What’s an Average Shoulder Width?
An average shoulder width is the measurement between your shoulder blades. An average shoulder width is not necessarily equal to being narrow or wide. For example, if someone has a large chest, but their shoulders are very narrow (as compared with other women), they would have an average shoulder width. On the other hand, if someone has a small chest, but their shoulders are wider than most others’, they may have a wide shoulder width.
There are many different ways to determine an average shoulder width. One way is to use the “rule of thirds”. If you look at three pictures side by side and take the middle one as your reference picture, then it will give you an idea what your shoulder width should be according to the rule of thirds. Another method is to take a ruler and draw lines from each earlobe to the next.
Then, divide those numbers by two. That number represents your shoulder width. You could also do this exercise yourself using a tape measure.
How To Measure Shoulder Width Bodybuilder?
The first thing you need to decide is whether you want to get a specific measurement or just make generalizations based on measurements of similar people.
If you do want to get a very specific shoulder width measurement then the steps are quite simple. All you need is a flexible measuring tape and another person to help you. To measure your own shoulder width, take the measuring tape and place it right under your armpit. Then have your helper pull the tape around the front of your back and then place it again under your armpit.
You can now easily see your shoulder width since it is marked out for you.
How wide are your shoulders?
If you have very muscular and defined shoulders then it is possible that your shoulder width is much wider than average. On the other hand, if you have sloping shoulders then it is possible that your shoulder width is narrow for your body. It may be difficult to measure your own shoulder width since you are used to seeing yourself every day. For this reason, it may be better to get someone else to help you measure your shoulder width.
If you do not want to get a very specific measurement of your shoulder width, then it is still possible to make generalizations about your shoulder width. In this case all you need is a measuring tape. Again, have the measuring tape placed right under your armpit. Now, compare your shoulder width to the pictures below.
Young men with wide shoulders generally have a shoulder width of between 40 and 60 centimeters.
Young men with average shoulder width generally have a shoulder width of between 35 and 45 centimeters.
Young men with narrow shoulders generally have a shoulder width of between 30 and 40 centimeters.
The above are just generalizations but there is not a lot of room for it to be off. If your shoulder width is not within the above range then you should probably take some time to analyze your own body type.
What Shoulder Width Do I Have?
If you want to know what shoulder width you have then you should find out what your body type is. Otherwise, you may be basing your judgment on your arm size and not your shoulder width. If you have very big arms but skinny shoulders then it is possible that you have average shoulder width but you just cannot see it since your arms are big in comparison.
The first thing you should do is measure your own shoulder width or find out what it is supposed to be according to the three pictures above or if you have already measured it, according to that measurement.
To calculate your body type, you first need to find out your body fat percentage. To do this you will need either a caliper device, a $20-$50 electronic device or a $100+ hydrostatic weighing machine. If you do not own any of these or do not want to purchase one then simply search online for tutorials on how to measure your own body fat with simple tools such as a tape measure and calculator.
If you do want to get a hydrostatic weighing machine, search online for where you can get one for cheap. I bought my first one from eBay and spent $100 on it. Then after I was done with it I sold it back to the same guy for the same price so I actually got it for free! hydrostatic weighing machines are not expensive to buy but they can cost a lot to ship so look around for the best deal.
Now, if you already know your body fat percentage and you want to know what body type you are, then you can skip the rest of this section. However, if you do not know your body fat percentage or do not know how to find it out, then read on.
There are two main ways to measure your body fat percentage. The first is the expensive way and the second is the cheap way. The expensive way involves hydrostatic weighing. This consists of submerging yourself in a tank of water and measuring how much you displace, this is compared to a sample of human tissue of known density (death row inmates donated their bodies to science, thank you very much) and from this, your body fat percentage is calculated.
The downside to this method is that it can cost a few hundred dollars and you need to find a facility which has the equipment for it. The cheap way involves two calculators and Jan Speer’s formulas, whom as far as I know, came up with the most accurate set of body fat equations yet devised.
Here is the equation if you want to try it yourself: BF%=1.786*WtInLb/(HtInInch×WtLb)+Tan(7.23)*WtLb+Tan(1.85)*WtLb
This equation is for metric and English measurements, simply switch inches with centimeters and pounds with kilograms to get the other measurement system.
For those who do not wish to bother with calculations, there is a body fat calculator program here. All you need to do is enter a couple of measurements such as your weight and height and it will give you an estimate of what your body fat percentage is.
Once you know what your body type is, go ahead and read the section which corresponds to it.
I hope this has been helpful.
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Sources & references used in this article:
What’s the risk? A comparison of actual and perceived driving risk by SG Charlton, NJ Starkey, JA Perrone… – … Research Part F: Traffic …, 2014 – Elsevier
Real-Time Person Localization System with an Active Camera by N Ooshima, T Saitoh, R Konishi – ITEIS, 2006 – ui.adsabs.harvard.edu
Contracting stemmed: What’s the point? by RF Boszhardt – Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, 2002 – JSTOR
On the mechanical aspects of shoulder dystocia and birth injury by RH Allen – Clinical obstetrics and gynecology, 2007 – journals.lww.com
Modern cement technique and the survivorship of total shoulder arthroplasty. by BL Norris, PF Lachiewicz – Clinical Orthopaedics and Related …, 1996 – journals.lww.com
