One thing’s for sure; the vast majority of people have an ankle girth measurement that’s much less than 12 inches.
As such, if you genuinely have 12 inch ankles, then you almost certainly have a large bone structure and excess body fat. Most likely, you have a combination of both of these things.
If you’re looking for an ankle bracelet that offers the perfect fit, then you can check out our anklet sizing guide. But if you just want to learn what having a 12 inch ankle circumference means for your body, then keep reading to learn more.
See How Your Ankles Compare:
Are 12 inch ankles too big?
Are 12 inch ankles too big or not? Yes, in the vast majority of cases, 12 inch ankles are too big because such a measurement is an indication that you’re carrying excess body fat.
Specifically, 12″ ankles are 3 inches bigger than average for men and a whopping 4 inches bigger than normal for a woman.
Of course, you might have 12 in ankles due to your large bone structure. But considering how much bigger 12″ ankles are than usual, it’s unlikely that you have 12 inch ankles due to frame size alone.
Indeed, most people who have 12 inch ankles have them due to a combination of bone mass and fat tissue.
The ankles are especially prone to fat storage in some people (particularly women), meaning that your ankles can often seem disproportionately large when compared with the rest of your body.
How can you slim your 12 inch ankles?
Losing weight is the most effective way to slim your 12 inch ankles because dropping fat will reduce your 12 inch ankle circumference.
After all, when you lose weight, all of your circumference measurements tend to get smaller (unless you’re gaining a lot of muscle as well).
Now, if you have 12″ ankles primarily because of your frame size, then there’s not a whole lot that you can do to make your ankles smaller.
Still, some people think that their ankles are thick due to bone mass when, in reality, they have a 12 inch ankle measurement due to excess body fat.
The simple way to tell whether you have lean 12 inch ankles or fat 12 inch ankles is to look at the taper (or lack thereof) from your calf to your ankle.
If your ankles look really slim in contrast to your calves, then your ankles are most likely quite lean.
Additionally, if you can’t really pinch much fat on the area between your calves and ankles, then you probably also don’t have much body fat.
How about 12.5 inch ankles?
Anyone who has 12.5 inch ankles has very large ankles indeed and would most likely benefit by losing weight.
Of course, as mentioned, some people have a genetic predisposition to storing fat around their ankles. But genetics alone are unlikely to account for what is, quite frankly, a massive ankle size.
Additionally, some people have medical conditions that cause their ankles to swell. So, in this case, just losing body fat is unlikely to be the solution.
In conclusion
Statistically, most people have ankles that are significantly smaller than 12 inches. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t still plenty of individuals who do have 12 inch ankles.
After all, obesity and ankle fat storage are two things that many people struggle with, whether due to their genetics, life circumstances, or a combination of both.