Ideal body proportions in Bodybuilding

Bodybuilders and fitness models today have leaner bodies than ever before. In Arnold's day, they could compete in the Mr. Universe competition with 10% body fat and no one would bat an eyelid. But today, if an athlete tries to compete with a body that has more than 5% body fat, he will look very out of place.

So how do they do it? How do their bodies become so dry? How do they achieve such low levels of body fat?

We present to you 5 secrets that bodybuilders use to dry their bodies.

Water manipulation

The fitness models and bodybuilders who perform on stage don't actually look like this all year round. It is nearly impossible (and also very unhealthy) to stay at an extremely low body fat percentage year-round (less than 5%). However, there is one more trick that allows them to look even drier than usual. Athletes strictly control their water intake to help their bodies appear even drier during competition.

By reducing water consumption, which is collected outside the muscles, they appear toned and increase vascularity and the number of grooves. Their bodies don't look smooth/bloated/swollen, but dry and defined.

Athletes achieve this by dramatically increasing their water intake about a week before competition. They usually drink up to 7.5 liters of water daily. This literally turns their bodies into human water fountains.

As the body becomes concerned about the amount of water consumed, as a self-defense mechanism, it begins to urinate very frequently in an attempt to lose water weight.

Approximately 24 hours before the start of the competition, the participant reduces water consumption. However, the bodybuilder's body will continue to flush out water, leaving it looking very dry. After 24 hours, the body realizes that the person is no longer drinking large volumes of water. As a result, the body begins to retain fluid again.

Such tricks with water create a visual illusion: a person looks much thinner compared to what he was a week ago. In fact, their body fat percentage remained about the same. And yet, thanks to this “water” manipulation, they look much drier.

Table of ideal proportions in bodybuilding

Based on the tabular indicators, it should be taken into account that the coefficient of weight and height is found by dividing these two parameters. For an athlete weighing 100 kilograms and height 180 cm, it is 0.555.

Table of anthropometric changes of Marcel Rouet

To check how important proportions are for professional athletes, you can compare the body measurements of the best bodybuilders against tabular data that demonstrates ideal girth sizes.

Knowing exactly what proportions in bodybuilding are taken as ideal, each athlete has a chance to measure and compare their own parameters with them.

Potassium-sparing diuretics

Diuretics are often used by bodybuilders in preparation for shows to remove even more water from the body and increase muscle mass. Unfortunately, they have led to numerous hospitalizations and even deaths among athletes due to dehydration and electrolyte imbalances. Andreas Münzer is one of many bodybuilders who have died due to drug use. Moreover, as expected, the use of diuretics played a certain role.

Andreas was known as a bodybuilder with one of the leanest bodies in the history of the sport. It took dry body standards to a new (uncomfortable) level. After the athlete's death, it was discovered that his electrolytes were out of whack and his potassium levels were abnormally high.

Indicators of ideal proportions

A beautiful physique presupposes that the relationship between different parts of the body is “maintained” within certain limits:

• the pelvis and chest in girth should form a difference of 9 to 10;
• the neck circumference is 38, and the waist is 75 percent of that of the chest;
• the forearm should be equal to 30 percent of the neck circumference;
• The calf circumference should be 60 percent of the thigh circumference and 40 percent of the pelvic circumference.

The basis for finding ideal proportions can be taken from the tables, the data of which is based on the height and weight of the athlete. The taller the athlete, the larger the circumference, that is, he should look larger.

T3 supplements

T3 (triiodothyronine) is a hormone produced by the thyroid gland. T3 has a very powerful effect on a person's metabolism and ability to burn fat. Simply put, the more free T3 you have, the more fat you will burn. Hypothyroidism is now very common. With this diagnosis, people are not able to produce enough of this hormone. This problem is especially common in women.

Many bodybuilders take thyroid medications, such as Cytomel, to take advantage of the fat-burning benefits. This way they increase their T3 levels and get a very lean body.

