charlesatlas.com

Many months ago, while surfing through the net, I came across a "Grecian Ideal Body Measurements Calculator". The only variable is your wrist size. Since then I have used it as a sort of benchmark. Here comes the interesting part which gives the title to this thread. In the booklet "Secrets Of Muscular Power & Beauty", you can find Charles Atlas's wrist measurement, which was 7.75". So I ran the calculator with this measurement to obtain the ideal measurements for Charles Atlas. Then I contrasted these to Charles Atlas' real measurements in percentage form, ie what percentage represented the real measurements being the ideal measurements 100%. For example, if the ideal measurement is 40" and the real one is 38", that would yield 95%. I did the same with my measurements and my ideal measurements. By the way, my wrist is 6.625". To my surprise, percentage wise, I measure up very similar to Charles Atlas, except for my arms (both forearm and upper arm), which I need to put more work on. Surely, I do not come near to have Charles Atlas measurements by tape, but taking into account my frame, I am doing great!

By the way, the wrist measurement is related to the thickness of your bones, which is related to the amount of muscle fibers you possess. The more muscle fibers you have, the larger muscles you can develop by exercise. It is not a surprise that my measurements are smaller to that of Charles Atlas, given I have a 6.625" wrist and his was 7.75". By doing the little experiment I have explained, I was able to take that difference out of the equation and compare based on each others potential rather than what the tape blindly reads. And you, how do you measure up to Charles Atlas?

I have my doubts about them calculators. Those calculators seem to not take into account that one's wrists and ankle measurements can change over time, as mine have. My height has remained the same over the past 20 years, but my wrist and ankles have gotten thicker.

In my experience and of my buddies, wrist and ankle measurements have remained constant. My guess is that variations in the size of these might come around due to calcium reserves (ie bone density). Thus, you might see an increase by exercising and eating well if you were a little bit undernourished/trained; as well as a decrease by lack of activity as we age. But as far as I know, this changes are not significant for adults. Having said that, my idea of using the calculator is just to give a rough estimate of how well developed you are (size wise only). A sort of "just curious about how well I am doing" sort of test. Obviously, DT brings health in ways that are not measureable, such as pain free joints, funtional strength, an splendid sense of well-being, just to name a few.

If you want to carry out this little experiment of mine, following is the calculator I used:

• Greecian Ideal Calculator
• Wrist Size = α inches/cm
• Chest = 6.55 α
• Waist = 4.60 α
• Hip = 5.55 α
• Upper Arm = 2.35 α
• Forearm = 1.90 α
• Thigh = 3.45 α
• Calf = 2.20 α
• Neck = 2.40 α

Something I notice when measuring my wrists, one is thicker than the other. Which number do I plug into the calculator?

Spearhead, I would personally use the average. The calculator is not exact science, but it will give a rough estimate of your natural potential if you train the Charles Atlas way.

I forgot to mention that it also helps to spot your weak areas. For example, as was my case when I first wrote this post, my arms and forearms were at 89% of the ideal, whereas the rest of my bodyparts were above 90%. So I had to work more my arms to be more symmetrical.