I have a tiny bone structure. How do I overcome this limitation to make my arms and legs bulkier?

Original question from Quora.

I know what's going on.

You've read somewhere that the circumference of your wrist is going to determine how much muscle you can put in your arms, right?

THAT'S NOT WRONG.

Pound per pound, you'll be able to put more muscle mass on if you have big bones— it's SKELETAL MUSCLE, after all— but aesthetically, smaller bones will make the muscles you have LOOK BIGGER.

It's like that urban legend that Shaq has a tiny wiener— I bet it's bigger than most— but for some dick connoisseur out there, it might look disappointing if he's not packing a can of pringles next to his 7' 1" 320+lbs frame.

What creates the illusion of size is CONTRAST.

CLASSIC BODYBUILDING in a nutshell — Tiny waist and Wide Shoulders.

The wide shoulder makes the waist look smaller.

The tiny waist makes the shoulders look wider.

A 15" arm paired with a 6" wrist will look WAY BIGGER than a 16" arm paired with an 8" wrist.

Check out these dudes, Andrei Deiu and Larry Wheels.

They look almost the same size to the naked eye, but Larry is 120lbs heavier than Andrei, A FUCKTON more muscle, yet they look similar.

I bet that Larry has a significantly bigger bone structure than Andrei, after all he’s one of the strongest humans to walk the face of the earth, yet for aesthetic purposes, the genetic trait that makes Andrei look so big is the shape and insertions of his muscles.

He has uncanny muscle bellies genetically, although his bones aren't gigantic.

And this brings me to my last argument.

If you're a beginner or intermediate lifter, YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS TRYING TO PREDICT YOUR GENETIC POTENTIAL!!!

All these tests and theories are UTTER GARBAGE, measuring joint sizes, body types like ecto, meso, and endomorph, all these stuff that predict your biological processes— IT'S ALL GARBAGE.

You don't believe me?

Ok, let's use Andrei as an example once again.

Tell me if ANY of these pictures of young Andrei scream WORLD-CLASS MUSCLE-BUILDING GENETICS?

When he was a chubby kid, a stupid article would probably convince him that he was an Endomorph destined to be fat forever.

When he was a KFKF teen —Kinda Fit, Kinda Fat— he would probably measure his wrists and come to the conclusion that he was destined to have small arms.

And when he was an intermediate lifter, pushing single-digit body fat, he would probably come to the conclusion that he was destined to be a twiglike pretty boy forever.

Now, look at this motherfucker.

You might argue, "oh, but he's on steroids".

HELL YEAH, HE'S JUICED TO THE TITS, but to compete at the level he competes, you need WORLD CLASS MUSCLE BUILDING GENETICS + DRUGS.

And world-class muscle-building genetics, on a natural, is STILL INSANELY IMPRESSIVE checkout a top-flight natural bodybuilder, Icaro Lermen.

One might argue that this physique is WAY MORE AESTHETICALLY PLEASING than all those behemoths with 22″ arms that look mind-bogglingly gigantic.

So you, my friend, will only know if you're a GENETIC PHENOM like Andrei if you PUT A TON OF WORK IN.

If today you're a chonker, or you're 2 years in and still look as wet as a watermelon, or you're a single-digit pretty boy that looks like a twig, you still CAN'T KNOW FOR SURE if you have bad or great genetics.

And even if at the end of the day you were dealt a bad hand, your genetics absolutely suck for aesthetics, tiny bones, a wide waist, small shoulders, and a Mellon for a head.

SO WHAT?

Are you going to settle like a little bitch and whine about it?

Or are you going to work on being the best version of yourself you can possibly be?

I know which route I'm going for.

I give ZERO FLYING FUCKS about arbitrary calculations, the only thing that matters to me is that in 2024 I'm slightly better than I am today.

So stop worrying about your genetics, and focus on your next workout.

BANG IRON MY BRUDDAH!

Big KISS

THE POTATO MAN