The Ideal Body Weight for Large-Boned People

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General guidelines exist to help determine the ideal body weight range for adult men and women of all frame sizes, including large-boned — or large-framed — individuals. If you have a large frame, your ideal body weight is higher than that for individuals with small or medium frames. In addition to your frame size, your height and gender are also used to help determine your ideal body weight.

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Large-Framed Men

MedlinePlus provides guidelines to help determine if men are large boned, or have large frame sizes. Based on these recommendations, men are classified as large framed if they are over 5 feet 5 inches tall with a wrist circumference of more than 7.5 inches. Men of the same height are small framed if their wrist size is 5.5 to 6.5 inches around, and they have medium frames if their wrist is 6.5 to 7.5 inches around, according to MedlinePlus. Use a tape measure to measure the circumference of your wrist to determine if you have a small, medium or large frame size.

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Large-Framed Women

A woman's frame size is based on her height and wrist circumference. Women have large frames if they are under 5 feet 2 inches tall and their wrist circumference is over 5.75 inches, if they are 5 feet 2 inches to 5 feet 5 inches with wrist circumference over 6.25 inches, or if they are over 5 feet 5 inches tall with a wrist size of over 6.5 inches around, according to MedlinePlus. Women within each height category -- with smaller wrist sizes – are classified as either small- or medium-framed.

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Ideal Weight for Men

The University of Washington suggests that men should weigh 106 pounds for the first 5 feet of height plus 6 pounds for each inch of height over 5 feet – plus 10 percent for men with large frame sizes. This method for calculating ideal body weight is also known as the Hamwi formula. For example, a large-framed man who is 5 feet 10 inches tall has an ideal body weight of 183 pounds. A large-framed man who is 6 feet 2 inches tall has an ideal weight of 209 pounds.

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Ideal Weight for Women

According to the University of Washington, women should weigh 100 pounds for the first five feet of height plus 5 pounds for each additional inch over five feet – plus 10 percent to account for large frame sizes. For example, a large-framed woman who is 5 feet 3 inches tall has an ideal body weight of 127 pounds. Women with large frames who are 5 feet 8 inches tall have ideal body weight of 154 pounds, using the same Hamwi formula.

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Exceptions

If you're a bodybuilder, or an athlete who has a large amount of muscle mass, you might be heavier than the University of Washington's ideal body weight recommendations but still have a low body fat percentage; if so, you're not necessarily unhealthy nor have obesity. Ask your doctor or a personal trainer to estimate your body fat percentage to make sure you're within an acceptable range. According to the American Council on Exercise, which provides an online body-fat calculator, female athletes usually have about 14 to 20 percent body fat, while male athletes generally have body fat percentages of 6 to 13 percent.

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