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wutherhi

Cathlete
I've never heard anyone mention this before, but I've been wondering about it for so long, I've just got to ask. I feel sooo slow. I can't keep up with Cathe, speedwise, and I wonder if being so tall could have anything to do with with it. I'm not far behind, really, just half a beat or so. Just enough to keep me in total confusion on the step videos. I use Cathe's strength videos regularly and I really, really want to do step. It looks like so much fun! But I'm 5'll", and when I raise my arms over my head, for example, I have a lot farther to go than Cathe does. Am I nuts? Could that really have anything to do with it?

Shari
 
Hi Shari,
I am not Cathe but being 5 foot 8 inches (I am not as tall as you)I think it is harder to do any aerobic activity on the feet. On the step, you have more leg to get up and down. I have to watch out for the light fittings, when my arms are in the air !! I am seriously thinking of having them replaced ! (the lights not my arms !)
I don't know if you have watched the Elle MacPherson video with Karen Voight, well, Elle is 6 foot, or just over, I believe, and you can see by watching her in the cardio sections that struggles with the jigging about.
I would give the Step tapes a go, though, you will never know until you try it. So far I have only got the Wedding video, but it is brilliant, and I found that any bits I found too beyond me on the step, I got on the floor and did a low impact version instead. I just wish I could take my light fittings down ! I hate it when I knock them.

The other thing is you could start off with a different step instructor and work your way up to Cathe's level. I 'mastered' Keli Roberts Ultimate Step first.

let us know what you decide

Anna
 
Hi!

I have no idea if height is a factor. I am 6' tall and never go over 6" height on my step. I have tried 8" and it took forever for me to get my leg over the step on certain moves. I am a runner and people always think I will be fast with my long legs, but the opposite is true! Who knows why?

Andrea
 
I am 5 ft 10 inches and I don't think, the height has anything to do with how fast you can do the cardio moves.

I have no problems, doing PowerMax on an 8 in. step.

Saying from the beginning, "I can't keep up because I am tall" is wrong and might actually hinder you. I am telling myself, I can be as fast, as strong as I want to be - and it works for me.
 
Physics tells us that height, particularly limb length ABSOLUTELY has something to do with it! For example, just based on lever arm length and the physics equation for work (force x distance), a person who has long limbs and has to move a weight over a distance of 2 feet will be doing more work than a shorter person working with the same weight who only has to move the it a distance of 1.5 feet moving the joint through the same range of motion.

Body type also makes a difference, as does predominant fiber type. This is why I keep telling my patients and clients that what works for well for one body type will not work well for others.

BTW, I'm 6 feet tall with a 36" inseam.
Maribeth
 
Oh, I'm so glad to hear that it might have at least a little something to do with it! I just feel so clumsy and awkward. I have tried Cathe's step tapes many times, but I never seem to get the hang of it. I never could get the hang of the Bus Stop or the Cotton-Eyed Joe or even the two-step, for that matter, back in high school either, and those things are a lot less complicated than some of Cathe's moves. I'll just keep plugging along on my bicycle in the meantime, I guess, until I get the hang of Cathe.

Thanks all,
Shari
 
I am also tall..5'8.5" and one thing i have noticed is that you take up so much more space.For example it would be really nice if they made a little longer step...i have to be careful that i do not slide off mine..(i also have big feet too..size 10).I really like being tall tho..so i guess it is just something we have to work around!
 
Hi Smiley2,

I think I take up alot of space doing grapevines, so I can sympathise. I have to modify all workouts to accomedate my long legs !


Anna
 
>Physics tells us that height, particularly limb length ABSOLUTELY has something to do with it!>>


I definitely have to agree. For example, I can relate it to watching both of my dogs do agility, jumping, running, etc. One dog is 22" at the shoulders and only 43 lbs; the other dog is 27" at the shoulders and 85 lbs. The smaller dog is much more agile and has an easier time jumping, spinning, etc. The bigger dog has to utilize more energy to do the same movements as the smaller dog.

Colleen
 
Yes-sir-ee! I am six feet tall and there are some things that just take me longer! For instance, kickboxing and any type of kick. It just takes longer to throw out a 6 foot tall leg than a 5 foot tall leg! That is my opinion at least! Try your best and you might be able to keep up later but for now, don't think that you are nuts b/c I totally agree!
 
Maribeth!

Where do you shop? I don't usually have a problem getting long pants when ordering, but I'd sure like to try them on first before buying!

Andrea
 
A kickboxing instructor (short Asian woman with even shorter legs) came over to me as I struggled with some fast high kicks and told me that the moves were not designed for people with legs up to their chins. I was kinda embarassed. On the other hand, I think some of Cathe's moves are easier with long legs,like those sideways lunge on the board things from StepWorks and BodyMax.

I'll bet it's harder for us tall people to do planks too :-O
 
RE: Maribeth!

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Oct-04-02 AT 09:52PM (Est)[/font][p]Usually either J. Crew or Gap Online. It is a toughie, though. Most of the clothing manufacturers tend to assume if you're tall that you have a moderately long inseam and a very long rise. I don't, so many of the "tall" clothes end up being too short in the leg length and too long in the crotch--quite an attractive fit--NOT! :D
 
I'll bet it's harder for us tall people to do planks too :-O


Of course it is! I knew there had to be a reason! ;)
 
RE: Maribeth!

Usually either J. Crew or Gap Online. It is a toughie, though. Most of the clothing manufacturers tend to assume if you're tall that you have a moderately long inseam and a very long rise. I don't, so many of the "tall" clothes end up being too short in the leg length and too long in the crotch--quite an attractive fit--NOT!


