Cathe, should taller women...

[goldenrun358]

Cathe,

I was wondering if taller women need to lift heavier weights than women with shorter stature to achieve similar results.

I am 5'10" and have been concentrating on building lean muscle. To get a lean and defined look, do I need to try and go heavier than someone who is shorter? I usually match what you pick up and have consistently trying to lift more. Have you ever encountered this in you experience?

TIA!

PS: LOVE your workouts, thankful that I found them/you, and can't wait for STS!!!!!!

 

[maddiesmum]

Why would this be so?

Just wondering: do you have a rationale for this? A particular reason for asking? It may be that you have an ectomorph body frame and find it hard to build muscle, in which case, heavy weights and progressive overload are the way to go.

I cannot think that height makes that much or any difference to the nature of muscle fibres. Some of us have more fast twitch than slow twitch and vice versa, so I guess the trick is to encourage greater growth by doing a mixture of strength and some endurance lifting, in addition to compound and plyo moves.

Clare

 

[goldenrun358]

Clare,

I ask because it's not something I've heard discussed and it seems to me that someone with long bones might need to lift more to see the same definition. For example, there is a greater distance from my shoulder to elbow than there is on someone who is 5'0".

No real "rationale" for asking other than simple curiosity! I have been progressively overloading my muscles and am happy with the results so far. But again, just wondering if height had any role in this process.