I'm trying to get an idea on whether I am small, medium or big boned. I know that unless I go to a Dr it'll be just a rough guess. But I would quite like to have an idea of my frame size to help me come up with my final goal weight, as BMI can only take you so far.

However, according to my calculations, using both the wrist measurement and elbow breadth, I am both small and big boned. Highly unlikely I think you'll agree, so I wondered if anyone in 3fc land had any other tried and tested methods to help me. My wrist measurement is 6inches and my elbow breadth is 3inches.

Thank you

I recently was trying to figure this out for myself. I'd always thought I had a large body frame, mostly due to muscular calves and my height, but I also have 6 inch wrists and am 5'9", and I found a site that said that any woman over 5'5" with a 6.25" wrist or smaller is a small-framed woman. I'll try to see if I can find that link and repost here later.

you seem to have the same prob i have with these things. according to your wrist measurement you r small frame, but elbow measurement you are large.

i am the same so i picked a weight for a medium frame, just to be in the middle, lol

sorry i couldn't be of any more help

I am having the exact same problem, I hope someone can give us some insight into this problem! I'm sorry I couldn't help more, just know your not alone!

Just curious.. how is everybody measuring their wrist? Are you doing the overlapping finger test or actually measuring it? Website are not consistent when it comes to the overlapping finger. Turns out it should be your pointer finger+thumb, NOT your middle finger, it makes a big difference! Using my pointer finger+thumb (which don't meet)+wrist measurement gives me a large frame.

Now, I've heard that your elbow measurement is actually the more accurate one but I'm never sure if I'm measuring it correctly. I will say that from my body it's fairly easy to see that I have a large frame. I have pretty broad shoulders. That being said my ribcage is fairly small for the rest of my size and just from know other people I don't think your ribcage measurement is necessarily related to your frame size.

ETA: I also know women who are just obviously small framed (small, thinner shoulders, they just don't seem as wide across if that makes sense). Maybe if you can't figure it out you're a medium frame then?

Huh. I decided to do my frame size calculation and according to my wrist measurements, I'm a medium framed person. I always thought I was large-framed because I have a wide rib cage (rib cage at 147lbs is 35").

...Although when I do the elbow breadth I'm large-framed. That, honestly makes more sense.

Ha ha i just googled it and did a test with my measurements. Small frame apparently. Im 5'10 and can honestly say the word small has NEVER been used for me!

runningfromfat-I did both. The finger test, my fingers meet, and measurement wise my wrist is 6inches, and yet my elbow is 3 inches. I looked up online to see how to measure the elbow breadth and follwed the insructions to the letter.

Its just so confusing! Although lets be honest, i'm 5'9" and i'm fairly 'strong' looking whats the likelihood that i'm going to have a small frame? lol

I'm also confused about this!

I'm 5'8" with bony wrists and elbows but my bones are large and even at this weight I look bony all over my body. I have very broad shoulders, large hands, large feet. I begin to look very ill and very gaunt around 140 lbs or so.

I believe I have a large frame/large bones because of my wide shoulders, ribcage, and how my collar bones, ribs, wrists, and elbows already protrude a LOT at 180ish lbs.

Anyway, you could always pick medium-high end 'normal' weight range for your BMI and see how you feel once you get there. If you look good and are happy, stay there. If you want to lose a bit more, go for more! I picked a number closer to the high end for 5'8" and I'll see if I'd like to stay there once I'm 160 or just work on toning or go for another 5-10 lbs. I still have a way to go so no worries yet.

I am trying to figure out my frame size too. I did measure my wrist and apparently I am small boned. Kind of hard to believe because I am tall and not exactly narrow hipped/shouldered.
Anyways, one thing is odd about the whole wrist measuring... I lost a bunch of weight this year but also on my wrists (no watch fits anymore). And I am not talking a quarter inch or so, I am talking a lot!
So how can that be a reliable measurement? That would mean being overweight means big boned and losing weight helps losing bones? I am confused.
I will see if my chiro can tell me a bit more next week.

The frame size measurements are wack and I think probably only few people are one definitive frame size. Apparently I'm small-framed according to wrist measurements and medium-framed according to my sketchy elbow width measurement but with a ginormous head and ginormous hands and feet (5'7, size 11M shoes and have been known to buy a 12 & in undergrad as a biochem major, I had to special request XL gloves for labs) My thumb and index finger overlap at my wrist which is not surprising as I have freakishly long fingers.

I think most of us probably can't really be defined as one frame size. If you have broad shoulders but a tiny ribcage and medium sized wrists are you small, medium or large? I think yes there are some people who are small-framed or large framed all around, but most of us are a probably a melange.

ETA: And if the point of identifying frame size is to get to a goal weight, when you get to the large frame size, if it suits you, stop, if not maybe in the measurements that count, you're a smaller frame size. If you're broad-shouldered and ribbed but have small wrists, you might find that the small body frame weight range is TOO small for your body type just as if you're large-wristed with a small torso, you might find the large body frame weights don't align with what you thought. Ultimately, weight is not permanent and body frame is just a guide, you can always adjust when you see what the target weights look like.

toasted - I guess you are right. Hardly anybody is one size. Who really cares? I will see where my body settles in the healthy BMI range. I was just wondering about the measuring since it seems such a common way of doing it but can't see how it works.