how do i take my measurements??

Alinta · 11-30-2006, 11:09 PM

i am wanting to take measurements at my hips, waist, bust and thighs but i don't know the exact spots where people are supposed to take them - where exactly is the place on your hips that's considered THE measuring place? is it just the widest bit? hah. same with the waist - is that just the thinest part? I'd like to get it right without having to get someone else to do it for me. Does anyone know how to do it correctly? I just tried it but I realised I have no idea what i am doing...

Also, is there any measurement that is the most 'desirable'? eg like apparently everyone wants to have the same measurements as marylin munroe etc, does anyone know what would be the approximate measurements of someone who is a size 8? I am a size 8 but i am also wondering how much it fluxuates etc.

sorry for so many questions!! cheers guys

emunah · 12-01-2006, 07:05 AM

www.mybodycomp.com shows you where to measure.

Skydance · 12-02-2006, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alinta

i am wanting to take measurements at my hips, waist, bust and thighs but i don't know the exact spots where people are supposed to take them - where exactly is the place on your hips that's considered THE measuring place? is it just the widest bit? hah. same with the waist - is that just the thinest part? I'd like to get it right without having to get someone else to do it for me. Does anyone know how to do it correctly? I just tried it but I realised I have no idea what i am doing...

Also, is there any measurement that is the most 'desirable'? eg like apparently everyone wants to have the same measurements as marylin munroe etc, does anyone know what would be the approximate measurements of someone who is a size 8? I am a size 8 but i am also wondering how much it fluxuates etc.

sorry for so many questions!! cheers guys

I couldn't get anything from that site Emunah posted. But since I am interested in the topic, I will post my best guesses and see if anybody else might post theirs to compare notes.

For my hip measurement, I always take the largest circumference inbetween the bottom of my butt and my waist.

The waist is a funny one (for males atleast). They tend to measure their waist lower than women, which made sense 20 years ago because they always wore their pants that much lower that women. However, with all the women wearing super low rise jeans/pants these days you would think their waist measurement would be going up a couple of inches. But I still see women measuring their waist higher in the smallest area between their rib cage and their hips. Don't get me wrong I am not complaining, if somebody asks me my waist measurement, I will always give them the female one. Its the one that matters to me.

Bust, hmm not particularly one of my favorites. My guess for this one is that if your breasts get larger, your bra size doesn't change with regard to inches, just the cup size. So atleast for body building purposes, I would think this measurement would be taken under the breasts.

Thighs this is one that I really wonder about other opinions. It would seem logical to measure this around the middle of the thigh. But I have found my thigh to be largest just under the panty line.

As for the most desireable measurements, that obviously is very subjective. But one thing I can say is that Marylin Monroe was no size 8. I think I heard 14 somewhere. But that is slightly skewed because a 14 back then is closer to a size 12 now. The fact that most (not all but, most) women tend to want to be smaller is no secret to the clothing manufactures. So they have slowly made the sizes bigger. Imagine this senario... You are used to wearing a size 8 and suddenly you try on a pair of jeans that look great and they are size 6; Are you not more likely to buy them than if instead they were size 8 or even a 10? I am sure there are many exceptions to this but I have found this to be the common female mind set, and am totally in agreement I might add.

Now as for the ideal size (keep in mind all this is just my opinion). This has to vary by height. From my viewpoint, at 5'8" and being between a size 8 and 10 for bottom, I would love to be a comfortable size 6 that is able to squeeze into a 4 if need be.

MauiZos · 12-02-2006, 11:32 AM

Waist measurements should be taken across your belly button, not the narrowest part of you - sorry ladies...

Hip measurements should be taken around your pelvic bones and the top of your glutes.

Thigh measurements should be taken about 2/3 of the way from your knee to your groin, with your quad flexed.

Biceps should be measured with your arm out 90 deg from the side of the body, flexing with your fist toward your head. Like a regular "Mr. Muscles" kind of pose.

Alinta · 12-03-2006, 07:41 PM

hey thanks for the in depth replies. i couldn't find much on the link either but i then read somewhere that thing measurements should be taken right up underneath the buttock and waist at the smallest and hips at tha widest part etc etc, but i guess that is best for clothing in terms of making sure you fit into it, and I was reading this on some clothing site.

i am interested though in the waist measurement being across the bellybutton, that is a new one, i shall have to go try it out! it's true that the smallest part of the waist seems to be quite high - only just under the ribs really

abcreations · 12-04-2006, 12:26 PM

Anybody else have answers to this? I know how to measure for fitting clothes but is that the same measuring for weight lifting.

http://www.simplicity.com/section/fi...CharInches.pdf

MauiZos · 12-05-2006, 09:15 PM

If you're just tracking your muscle growth progress, I think the most important thing is to always measure in the same manner at the same spot.

When measuring for health reasons, like to determine your waist-to-hip ratio (an indicator of heart disease risk), you always go across the belly button. You can even suck your stomach in as much as you want, because that's a reflection of ab strength not fatty tissue. It's impossible to "suck in" your omentum, which is where that really dangerous kind of belly fat is stored, if you have any and I'm fairly certain most of us here don't!

For women, the waist measurement (at the belly button) should be no greater than 32" or about half your height.

---> For anyone that has seen Dr. Mehmet Oz on his recent TV appearances, you'll know where this stuff is coming from :-)

Alinta · 12-08-2006, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MauiZos

For women, the waist measurement (at the belly button) should be no greater than 32" or about half your height.

:-)

ahhhh! ok that's a really good point. i think i'm 27 inches at the belly button. what is everyone else?

Skydance · 12-08-2006, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alinta

ahhhh! ok that's a really good point. i think i'm 27 inches at the belly button. what is everyone else?

Haven't measured it lately but my best has been either 28 or 29. I am pretty sure I am not larger than 31 right now and sure that I am taller 62. For that matter I am am taller than 68 inches. But I think I would stop eating if I ever approached 34. That's not meant as an offense to anybody, its just how I feel about my appearance.