Ain't it the truth!!! I have the same problem!

Now Maribeth, I have another question for you. It's so great of you to take the time to answer that I hate to take advantage, so if you'll just steer me in the right direction, I'll do the rest of the work myself. My question is: is it possible to build more of that "speedy muscle?" You know, the kind that would make it easier to do step aerobics?

I'm actually pretty strong these days, but I'm still just as slow. And I'm "heavy on my feet," too. My whole family is. I'm not even very fast on my bicycle. I usually ride between 12 and 14 mph, and going much faster than that is just exhausting after more than l0 or 15 miles.

Are there workouts designed to increase the type of muscle that would make me faster? It seems to me there must be because my brother, who is also more of the "slow and heavy" type like me, seemed to me to get much lighter on his feet and faster when he was working his way up to a brown belt in Tai Kwan Do. Do you know what might have caused that?

Shari
 
Push Ups, Planks and Bein' Tall.

Hate Planks! Hate, hate, hate them......
I do try to do them though!
I am tall (5'9" or so..... or so they tell me...)
I am also heavy right now and doin' those planks are tough.

I can manage to keep up with the step stuff, but sometimes, raising the long femur does take more effort.

Like a friend points out, if you take a person who's 125 lbs., lay a 100 lb. sack of flour on them and THEN have them try to do planks,it would be a little more difficult for them.

Ok, ok, so it's a good excuse too! I'll keep trying! ;)

Cleda
 
RE: Push Ups, Planks and Bein' Tall.

Ok, this discussion I really don't get.

For upper body..swinging the arms overhead and clapping and things like that..the longer limb thing makes sense. But what about stepping?? Seems longer legs would give you an advantage here. I am 5'0 tall with very short squatty legs and when I raise my step to 8" it is VERY hard for me to keep up with Cathe as far as time it takes to step on and off the step. Seems like if you had longer legs this stepping action would be easier for you because we are both using the 8" step. Isn't that why Rhonda (I think that is her name), the taller one in the Cathe tapes, always seems to be using the 8" step height even when Cathe uses the 6"??? Her legs are longer. In order for her to achieve the angle appropriate when stepping on and off the step, she has to raise her step height. I don't think she uses 6" in any of the videos.

The kickboxing comment makes sense as well, but I guess you could argue also that the heavier you leg is the harder it would be to "kick it out" as well. The more heavily muscled you legs, the more effort it takes??

I love these discussions....anything to somehow makes us think it MUST BE harder for us. Cathe tapes are just too darn hard to begin with!! Planks do seem like they would be harder the heavier your body weighs. Same seems true with push ups. If your whole body weighs more, it must take more effort for your arms and upper body to push that weight up??

Janice
 
The tall people fight back!

Yes, but due to the physics of leverage, a short 130 lb person would have an easier time doing planks than a tall 130 lb person due to the length of the lever, ditto with pushups. At least that's how I remember the physics. This also makes the long femur harder to lift both for step and kickboxing, although of course a heavy thigh would also be harder than a slender one, but if the femur is longer, this is a factor.
 
RE: The tall people fight back!

I'm in trouble no matter how you slice it:

I'm tall.
I have long femurs
(and short arms!)
I am way over my weight goal currently.... (but working on it!)
I have a heavy thigh (both weight wise....and probably muscular!)

Even at goal.... I always did my push ups on my knees! Could only ever eek out about 10 big boys. I admire all those who can! (KimLav -- you are my hero whereever you are!) :) And planks????? FORGET IT..... tee-hee...

Oh well.... I'm still in good shape and I'll keep trying at those blasted planks and push ups! But I can't chop my femur or grow my arms at this point in life! And as everyone always states: There's no such thing as an easy Cathe Tape! }>

Cleda
 
RE: The tall people fight back!

This will sound a little complicated here, but hang with me and it will make sense.

A long limbed person is at a disadvantage from two perspectives--first, for every degree of range of motion through which the joint goes, the distance traveled at the end of the limb will be greater than for the person with a shorter limb. This means that for a given number of degrees of range of motion at a joint, the longer limbed person will do more work raising the same resistance than a shorter limbed person, due to the greater distance through which the resistance is being moved--work = force x distance.

At the same time, a longer limbed person is at a mechanical disadvantage since almost all of the joints of the body are part of a third class lever system. In third class levers, the effort arm (distance from the joint to where the tendon attaches to the bone) is shorter than the resistance arm (distance from the joint to where the resistance is applied), which means that the longer the limb, the poorer the mechanical advantage. The amount of force a muscle has to exert is the resistance x the resistance arm length--the longer the resistance arm length, the more force that has to be exerted, even if the resistance itself is the same amount.

With step height, the reason a taller person can use a higher step is a function of staying within a safe range of motion for the knee. Since for a given number of degrees of range of motion at the knee joint, a longer limb will cover a greater distance than a shorter limb will, the step can be higher for a longer limbed person and still keep the joint in what's considered a safe range of motion. It isn't a matter of being easier--matter of fact, from a work perspective, it is harder for a longer limbed person than a shorter limbed person of the same weight, regardless of the step height. But from the point of staying within a specified range of motion, the longer limbed person will be able to use a greater variety of step heights and still be within an acceptable number of degrees of range of motion at the knee.

Tell me if this isn't clear--it is a little tricky, but it all comes back to lever arms, torque, work and angles--good ol' physics.
Maribeth
 
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