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Ideal Body Measurements for Women

The Classic Way

36 -26 -36. Well! wouldn't be nice if it were that simple. It is not, and I know I have already have death threats from some woman who is nowhere close to these numbers, and chances are she may be a beautiful woman. Oh! by the way you are supposed to be 5'8". It is kind of difficult to change your height.

The Seamstress

This was awarded the best answer by Yahoo Answers, but it still seems like it came from a classic text book:

0.8 is the ideal ratio between waist and hips and waist and bust. If the ratio between these is even then this is considered hourglass, the preferred shape for women. Ratios can vary, they can be smaller than this, like 0.65 which just means the shape is curvier. Or they can be larger, like 0.9 which would indicate a more straight, not so curvy shape.

In order to be considered an hourglass the measurements between your waist-hips and waist-bust must be no less than (if I remember correctly) 9". And the bust must be at the most 1" smaller or larger than the hips in order to be called an hourglass. If the bust is 35 and the hips are 36, with the waist being at least 9 inches smaller this is an hourglass larger by 2" than the hips then this is getting into the inverted triangle shape.

For you search you may want to try "ideal shapes", "body ratios" (for women), or just the shapes in general such as hourglass, pear, etc.

Just a little hint, people get confuse when they give the bust measurement, most of them are giving the size of the band and not the whole circumference around the bust . A 36 bust would be one of these bra sizes..28G, 30E, 32D, 34B or 36AA. so if the woman is wearing a size 36 band and has DD boobs, she is not a 36 for her bust but a 41, and if the rest of her measurements are 24 - 36, then this makes her and inverted triangle, not an hourglass because her bust is 5 inches larger than her hips. 41 (full bust measurement -36 (hip measurement) = 5.

Measurements to Percent Fat

If you do not have calipers, and do not have a machine to measure fat, this is a way to determine your percent fat with a tape measure (or sting and ruler).

Body Fat Formula For Women

Step 1: Multiply total body weight x 0.732, then add 8.987 = Result 1
Step 2: Divide wrist measurement (at fullest point) by 3.140 = Result 2
Step 3: Multiply waist measurement (at naval) x 0.157 = Result 3
Step 4: Multiply hip measurement (at fullest point) x 0.249 = Result 4
Step 5: Multiply forearm measurement (at fullest point) x 0.434 = Result 5
Step 6: Add Step 1 + 2, subtract Step 3, subtract Step 4 and add Step 5 = Lean Body Mass
Step 7: Subtract lean body mass from total body weight = Body Fat Weight
Step 8: Multiply body fat weight x 100, then divide it by total body weight = Body Fat Percentage.

Fat Percentage Categories
Essential
Fat            Women 10-12% Men 2-4%
Athletes     Women 14-20% Men 6-13%
Fitness         Women 21-24% Men 14-17%
Acceptable Women 25-31% Men 18-25%
Obese       Women 32% +   Men 25% +

Waist - To - Hip

To Calculate your waist-to hip ratio, divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement and record your results. An ideal ratio would be a number of under 0.8.

Ideal Body Measurements by Function

This is tricky, because in some sports the women start to look a bit too masculine, but in general, women who are good at a sport have ideal bodies for that sport.

It helps to be tall in basketball and volleyball. It helps to be short in gymnastics and cheer leading. It helps to be a bit stockier in softball, it helps to have short legs and low center of gravity in surfing. It helps to be skinny in running marathons. What ever your shape, nature had a reason for its survival. There may be a need for it in the future. Discover who you are physically and work with it. I found these pictures of women athletes that I think are beautiful. Look for other pictures throughout this web site.

Ideal Weight

But...If you want to get depressed keep reading...

Now for Miss America:

I found this at www.seductionlabs.org

	Year	Age	Bust	Waist	Hips	WHR	Height/m	Weight/Kg	BMI
N	89	82	64	64	64	64	73	70	70
Min	1921	15	30	21.5	32	0.611	1.55	45.36	16.83
Max	2008	25	37	27	37.5	0.781	1.8	65.77	22.27
Range	87	10	7	5.5	5.5	0.17	0.25	20.41	5.44
Mean		20.4	34.8	24	35.4	0.678	1.69	54.95	19.16
Median		20	35	24	35.5	0.667	1.7	54.43	19.01
Mode		21	35	24	36	0.667	1.7	54.43	18.72
ó^-1		2.33	1.28	1.28	0.96	0.035	0.05	4.41	1.11
r		0.69	0.29	-0.31	0.16	-0.414	0.16	-0.27	-0.51

Ok I could not find this weight in pounds. So I will translate leaving out some of the mumbers. N is important as it shows how many pieces of data were used in each column, but I will leave it off. I will cal the Mean Average (AVE)

	BUST	WAIST	HIPS	WHR*	HT (IN)	WT (POUNDS)	BMI**
MIN	30	21.5	32	.611	61.0	99.8	16.83
MAX	37	27	37.5	.781	70.9	144.7	22.27
RANGE	7	5.5	5.5	.17	9.8	44.9	5.44
AVE	34.8	24	35.4	.678	66.5	120.9	19.16

If you are thinking about improving your measurements, maybe you should concider recording your results on this chart:
Ideal Body Measurements for Women Chart

beautiful woman softball player

This short stocky gymnast has ideal body measurements

Have different opinions? This page has a place to voice your opinion:
Ideal Body Measurements for Women and Men

This Woman Has Ideal Body Measurements?

Do you have a picture or have a great story about a woman with great body measurements? Share it! Who do you think has a great body? I would particularly like to see action pictures of women whose body seems perfect for the job at hand. I am thinking of a picture from National Geographic of women carrying things on their heads, but surprise me.

enter: I think ______has a great body measurements.

Click here to see the rest of the form and complete your submission.

What Other Visitors Have Said

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...

Jessica Ho Not rated yet
Because its true.

Comment by Ideal Weight Engineer (the one who writes this web site):

I almost did not approve this submission because it seemed ...

Track Athletes Not rated yet
I have always admired the physique of track athletes

Serena Williams Not rated yet
Serena Williams is a full figure tennis player, and I think she has an amazing figure

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SBI!