Thread: Tall strength vs. Short strength

I am 6'1" wouldn't mind being 6'4" or 6'5"

Chics dig tall guys. They like to feel protected.

Wait so being taller actually hurts you in benching?

Originally Posted by poloblue22

Wait so being taller actually hurts you in benching?

If you had longer arms you'd need to move the weights over a longer distance. Wouldn't you rather move them the least possible distance to complete the lift?

wouldn't the longer arms give you more leverage though?

I'd like to be 6'1'', 210 lbs

I definitely wouldn't want to be shorter than 5'10''

Originally Posted by IJ300

wouldn't the longer arms give you more leverage though?

Imagine your arms being ten times as long while having the same strength. Now do a bench press. It takes a lot more energy now that you have to move the weights a longer distance, doesn't it? Thus, you probably can't move as much weight for a 1RM. I don't believe having longer arms would make any other noticeable differences. I could be wrong though.

Originally Posted by IJ300

wouldn't the longer arms give you more leverage though?

If anything, leverage is worse. There is now additional torque created because the line of action is further away from the axis of rotation. This is true at least in the case of the muscles working around the shoulder complex in the bench press. The elbow joint is unaffected by torque as the line of action is directly in line with the elbow joint.

Originally Posted by themamasan

Question:

In bench press would you rather be tall (6'4" or taller) and press around 300lbs, or would you rather be stronger ( bench press around 400 lbs ) and not be tall (5'5 - 5'10)?

I was wondering because a lot of my friends say they would want to be as tall as me, look leaner, and be fairly strong vs. being their height and have more strength. They also say it is more impressive when a tall guy presses a certain amount of weight, because of their arm length and the distance they have to travel for a complete movement.

Alot of people say Height plays a major role in the amount one can bench. I do not believe this is true. If someone is 6'8 they will just need a wider grip then the person around 5'8, 5-10. I believe wider can compensate for taller people in the bench, although I must admit I don't see very many 6'5 people benching World Records. Just my opinion, .

Originally Posted by MattV

Alot of people say Height plays a major role in the amount one can bench. I do not believe this is true. If someone is 6'8 they will just need a wider grip then the person around 5'8, 5-10. I believe wider can compensate for taller people in the bench, although I must admit I don't see very many 6'5 people benching World Records. Just my opinion, .

Some of that has to do with the fact that in powerlifting there is a maximum wrip width that is legal. Also, at a certain point you are going to have to weigh the impingment of your shoulder joint against the ability to push more weight.

AT 6'5" 230 im fairly happy. sometimes i wish i were shorter so i would appear bigger but love my height since i stick out in a crowd. When i graduated high school i weighed 175 and it sucked bieng tall and skinny cause you stick out for all the wrong reasons! But damn my abs looked great back then!

Originally Posted by rgrmike74

AT 6'5" 230 im fairly happy. sometimes i wish i were shorter so i would appear bigger but love my height since i stick out in a crowd. When i graduated high school i weighed 175 and it sucked bieng tall and skinny cause you stick out for all the wrong reasons! But damn my abs looked great back then!

yeah, I here yah. I was the exact same way. Graduated High School at 6'5" 173lbs. I loved my abs but still looked like death. I am now 6'6" 245lbs and much happier even though I can't see my abs anymore...but I am literally more than twice my strength on the major exercises.