Body shape calculator
Classifies your body shape from a few tape measurements: hourglass, spoon, triangle, rectangle and the rest for women, V-taper to oval for men. It also gives your waist-to-hip ratio, which is the part that matters for health.
Body Shape Calculator
Body shape is classified from the differences between bust or chest, waist and hip circumferences. For women, an hourglass has bust and hips within about an inch of each other and a waist at least 9 inches smaller; for men, a V-taper has a chest at least 4 inches larger than the hips and 5 inches larger than the waist. Waist-to-hip ratio is the health measure: the WHO marks substantially increased risk at 0.85 or above for women and 0.90 for men.
At nipple level, under the armpits.
Narrowest point, relaxed after breathing out.
Widest part of the hips and glutes.
Around both shoulders at the widest point. Gives the classic Adonis index.
Fat around the midsection matters for health whatever your shape. The WHO cut-off is 0.90 for men.
Method notes (3)
- Your measurements fall between the standard chest/waist/hips rules, so the shape comes from the taper ratio instead.
- Taper = shoulders ÷ waist (Adonis index; the golden-ratio ideal is 1.618).
- Waist-to-hip 0.86 is near the WHO risk cut-off (0.9 for men) — fat around the midsection matters for health regardless of shape.
Metric or imperial · runs the same code as the app · nothing is sent anywhere
How it works
Women are classified with the FFIT apparel-fit rules (Simmons, Istook and Devarajan 2004), which compare bust, waist, hips and optionally high hip in inches. An hourglass has bust and hips within about an inch and a waist at least 9 inches smaller; a spoon or bottom hourglass carries more at the hips; an inverted triangle more at the bust. The first rule that matches wins, and any others are listed as also matching.
Men use the chest, waist and hip rules from Alfrik's male body-shape calculator, falling back to the taper ratio, shoulders (or chest) / waist, when the measurements sit between rules. With a shoulder girth that ratio is the Adonis index, whose golden-ratio ideal is 1.618.
waist-to-hip = waist / hips. The WHO flags substantially increased cardiometabolic risk at 0.85 or above for women and 0.90 for men.
Common questions
Can training change my body shape?
Partly. Bone structure and where you store fat are largely fixed, but building the shoulders and back widens the top, and losing fat narrows the waist. Both change the ratios this calculator reads, especially the taper.
Is waist-to-hip ratio a better health measure than BMI?
For heart and metabolic risk it often is, because it captures fat around the organs, which BMI cannot see. Waist-to-height ratio, which should stay under 0.5, is another simple check.
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These numbers are more useful when something tracks them.
The app runs this same maths against your logged weigh-ins, meals and sessions, so the figure updates itself instead of being a one-off.
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