuilder or no.
Maybe it’s just my forearm strength that is lacking, but I can’t stand not being able to bench heavy (for me) without straps.
The most I can go up to is about 275 without straps. I get sick of taking them on and off when doing a 10X3.
I actually dropped a load for the first time when going for a 3RM then working to a 1RM. I had 365 in my hands and forgot to wrap my wrists. The bar came down faster than I could have immagined and scared the crap out of me.
If I wasn’t in a power rack I’d probably still be in a hospital. I had the pins set up to where I can still touch when I bring the bar down, but the pins will catch if I’m not arching.
My wrists also ache a little bit almost all the time, especially after doing deads or cleans.
Sorry, I was guestimating on the ankles. They’re really 9 1/8". Barely larger than my wrists.