Problems you run into when your tall....

T

toastythemosty

Cathlete
Jump rope is never long enough

Core Max 2 with stability ball between your legs working the obliques...when your room is not wide enough and the ball keeps hitting the furniture or the walls.

You can cheat doing speed skaters because your legs are so long, and your workout area is still not big enough as you feel you might run into the wall over and over again, if you didn't cheat. Do I cheat? No! I like to see if I can run into a wall every now and then. LOL!

Core Max 1 when you are on your back with your legs straight up and your reaching up towards your feet...Cathe doesn't have to reach so high? Not fair!

I know there has to be more so please list them!!!!

Charlotte~~
 
The number of steps you have to take forward from your step when doing one legged lunges. In Leaner Legs Cathe recommends taking about three steps forward. If you are tall, three stpes doesn't cut it. I actually wrote the number of steps forward I had to take in my workout notebook. I'm not that tall either...5'7' LOL
 
Space is a problem for me. My arms and legs are so long that I have to be careful not to hit the walls. Workouts like Core Synergestics with those banana rolls are a real pain - I always hit something all stretched out like that.

I can easily cheat with the pull ups on the door - don't need a chair to help me because my feet reach the ground so well.

The thing I like the least is that I can use heavy weights, more heavy weights and my muscles won't bulk like they would with a shorty.
 
It's the 'longer the lever the harder the exercise' rule. My levers are long and this is what I attribute my inability to do a pretty pushup to. Oh how I would love to make them look as effortless as Cathe does. I also think that my length makes squat thrust terminatiors harder as my legs have farther to go in the same amount of time.

On the flip side when I'm doing interval 5 (I think) in IMAX2 I'm sure that the '7 long hop turns' are easier for tall exercisers as our legs are long and we can get over that board with less effort.

Take Care
Laurie:)
 
Charlotte -

LOVE this thread! At 5'10, I've experienced most of these! LOL

* Ceiling clearance. My DH wanted me to workout in the garage, but one set of leg presses and a bashed skull from the drop in the ceiling ended the dreams of a personalized space.

* There's a lot more of me to project into the air during plyo jacks. I'm trying, but I just can't get the height that Cathe and her crew do - and don't even mention the plie jacks. A leprechaun I am not. Cathe and her crew look so graceful. I'm afraid I look like a giraffe caught in a blender.


On the flip side, though - I read with secret grins the post of the more vertically challenged among us who burn 300/400 calories during some of the tougher workouts. I routinely burn 800+ because of my height. After one workout where I burned 1250 calories, I called my mom and thanked her for my height. As I like food, the fact that I can eat a bit more, is a good thing for me.
 
>* There's a lot more of me to project into the air during
>plyo jacks. I'm trying, but I just can't get the height that
>Cathe and her crew do - and don't even mention the plie jacks.

Not to mention that we have a lot more arm and leg to move around, which simply takes longer. I find it difficult to stay on the count.

Shari
 
I think overall there are more good things than bad things about long legs and arms (I am 5'8" and leggy). But it is that leverage thing, ain't it??

Those ab exercises where you raise the med ball up and one leg at the same time, like in ME and BC are HELL. Whereas like you've said, speed skaters and side lunges like in StepWorks and BodMax are pretty easy. Anything where legs have to be held up is harder, anything where they have to reach is easier.

And it is nice to be able to eat more, and of course, when we wear high heels, we are pretty formidable! }(
 
Well I can relate to what everyone is saying here and I am 5' 7 1/2" tall. I guess the "problems" I was referring to was maybe getting your head stuck in the ceiling fan or your fingers and running into furniture and walls. LOL! I love to wear heels too even if it makes me look like I am 6'.
Toe touches are extremely easy for me with long arms too and doing 100 of them like in Cathe's Fiesta workout will really work your hamstrings as I am finding out.

Charlotte~~
 
""A leprechaun I am not. Cathe and her crew look so graceful. I'm afraid I look like a giraffe caught in a blender.""

I'm 5' 9" and
I feel like a giraffe (LOL)

I constantly run out of room and feel like I have arms and legs flailing everywhere compared to those little people with compact bodies.

When I put on a pair of heeled shoes (compared to my usual flat things) I feel like a towering giant peering into the parts in peoples hair.

It seems like I need a LOT more time than cathe and crew to do the long extension ab work, like passing the stablity ball from feet to hands, or the one where you extend your arms over head and legs at the same time, or even the bike maneuvers. I need to do those ones slow or something bad happens in my back.
 
I am 5'10" and I always hit the ceiling fan when I work out in my bedroom.

Endorphin Junkie, at least you can do a push up. :)

I never heard about height being related to push ups. I feel that I am strong in my upper body. I don't know why I can't do a proper push up. I thought it was a lack in core strength or the weight is too much for me to get up there. ;)

Lori
 
I'm 5'9" and long-limbed. To me, the biggest disadvantage is rep speed. Single reps for bicep curls, etc seem too fast, but it's hard for me to not stay with the beat.

Don't get me started about push-ups! (But, if knee push-ups are as hard for us as toe push-ups are for Cathe and crew, does that mean we're getting the same benefit?)

For some reason, I have no trouble with terminators. In fact, I've always wondered why people complain more about that move than any other on BC.

In Imax 3, jumping the length of the step for tall people like us must be a breeze compared to shorter people. Ditto for the side lunges. I'm practically yawning when I do those.}(

I don't know if it's harder for long-limbed people to reach toward their feet in Core Max. Cathe may not have to reach as high, but her arms are a lot shorter too!
 
Well, being 5'9", I looked like a giant standing next to petite Cathe and her equally petite crew! And the ceiling in my workout space is a little too low to do some of the overhead moves.


Angie
 
I laugh every time I do Pyramid Upper Body when I see the crew laying on the step with their knees bent and placed on the step. Mine hang off the end! I'm 5'9.

Christine
 
Christine,

I cross my legs up in the air when I am on bench. Don't know where else to put them as I don't want to cut off my circulation! LOL!

Charlotte~~
 
I do have to admit, though that I like being tall.

* I don't get lost in the crowd.
* I can wear heels or not - I don't HAVE to wear them to be noticed. LOL. And I do wear 2 and 3 inch heels.
* People naturally think you know what you're doing. (I don't know why, but people trust tall people. Go figure).
* I can reach all but the highest cabinets in the kitchen (and I can reach the stuff in the front in those, too).
* I like the appreciative glances my long, long legs get *grins*


Of course, finding pants that are long enough is a challenge. I don't know about you, but after a life time of wearing "floods", I find it difficult to wear ankle length pants. Capri's are fine, but ankle length, no...
 
"SO jealous of you my tall friends. I'm 4'11'', I have none of these problems."


Yup, me too.
But this is a fun and enlightening thread to read, isn't it?!:)

Well, I do hit my ceiling fan occasionally, because I have to place my step directly under it.

Julie
 
"On the flip side, though - I read with secret grins the post of the more vertically challenged among us who burn 300/400 calories during some of the tougher workouts."

Oh, I long for the days when I burned that many calories. Now I am lucky to get 300....even out of Imax, Bootcamp, and the like. OTOH, I don't want the poundage back that enabled me to burn them....but I do still like to eat. :+

Julie
 
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