I was once told because my arms are shorter it makes benching heavy weight easier.
Bullshit! A shorter guy does NOT get any less of a ROM than a taller guy on the bench press! The taller guy can move his damn hands out more and get just as much if not more ROM than a guy with short arms! People just do-not think sometimes… and yes I agree, most world class powerlifter are over 5’ 10" and above.[/quote]
Short guys can move their arms out too. Shorter guys generally move the bar a shorter distance.
Not all short guys are built the same. There are plenty of short guys that have that jockey build. That has no mechanical advantage at all. But you gotta admit there are also a lot with the George Kastanza(Seinfeld) build. Short and stocky. I’ve had friends like that and they were just naturals at bench. Short arms, big chest, and naturally powerful. Ain’t no way you’re telling me they have the same ROM as a medium built six footer. It just doesn’t take a guy like that as much work to get the results as it does a medium built six footer. Doesn’t mean it can’t be done, just takes more effort. That’s reality.
Um, I didn’t really think that this was a complex topic, but the length of lever-arms (i.e. your limbs) does play a huge role into how much you can lift.
One of the guys that played football with me had such short arms and was so thick through his back/chest that his ROM was literally like 8 inches.
Even with a wider hand placement than he took, I probably had to move the bar 2 feet farther than he did on every rep.
Now, I still benched more than him, so I don’t buy into people making excuses for shit. Yes, my deadlift is far ahead of my squat or bench press, that’s motivation for me to work harder on those 2 lifts, not curse out short lifters who may have the opposite problem…
But anyway, yes, limb length makes a huge difference as a baseline measurement. If you gave Manute Bol 20 years of bench press training and steroids, he would still never, ever, out bench-press Dave Tate, or even come close. That’s just basic biomechanics, if you can’t understand that, you’re half-way to retarded in my book…
Actually, I think Dave has maintained that he’s a (relatively) weak bencher. Also, even if the top benchers are over 6’, their ROM is very short even without an arch.
I would also say that height and build won’t necessarily guarantee that some is prediposed to bench or not – I’d say that muscle fiber distribution and insertion points are a bigger factor as far as genetics.
Training age is a huge factor – when they took the shoulder press out of olympic lifting the age of champions dropped significantly because the upper body mass needed for a strong press required years of training.
"But anyway, yes, limb length makes a huge difference as a baseline measurement. If you gave Manute Bol 20 years of bench press training and steroids, he would still never, ever, out bench-press Dave Tate, or even come close. That’s just basic biomechanics, if you can’t understand that, you’re half-way to retarded in my book… "
teach them the competitive benching technique. arched back, spread chest, dig with heels. really shortens the ROM. then tell them they should now be able to bench 3 plates.
You have “Napoleon complex”. Let it go. Short, tall, it don’t matter as long as you’re content with yourself.
I have a friend that milks being short. He’s 5’3" about 140lbs and gets alot of short cute little babes all over him. He’s built about as good as a 5’3" guy can be built and the ladies don’t seem to mind.
I asked him one time,“What is you limit for chics”; refering to thier weight. And he replied, “about a duece”. I just started laughing my ass off picturing him with some chic that would be about 5’9" 190lbs. He had a great personality and just loved life.
Sometimes no matter how tall you are, no amout of height will help your personality. I wannna be 6’ 4" and I’m only 5’11". You can’t change what you are, all you can do is go with what you are. So I say, Milk every thing you can outta being short.
[quote]elliot007 wrote:
“They also are often heard sayting that deadlifts are the better way to test overall strength. eyeroll”
you can roll your eyes all you want, but like it or not, the d-lift is a better measure of strength because you can either pick it up or you cant
dont have to worry about depth for squat, or bouncing off chest for bench[/quote]
Yea, but the deadlift comes much easier for you because you’re tall and you have a mechanical advantage to deadlift heavier weights than a small guy.
That’s my point. If you heard people saying this all the time, trying to discredit your work at improving your deadlift by saying it’s only because you’re tall and have better leverages for it, it would piss you off too.
Most ignorant people don’t know enough about deadlifts to make such an ignorant statement; unfortunately they make those ignorant statements about benching and short people fairly often.
If it was the best measure of overall strength, why would there be a need for the other 2 lifts in powerlifting?
They all matter.
I train to improve them all, regardless of what leverage advantages/disadvantages I have.
[quote]Mr. Push Ups wrote:
You have “Napoleon complex”. Let it go. Short, tall, it don’t matter as long as you’re content with yourself.
I have a friend that milks being short. He’s 5’3" about 140lbs and gets alot of short cute little babes all over him. He’s built about as good as a 5’3" guy can be built and the ladies don’t seem to mind.
I asked him one time,“What is you limit for chics”; refering to thier weight. And he replied, “about a duece”. I just started laughing my ass off picturing him with some chic that would be about 5’9" 190lbs. He had a great personality and just loved life.
Sometimes no matter how tall you are, no amout of height will help your personality. I wannna be 6’ 4" and I’m only 5’11". You can’t change what you are, all you can do is go with what you are. So I say, Milk every thing you can outta being short. [/quote]
What the fuck are you talking about? I said nothing about wanting to be taller. I’m perfectly content with my height. I’ve had girlfriends that were close to 6’0" tall, and I’ve had girlfriends that were shorter than me. I could honestly give a fuck less as to how tall I am.
I simply posted this because I’m sick and tired of hearing that my strength is greatly attributed to the fact that I’m 5’4". I’ve also admitted that I’m at an advantage on the bench press. It’s been said before and I’m gonna say it agian “strong is strong”.
You’re comparing a stocky short guy to a medium built taller guy.
Seems like apples and oranges to me.
[quote]AverageJay wrote:
Not all short guys are built the same. There are plenty of short guys that have that jockey build. That has no mechanical advantage at all. But you gotta admit there are also a lot with the George Kastanza(Seinfeld) build. Short and stocky. I’ve had friends like that and they were just naturals at bench. Short arms, big chest, and naturally powerful. Ain’t no way you’re telling me they have the same ROM as a medium built six footer. It just doesn’t take a guy like that as much work to get the results as it does a medium built six footer. Doesn’t mean it can’t be done, just takes more effort. That’s reality.[/quote]
[quote]Hibler wrote:
Mr. Push Ups wrote:
You have “Napoleon complex”. Let it go. Short, tall, it don’t matter as long as you’re content with yourself.
I have a friend that milks being short. He’s 5’3" about 140lbs and gets alot of short cute little babes all over him. He’s built about as good as a 5’3" guy can be built and the ladies don’t seem to mind.
I asked him one time,“What is you limit for chics”; refering to thier weight. And he replied, “about a duece”. I just started laughing my ass off picturing him with some chic that would be about 5’9" 190lbs. He had a great personality and just loved life.
Sometimes no matter how tall you are, no amout of height will help your personality. I wannna be 6’ 4" and I’m only 5’11". You can’t change what you are, all you can do is go with what you are. So I say, Milk every thing you can outta being short.
What the fuck are you talking about? I said nothing about wanting to be taller. I’m perfectly content with my height. I’ve had girlfriends that were close to 6’0" tall, and I’ve had girlfriends that were shorter than me. I could honestly give a fuck less as to how tall I am.
I simply posted this because I’m sick and tired of hearing that my strength is greatly attributed to the fact that I’m 5’4". I’ve also admitted that I’m at an advantage on the bench press. It’s been said before and I’m gonna say it agian “strong is strong”.
[/quote]
