Why do we go to the gym? Well, each of us has our own reasons and usually more than one. Some people go because it channels their energies in a positive way, others go because it appeals to their physical or sportsman like inclination, others are there because of the way it forces you to compete with yourself and there are many other reasons. However, one reason that most, if not all, gym goers have is to look good. It may not be everyone’s top priority, but it certainly is on the list somewhere.

Hercules never missed back day.

With so many people going to the gym to look good, we are left with one very important question. What does “looking good” mean? Enter the Grecian Ideal. Oddly enough, the Grecian Ideal is pinned to your wrist size. What we are looking for is a lot of quality and dense muscle with very little body fat. However, the true aim once we get the basics down is going to be symmetry.

The symmetry in the human body we are looking for, as we look for in most things in nature, comes from the Golden Ratio. Two different quantities are said to be in the Golden Ratio if the sum of the quantities is equal to the ratio of the larger to the smaller. Numerically this is 1 to 1.618.

The Golden Ratio

This ratio is seen all over nature from the stems of plants to the patterns of a nautilus and is often considered the benchmark for what is pleasing to the eye. The human body is no different from these other natural phenomenon and if forced to quantify what it means to look good it would be to chisel one’s physique into the golden ratio. More than anyone else maybe, Steve Reeves did this. His measurements were perfectly symmetrical.

Steve Reeves might have been the most perfectly symmetrical body builder ever

STEVE REVEEVES MEASUREMENTS

• height: 6 Foot
• weight: 216 Pounds
• neck: 18.5 inches
• chest: 52 inches
• biceps: 18.5 inches
• waist: 29 inches
• leg: 30 inches
• calf: 18.5 inches

It was not accidental that Steve’s neck, biceps and calves were all the same size. Unlike today’s bodybuilders where mass is prioritized over everything, in Steve’s day it was all about symmetry and he had it down pat.

The first body builder to start looking at growing and adjusting the size of one body part in relation to another was the father of bodybuilding Eugen Sandow. Sandow is the person that the Mr. Olympia trophy is modeled after. He referred to his aesthetic principles as the “Grecian Ideal”

Eugen Sandow, card holder 00001

Sandow actually went to museums and measured statues to find out proportions that remain consistent. The statues proportions have their basis in the Golden Ratio which Greek and Roman sculptors were scrupulous about adding to their work. Sandow’s principles for aesthetic and balanced physique is what the golden age body builders like Reeves, Zane, Padilla, Nubret, Paris and Schwarzenegger all aspired to.

So how do we look at this? The first step is to measure your wrist.  From your wrist size we determine you ideal upper arm size and, in turn, measure the ideal size of your calves. The thickest part of your upper arm, the flexed bicep peak, should be 2.5x the size of the smallest part of your wrist and your flexed calves should be the same size as your bicep peak.

Shoulder circumference should measure 1.618 times larger than your waist in order to meet the Golden Ratio. In order to get this measurement you need to stand upright with your arms at your sides, unflexed, and have measuring tape wrapped around your shoulders and chest at its widest point.

Chest measurement should be 6.5x the size of your non-dominant wrist measurement. To take your chest measurement wrap a tape measure around the widest part of your unflexed chest, under your armpits and across your shoulder blades.

Your upper leg circumference should be 1.75x larger than your knee circumference. To measure the knee you place the measuring tape around the tip of your kneecap and wrap around. For upper leg measurement you wrap the measuring tape around the largest part of your thigh and hamstring.

The final factor here rests on body fat percentage. This has a lot to do with your personal preferences but if we are talking about ideal body types I would say that 12% is the absolute top. I find 10% to be my comfort zone. Anything lower than 10% and I begin to get headaches and feel a general malaise. This may or may not be the same for you. You need to play around with your own numbers and find your sweet spot.

So what are my ideal measurements?

I do not know if I can achieve a Grecian Ideal form while maintaining a body fat percentage around 10-12 but I am going to aim for it. It is not the most important thing in the world to achieve you absolute ideals, but you should have a set goal. If I fail at a perfect Grecian Ideal physique I can live with that, but aiming at one takes away the problem of just randomly attempting to get “better.” I whole-heartedly suggest that everyone figure out what their Grecian Ideal physique is (there is a calculator here https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/drobson207.htm) and really aim towards it as a goal. Keeping our eyes on goals helps us get progress.

After all, when setting goals why should we limit ourselves? When people set limits it tends to stick in their mind and rather than forcing them forward it creates an artificial wall. I find the same thing happens with rep ranges. People have numbers like 3 or 5 or 8 in their heads and when they hit it their body gives out. It isn’t that they can’t do 20 reps. The problem is that they have set up a mental boundary and their body follows suit. So when setting your goals do not set them as something you think you can realistically achieve. Fuck that. Why limit yourself. Set your goal at your absolute perfect Grecian Ideal physique. I for one would rather fail while aiming at perfection than achieve a goal I set which then sets a limit on how far I can go.