Ok I concede that point bud, height to weight ratio compared with average, yeah I agree.
My point wasn’t clearly stated. I was generally thinking about the general public’s belief that bodybuilders are all 300lb beasts. Of course I like the vast majority of us here know different.
I don’t get the point of this in the comment in the discussion.
But I will say it is really good that the taller bodybuilder can build 10lbs of muscle as fast as the shorter one. An an additional 10lbs of muscle on a 6’3" man is barely noticeable, but that same 10lbs of muscle on a 5"6" man will make a significant difference in his appearance.
2+. My training (physique and strength development) career… no, actually, my base knowledge of training, PED’s and diet, was bolstered by the fact I am NOT genetically gifted. My development after 20 painstaking years was comparable to Jay Cutler after four. If that! Probably not even that thinking about it!
But what I lacked in ability to develop, I had to at least in part compensate for in strategy and effort. Being a BB who is pro level means it comes RELATIVELY easy. Not saying they don’t work as hard, they do, harder than many. But they reap the rewards in excess. So don’t often have to utilize advanced training techniques and dietary patterns until highly advanced and under the tutelage of a coach.
I had to find EVERY possible advantageous system to get to what relatively low development I’d achieved in so many years.
It’s not, at least shouldn’t, be true, that a good TRAINER (as opposed to a good bodybuilder), can’t assist a person of different stature.
Very true. My training buddy is 6’2" and I’m 5’7". When he gains/loses 10-15lbs its not near as noticeable as when I do it. Granted we are only 15lbs different so I look much large despite being lighter on the scale.
The post I was replying to plus the post I’ve just replied to are relevant.
And “an additional 10lbs of muscle on a 6’3” man is barely noticeable, but that same 10lbs of muscle on a 5"6" man will make a significant difference in his appearance" - good point.
However for the same amount of time, the taller athlete (all else being equal) will synthesize a percentage more tissue. All else being equal.
I agree here.
I agree with this. I don’t think taller lifters have a disadvantage just by being ‘taller’. As an example if you look at the general pop that doesn’t lift you will see tall and short people of all statures. Taller people are not inherently skinnier and the frame has much more room to hold/grow muscle.
Let’s assume this is true. Will the percentage increase allow the taller bodybuilder to look as proportionally muscular as his shorter counterpart? That is, will the amount of muscle over 10lbs on the taller bodybuilder look as proportionally muscular as his shorter counterpart who gained 10lbs of muscle? In competition this is all that is important.
I’ve worked with trainers who were of that belief though. These are fitness professionals!
Ooh wonderful question! Good question I am unable to answer, without wild speculation, at that!
Open BBing does not have very many tall competitors.
In the US, we should expect that the average competitor is 5.9" (average height). The average for Olympia winners is about 5’7". TBH, I think there is some fibbing going on with height in this sport too (saying a taller height than actual).
My observation is that the taller the bodybuilder, the more obvious the symmetry errors. There is more “empty” spaces where there is no muscle. The compact bodybuilder has less “empty” spaces.
And there is the pesky, proportionate muscularity. Imagine if our eye would adjust so that all competitors were the same height.
This is really quite impossible to assert (empty spaces) given the enviro-genetic variety of individuals on stage. I concede that it’s a seemingly logical conclusion but variations in muscle insertions alone would muddy the waters enough to make such an observation impossible. For instance, I’m 5’8½" tall. And I’m of the assessment that my elbow flexor group insertion is shorter than I would prefer, leaving that discernable gap at inner elbow (yet I found ‘peaking’ impossible, so have a potentially relatively longer short head! The joys of being me!). But a taller athlete (for argument sake) may have a longer fuller biceps (et al) group.
I’d say pinpointing why the mean height in BBing is lower than average is difficult. It isn’t quite like basketball where the reason for the sport selecting tall individuals is obvious (the hoop is at 10’).
I do think it is clear that the sport selects for shorter individuals though.
It certainly seems to (select for shorter individuals). Look at Dennis Wolfe, a BB who’s considered to be a tall competitor. I just looked up his height and he is 5’11". That’s hardly tall, not short but not tall, yet like I said he towered above many of his competing peers. (IIRC)