To taller Cathletes!

[Susanne Gedral]

When doing 4-limbed, compound exercises, do any of the taller people feel you have to RUSH? For instance, when the DVD calls for putting weights down, standing up, and then picking the weight back up overhead I have a hard time matching the pace. I feel it's because shorter people can do such moves faster because it takes them less time to get down there! Hope I'm not alone in this experience. I'm curious to see if anyone feels this way.

 

[sneakers]

I can relate! I feel like I have longer arms too, so sometimes that comes into play as well. Definitely adds to the challenge.

 

[fitdeb]

I agree! I am 5'11' and my legs are long - 36" inseam. I have to travel a lot farther to complete most exercises, especially side-to-side lunges. To keep up with the workout I usually will just do fewer reps. With weight training it is about TUT so I figure that by traveling the extra 6" my muscles are still under tension even though I am doing few reps. I also cannot do burpees, squat thrusts or mountain climbers with my hands on the floor. I have to use the step topper or Bear Blocks to balance out my arm/leg length.

 

[Gobias]

YESSSSS!! I do what fitdeb does and usually do a rep or so less than Cathe does. I find that when I try to match the shorter Cathe's pace, I don't go as deep, don't jump as high, don't fully engage the muscle, etc. If I add the rep to the end of the set, I find I don't have enough recovery time.

For me, this is the case with compound weight exercises or cardio such as burpees. Getting this all-leg lanky body down to the floor and back up again takes a beat longer.

 

[ashaw]

I'm 5 ft 6 in and don't consider myself to be a tall person by any means, but I can tell you that I do have trouble with some moves, even at my height. Namely, in Flex Train the bear crawls into pushups in the warm up, then one of the first moves where you go down to the side, put your weights down and then pick the weights back up and do an over head press.

In Cardio Core Circuit the moves that I have to modify are the jump forward, squat thrust, push up, back up into jacks - I can do the jumps forward, the squat thrusts, but I can't go down into a push up that fast and come back up to do the jacks. The squat drop and rolls are hard for me to stay on Cathe's count and the final core move where you squat drop into a push up and roll back. Again, its hard for me to keep the tempo on that one.

In All Out Low Impact HIIT, I can do the squat thrust into high switch kicks, but again its hard to keep Cathe's tempo on that one

In HIIT 40/20, where you do the burpee, push up and straddle jump (I think its in that order), I can do the burpee and the straddle jump, but I can't do the push up because I can't keep the tempo otherwise.

I think mine comes from the fact that I'm not a very flexible person, plus the fact that I'm always mindful of my knees, even before my knee injury last June.

 

[Susanne Gedral]

Many thanks for your responses! I feel less lonely now. When Cathe says they're going to do squat thrusts, I say aloud, "Maybe YOU are!" LOL

 

[Lady Vol Fan]

And here all this time I thought tall people had it easier because they could cover the distance quicker with their length!

 

[aqua girl]

Heck, I’m only 5’4” and I still have troubles keeping up on these moves!!! . And I do burpees & mt. Climbers with a chair or FitTower…Modify. Modify, Modify!!!

 

[Katerchen]

I am 5ft10 and besides some cardio moves, push ups and pull ups seem harder for me than for my shorter counterparts.

 

[Hazlady]

At 5'4" I also have trouble keeping up with some moves. I can't do burpees or any other move where I have to go down and get up quickly as I get dizzy. I also lack flexibility and have had a prior back injury which I am always mindful of. I modify a lot.

 

[Lady Vol Fan]

Nothing wrong with modifying..just keep moving!!

 

[ashaw]

Nothing wrong with modifying..just keep moving!!

That just made me remember what Cathe says during one of the moves in HIIT 40/20 (fresh in my head from doing it 5 days ago):

“It’s all about what works, as long as you’re working!”

 

[snowlover]

As taller person with very long legs yes, it is hard to keep up with the rhythm of moves like burpees but I've become really good at it. I find that since doing Cathe workouts my ability to engage my core and respond to compound moves has greatly improved and made me a better overall athlete. Another thing that is challenging is finding the room at home to do some moves. I often have to them diagonally to fit in my space. Also, as much as I would love a circular mat, the 6' diameter is too short. I use some extra long and extra wide yoga mats put together so I don't keep stepping off of the mat.

 

[ashaw]

As taller person with very long legs yes, it is hard to keep up with the rhythm of moves like burpees but I've become really good at it. I find that since doing Cathe workouts my ability to engage my core and respond to compound moves has greatly improved and made me a better overall athlete. Another thing that is challenging is finding the room at home to do some moves. I often have to them diagonally to fit in my space. Also, as much as I would love a circular mat, the 6' diameter is too short. I use some extra long and extra wide yoga mats put together so I don't keep stepping off of the mat.

I’d love to have a bigger workout area too. It makes step workouts especially challenging to make sure I have room all around me because Cathe does moves off the sides of the step too!