While it is wrong to make excuses for not doing a lift just because of your “somatotype”, there is nothing wrong with adjusting your lifts if you are very tall. I have never been good at back squats; my center of gravity is about four feet off the ground, so I nearly fall over every rep. If I tried ATG, my spine would snap or I’d end up doing a backward somersault. Going heavy was totally out of the question.
My leg progress all but stopped until I changed my workout to incorporate front squats. Shifting the barbell in front of my shoulders completely changed the lift for me. It took me a while to get the arm placement down properly, but now I can go as low as I want.
Benching has always been difficult for me as well, partly because of my long arms and partly from a bad shoulder. Therefore, I switched the focus from flat bench to incline and decline presses. Changing the angle alleviated both my problems.
So don’t make excuses for not doing an exercise, try modifying the form or looking for an alternative of equal difficulty.
PS: I’m pretty sure I got all of you beat for height; I’m 6’8’'.
[quote]Wilderman wrote:
My old partner was built like a fire hydrant. His bench press ROM was probably only 8 inches. He was always able to press more than me. However, my longer arms gave me more ROM and longer levers for flys and such. As a result I believe that I had better chest development at the end of our five years training together because I had to do more work than he did.
Maybe being tall can be a blessing in disguise?[/quote]
8 inches, really?
Mine’s like 24 inches.
Let’s say one stout guy can bench 400lbs 1RM with a natural ROM of 8 inches.
Another guy can bench 300lbs with a natural ROM of 24 inches.
Is it right to call the stout guy stronger? Maybe they are close to equal in strength.
[quote]LiftSmart wrote:
Wilderman wrote:
My old partner was built like a fire hydrant. His bench press ROM was probably only 8 inches. He was always able to press more than me. However, my longer arms gave me more ROM and longer levers for flys and such. As a result I believe that I had better chest development at the end of our five years training together because I had to do more work than he did.
Maybe being tall can be a blessing in disguise?
8 inches, really?
Mine’s like 24 inches.
Let’s say one stout guy can bench 400lbs 1RM with a natural ROM of 8 inches.
Another guy can bench 300lbs with a natural ROM of 24 inches.
Is it right to call the stout guy stronger? Maybe they are close to equal in strength.[/quote]
Well if numbers are all you’re concerned about (i.e. Powerlifting) then yes…shorty is the stronger.
[quote]eessek wrote:
LiftSmart wrote:
Wilderman wrote:
My old partner was built like a fire hydrant. His bench press ROM was probably only 8 inches. He was always able to press more than me. However, my longer arms gave me more ROM and longer levers for flys and such. As a result I believe that I had better chest development at the end of our five years training together because I had to do more work than he did.
Maybe being tall can be a blessing in disguise?
8 inches, really?
Mine’s like 24 inches.
Let’s say one stout guy can bench 400lbs 1RM with a natural ROM of 8 inches.
Another guy can bench 300lbs with a natural ROM of 24 inches.
Is it right to call the stout guy stronger? Maybe they are close to equal in strength.
Well if numbers are all you’re concerned about (i.e. Powerlifting) then yes…shorty is the stronger.[/quote]
Good points. Yes, he was really thick in the torso with unusually short arms so his ROM was very small. Mine was nearly three times the range when we measured it. I still considered him stronger in the press. We used mostly the same weights for isolation work thouhg.
[quote]Wilderman wrote:
My old partner was built like a fire hydrant. His bench press ROM was probably only 8 inches. He was always able to press more than me. However, my longer arms gave me more ROM and longer levers for flys and such. As a result I believe that I had better chest development at the end of our five years training together because I had to do more work than he did.
Maybe being tall can be a blessing in disguise?[/quote]
[quote]Der Candy wrote:
Wilderman wrote:
My old partner was built like a fire hydrant. His bench press ROM was probably only 8 inches. He was always able to press more than me. However, my longer arms gave me more ROM and longer levers for flys and such. As a result I believe that I had better chest development at the end of our five years training together because I had to do more work than he did.
Maybe being tall can be a blessing in disguise?
Was he 4’6?
Also, did you ever call him ‘The Hulkling’?[/quote]
Heh, I will share that with him. No he was 5’ 6" though. Almost as wide as he is tall.