Tall people have it tough.

[James]

All I know is I'm 6 foot and my lower back is f***ed!

[DamianWalker]

its hard to say, bodies are complicated. whats the average amount of muscle your supposed to aim to add a week 0.5lb? anyway say it is for an example.
if a taller guy adds .5lb a week and a shorter guy adds the same, the shorter guy has less surface area than the taller guy. there fore he would look more muscular. but i personally don't think it works this way, i don't think the shorter guy body would allow him to put the same amount of muscle per week as the taller guy. i always prefer to think of it as a percentage. say the taller guy weighs 80kg and the shorter 60kg i think its better to say they both add 10% that would be 8kg for the taller guy and 6kg for the shorter guy. i dont think the shorter guys body would allow him to put the same amount of muscle on as the taller guy.
hope that made sense and theres no scientific research behind that ha its just my idea of how it may work.


obviously im talking average man, not counting the guys on each end of the spectrum

[NU_nutrition_TS]

I think everyone has brought a correct piece of the jigsaw to this puzzle. Basically it is down to muscle belly size and this video gives a reasonably clear explanation:

A tall person with long limbs is more likely to have more tendon between the joint and the insertion of their muscle belly so, irrespective of how much muscle tissue they add, they are not going to get the same appearance of fullness to their muscle as someone who has less length of limb (a person of shorter stature) who has less tendon between the joint and the insertion of the muscle belly. That is not to say all short/short limbed people have the smaller muscle belly insertion/tendon gap and all tall/longer-limbed people have the opposite - there will always be a degree of variation and cross-over between the two body types - but much more generally the genetics of a tall person will mean the girth of a muscle will be somewhat overshadowed by its length meaning there will not be the full/rounded/pumped appearance you see in someone who is shorter and more compact overall (assuming a similar percentage of overall muscle tissue per unit length of the limb and not counting the height of muscle 'peak').

For example, Franco Columbu (5ft 5in):
Franco+columbu+-+www.musclebase.blogspot.com+0024.JPG

Compared with Arnold Schawrzenegger (6ft 2in):
arnold_schwarzenegger.jpg

[MiniHulk]

Interesting post, thanks.

[MrLong]

Im 6foot 5 and have to be extremely careful with my back. I advise even beginners if they are tall to wear a belt, I wish I did.

[Big Lench]

I'm also 6'5". I'm going to start doing SS this week with a few ab and plyo jumping stuff thrown in for good measure and i was looking into using belts and knee wraps and if they were necessary. From what i read a lot of people don't think they're needed and i was planning on not using them at all. If i get to a point where i'm lifting enough weight that i feel my knees and back are in jeopardy and need supporting even slightly i'm just not going to lift any heavier, or drop down slightly until i feel they are strong enough to handle it.

[paul_gti6]

I'm not 100% convinced tall guys are prone to back pain from training, I think thats more to do with poor diet and poor technique. I'm 6"5 and have trained for 6 years almost. I have completed everything 5x5 strength to HST routines. I have always deadlifted and squatted. I used to blame my rugby palying days on a bad knee which prevented me from running without serious pain blah blah but recently one of the trainers in the gym said to try an actual 'full' squat, as low as I can go. After reading and watching olympic lifting videos I now squat fine and now hit the cardio twice and week.

As for belts, thats up to you, I have never used one for deadlifts or squats. On the very odd occasion on heavy military presses.

[stronglikewood]

I'm not really tall at 6' but I've fortunately never had an injury. I stopped back squatting because my technique was no good and all the strain was felt on my lower back. I also stopped benching for a long time because of lack of progress but also because my left shoulder would occasionally feel vulnerable. This isn't is a problem any more since I learned how to bench more effectively- arched, shoulders shrugged and squeezed behind, and I don't lock out any reps apart from the last rep. Had I continued back squatting because 'you're supposed to' or carried on benching the way I was then I may well have had some bad injuries.

If you're tall don't use it as an excuse as to why you're not built, just get your bodyweight up and train to get stronger in a hypertrophy rep range. Maybe it will take longer but if you get there, you'll dwarf smaller built guys. Look at Arnie and Columbo above. Both have great physiques but Arnie is larger and more imposing because he has more muscle over all.