Thread: Mass gain and Height

5'9" ain't tall.

I am not a pro. and heard this is tall for a woman who is bodybuilding. Please explain if u have any furthur replies, I want to learn all I can, even if some of my knowledge is incorrect, I want corrected. thank u

Well, you're certainly not short, but advice for you would be no different to advice to anyone else.

There will most likely be some articles on the homepage relating to weight training with the eye on pogression over time - progression being an increase in reps or weight each workout. Sample training splits will also be laid out, as well as guidelines for eating.

May i suggest you spend 30 minutes reading the basics and then come back with specific questions you want answering?

Originally Posted by PAGirl

I have heard it is hard for a tall man or woman to gain mass b/c the muscle being longer w/o large muscle bellies. I am 5'9 and 180lbs w/20%b.f. I am built tall and thick, cut and sweeping, but lack larger thick muscle bellies in my quads and biceps. I see pictures of other women who are 5'4" w/beautiful thick quads & tiny waists. Does height contribute to large muscle bellies? Plus I have an extremley large(circumfrence) rib cage, therefore built like a "ruler" b/c my hips are also wide. I am proportioned extremley well(up/low body) & symetricial, but just have a large frame and am tall. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as how to get larger muscle bellies.
I switch back & forth ea. workout to 4x6-8 heavy then 4x12-15 for endurance. I know everybody trains differently, but if anybody is tall out there, I would be greatful for some advice.

5'9 is tall for a woman, regardless of what some people think. You have 3 inches on me.

You are going to be limited no matter what by your own personal genetics which include your height. You have a large frame and if I am understanding correctly, wide hips. Your friend Susan may be the same height, but have large legs and a small upper body while your other friend Jane may be tall and lithe with perfect proportions.

Everything else being the same, a taller person has to put on more muscle for an increase in size to be seen visually because they have that many inches to fill out. That is why in the male professional bodybuilding ranks, men 6'3' or more are at a disadvantage against people at 5'10 or 5'11'' like Ronnie Coleman. They could weigh 30 pounds more than the shorter man, but look smaller.

There is nothing wrong though with emphasizing certain areas for more training to counteract the weaknesses you may have in your physique and also working less on your stronger points. I think the first thing you need to do is ask " what do I want my body to look like?" and then build your training, nutritional and rest/recovery program around that.

An example may be " I want a more hourglass leanly muscled figure with wider shoulders, larger biceps, bigger quads and a smaller waist". Then set up your program to work towards these goals, which may mean emphasizing shoulder, biceps and quad work, doing maintenance training on say the back and chest and using your cardio and dietary program to trim down the waist.

And it is acceptable ( I do this myself) to use different rep ranges for different body parts. In the example I just cited, you may use lower reps on shoulders, biceps and quads and higher, less intense reps on the back and chest so that these areas do not grow so much, allowing the shoulders, bis and quads to "catch up".

5'9" is 5 inches above average in the US, that qualifies for tall.

It is hard because for every 10 pounds someone else gains, you are probably going to need 15 to look the same. Thats why.

Originally Posted by PAGirl

I have heard it is hard for a tall man or woman to gain mass b/c the muscle being longer w/o large muscle bellies. I am 5'9 and 180lbs w/20%b.f. I am built tall and thick, cut and sweeping, but lack larger thick muscle bellies in my quads and biceps. I see pictures of other women who are 5'4" w/beautiful thick quads & tiny waists. Does height contribute to large muscle bellies? Plus I have an extremley large(circumfrence) rib cage, therefore built like a "ruler" b/c my hips are also wide. I am proportioned extremley well(up/low body) & symetricial, but just have a large frame and am tall. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as how to get larger muscle bellies.
I switch back & forth ea. workout to 4x6-8 heavy then 4x12-15 for endurance. I know everybody trains differently, but if anybody is tall out there, I would be greatful for some advice.

you are right, It's harder for tall people to put on mass, it just takes longer, but when you do put on mass in the end (if you can), you'll look huge.