The Perfect Body
June 30, 2008I was reading the latest Men’s Health magazine, and one of the articles talked about the perfect body. Surprise, surprise — it’s not Mr. Olympia a gazillion times over Ronnie Coleman.
Actually, studies show that the ideal proportion between a man’s shoulders and waist is 1.618 or thereabouts — that’s the average ratio found after measuring many different ancient Greek and Roman sculptures, like Michelangelo’s David. To reaffirm women’s classic taste, studies (from the MH article) also find that they’re most attracted to men with a shoulder-width to waist ratio of 1.6. For example, shoulder width of 55 inches and a 34-inch waist comes to a ratio just more than 1.6.
My final verdict? A 1.4 (and 173 pound frame) — not quite there yet, but its a huge improvement over my slovenly measurements over Easter Break my senior year of college when I weighed in at 200 pounds. Since I’m working out five days a week now in varying forms, it’s probably diet more than anything for me. I eat really well during the week, but then I binge on Momma Musico’s pasta over the weekend which I’m sure just kind of sets me back.
I’ll have to be a little more conscious of what I’m eating and really get intense in my workouts because I’d LOVE to get to that 1.6 ratio. Not just to pick up girls, but because it’s nice to come up with new goals for myself so I don’t get bored with working out. “Not being fat” just isn’t enough of a motivation for me anymore.
That said, anyone want to get me a subscription to MH as an early birthday gift? 