The body naturally produces about 25 mcg of T3 each day, however, if your levels are significantly below this, your doctor may prescribe exogenous T3 (Cytomel). Mr. Olympia and bodybuilding legend Lee Priest has admitted to taking T3 drugs in the past. Specifically, he consumed 25-50 mcg of Cytomel per day before the competition.

The main disadvantage of using T3 drugs is that they can suppress the natural production of this hormone, as do steroids, for example. Thus, immediately after using T3, you may have difficulty burning fat. However, endogenous T3 production should recover after several weeks or months of use.

However, low T3 levels are possible in the long term if a bodybuilder abuses the drug and does not give the body a break from it. In this case, a deficiency of the hormone can slow down fat loss, even if the person is on a low-calorie diet.

How to determine the ideal proportions of a male body

The ideal proportions of a male body are considered to be tall height, a V-shaped torso and compliance with certain parameters, which may differ for men of different ages.
Nationality and occupation also leave some imprint on the standard of beauty. At the same time, an athletic figure, broad shoulders and chest, sculpted muscles combined with narrow hips have always attracted the attention of the fair half of humanity. WEIGHT LOSS STORIES OF STARS!

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The path to an ideal body begins with measuring it. That is, before you change anything about yourself, you need to determine which part of the body requires improvement.

For a more correct result of measurements, they should be carried out in the morning, since after waking up, that is, during the period when rested muscles are relaxed, the body’s indicators will be as accurate as possible. During the day, various loads can greatly distort the data. Only those who, for some reason, experience swelling in the morning can ignore this rule.

The main measurable places of the male body

An ordinary sewing centimeter or tape measure is quite suitable for measuring. If none of the above is at hand, a thread and a ruler will do: grab it with a thread, measure with a ruler.

Below are the basic rules to follow when taking measurements:

Pythagoras was one of the first to become seriously interested in the proportions of the human body, to which he applied his famous rule of the “Golden Section”. According to him, the following ratios can be considered ideal parameters:

• The optimal shoulder width is ¼ of your height.
• The waist should be twice the circumference of the neck.
• The neck circumference should be equal to two wrist circumferences.
• The gap from the crown to the waist should ideally be 1/3 of the height.
• The length of the foot should be equal to the length of the forearm.

The human skeleton is kept in proportions very close to the golden ratio. The closer the physique is to such a ratio, the more correct it is considered to correspond to the ideal of beauty.

The sculpture of Polykleitus “Spear-bearer” (“Doriphoros”) is considered to be the standard of beauty of the male body from the times of Ancient Greece. A powerful torso, massive shoulders and pectoral muscles, sculpted abs have served as a model of perfect proportionality for many centuries.

Men involved in bodybuilding have several different schemes by which ideal parameters are calculated. Everyone chooses for himself the scheme whose author seems more authoritative to him.

Below are tables that contain information about the proportions of the male body. They are compiled based on observation of athletes over many years.

The values ​​of Marcel Rouet's table are closest to the ancient proportions.

With a height of 165-175 cm, the following parameters are considered ideal:

In turn, for a height of 176-185 cm the following measurements will be suitable:

Joe Weider, a famous bodybuilder and trainer who once trained many famous bodybuilders, compiled his own table of ideal parameters:

Fat burners

Banned fat burners such as ephedra or clenbuterol are also used by fitness models and bodybuilders to lose fat. These are stimulants that activate the central nervous system. It, in turn, speeds up the athlete’s metabolism. None of these fat burners are FDA approved because they cause serious cardiovascular and psychological problems.

Their side effects include:

• cardiopalmus;
• high blood pressure;
• nervousness;
• anxiety;
• depression.

Fat burners won't turn a guy with 20% body fat into Frank Zane. But they can help bodybuilders break through fat loss plateaus while dieting by helping them further dry out their bodies. Thus, they are often used at the end of the preparation cycle.

Natural fat burners, which often contain caffeine, follow the same physiological process as ephedra and clenbuterol, but their effects are much milder. In addition, natural fat burners have significantly fewer side effects. So they are much safer.