Tall people

[Jenniferlove]

Hello there,
I read the following article and found it fascinating!

I'm not 6'2" but being close to 5'10" I can relate to this article regarding limb-to-torso length.

So... I thought I would pass it along to others who might also find it interesting and helpful. I hope you enjoy it! Copy/paste it into your browser if clicking doesn't take you there.

T NATION | The Truth for Tall Lifters

Have a great day!

 

[jdimascio]

Great article....I always think about my height when I am doing some of Cathe's workouts. I try not to compare weights being used by Cathe or others, as long as I feel the burn i am happy. I am not super tall (5'8), but I have long arms and legs and I know my lever length can prevent me to go up heavy faster than those with shorter limbs. Also, I find that I have to go super fast on squat-like cardio moves to stay on track with Cathe!

 

[2121]

Great article Jen. I am only 5'8". However, when doing moves and I try to compare how I look to Cathe and crew, I guess I should stop. I think they are roughly 5'2". On some of the moves, I think, yeah right I'll never get my hand to touch the floor.
Melissa

 

[JeanneMarie]

I am 5'7", not as tall as some of you, but I have ridiculously long arms and legs in proportion to my torso. I know for a fact that a lot of the moves Cathes does are harder for me because of my limb length. Moves that require my legs to be tucked under me like Dreya rolls and even burpees, are just harder when you've got all that leg length to tuck beneath you.

An observation I made when my son ran Cross Country for his high school was that the fastest kids were always the shortest kids. The tall kids (like my DS) were just slower. Even though their stride was longer, they had less speed because of their long legs and the extra effort it took to get them moving faster.

 

[tralaiven]

I am glad for this topic post because I am 5'9" and feel like I have been taller than the majority of most women (and many men) since I was 12 years old. This was a very interesting article.

My legs are long (can anyone say FLOODS?: when I was 12 finding pants for me was a joke back in the 70's)...and my arms are long too. I need to remember that most of the gals on Cathe's videos have to be around 5'4" or 5'5" it looks like to me (I could be wrong) so even the way they do the exercises will have a nuance of a difference from when I do them simply because of my height.

 

[maddiesmum]

Agreed! I sometimes have to ignore Cathe's beat on squats, long lever lateral raises, front raises, chest flyes, etc, because I'm simply crossing through way more space than she is and I am not prepared to either compromise my form or severely drop weight just to keep up with her speed. That's OK now, because I am used to it. This could intimidate a tall newbie, however; one who hasn't yet learned to "make it work for you."

I watched this guy's videos and I think he's OK on the Goblet squat, but he should be careful with that deadlift. He should work at getting those hips lower and I disagree with him that he is physically incapable of ding so due to height. He's primarily using how lower back to lift all that weight and it looks like an accident/injury waiting to happen. To the extent that he is not really getting his lower body sufficiently into the action, he's performing this ove incorrectly: we are supposed to use the strength of the lower body and the back to lift to standing position. I hated watching him do this. More flexibility in his hips and hip flexors would help him get those hips lower. I don't think height has anything to do with that. A little yoga? Maybe he has the same "tough guy in the weight room" blindness towards flexibility work? Speculation.....

Clare

 

[Jenniferlove]

Exactly... sounds like you all can also relate to not matching the beat on super fast squats, too, at least not if you want to really get down into a good squat! I end up doing more pulse squats at times simply so I focus more on my squat Longer limbs, center of gravity, it really does change the workout on many aspects!