September 16th, 2010
Since I started exercising years ago, I’ve always had a dynamic set of fitness goals. I never had a set of ideal body measurements that I could work toward though. And what comprises an ideal body in any case? As with numerous people, my thoughts of the perfect body meant larger muscles. But larger muscles are not inherently attractive to everybody. If this were the case, all Hollywood stars would be bodybuilders. Taylor Lautner, one of the sexiest men in Hollywood today, has a sinewy, more angular body then the typical bodybuilder of old. Thus, what are your ideal body measurements? Below I describe how to get the perfect body.
This writing is geared toward men because we typically experience more difficulty in figuring out exactly what is thought to be attractive and therefore the goals to which we should aspire. A growing number of people agree that having more muscles is not the most attractive look out there.
When I was starting out, I would spend hours looking at any number of bodybuilding sites in an effort to understand what my ideal measurements should be. As usual, bodybuilding sites don’t provide the best template for an ideal body. According to bodybuilding legend Steve Reeve’s calculator, my chest would have to be upwards of 50”. My waist should be around 30”. Basically, if I were to abide by this, I would need to increase the muscle mass of my chest such that it would become larger than the present size of my shoulders. Couple this with a 30″ waist and a six pack of abs, and I quickly concluded that this was not a viable set of numbers. In fairness, the ideal bodybuilder weight for someone my height is 175lbs. Either way, I imagine I’d look like a cartoon character with these measurements.
John McCallum’s espoused position is quite a bit more realistic. Let’s look at the results of his calculator, given both my target and true measurements.
Remember that the measurements are provided for a competitive bodybuilder, which does not describe me, but they do give a reasonably good point of beginning for someone in ideal condition. According to this, I should focus on adding a little bulk to my chest and legs, a lot of bulk to my biceps, and continue to trim a little fat from my waist and hips. But would having these measurements mean that I am better looking?
The best approach I’ve found when it comes to ideal measurements is the Adonis Effect. The program was designed specifically around research that shows what body type women, and other men, find most attractive. Basically, this program identifies a shoulder to waist ratio, termed the golden ratio, to which every man ought to strive to obtain. The ideal golden ratio is defined to be 1.618. In addition, researchers found that the most appealing bodies had a waist that was 45% of your height. One of the best parts about the Adonis Effect program is that it not only provides you with the numbers for a perfect body, but it also supplies you with a plan to follow to help you reach these measurements.
My “perfect” measurements are 30.5 inches for my waist and 49.5 inches for my shoulders. Basically, I am very close to my perfect waist measurement, but I need to increase my shoulders. This seems about right since should I be able to reach these targets I would appear to have a nice V-shape.
In conclusion, ideal body measurements are very difficult to define. You are the most important judge of what you consider ideal. Even if you have a goal that you feel comfortable with, it can be a grueling task to achieve. When you have a long way to go to get there, everything may appear to be unrealistic. But you need to understand that it will take a concerted effort to achieve the perfect body and that it is likely to be a long time before you get to that point. The Adonis Effect suggests a diet and an exercise plan that you can follow to learn how to get the perfect body.