Taller girls look less muscular

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  • kaned_ferret
    kaned_ferret Posts: 618 Member
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    In to see picture of Chyna...
  • jaxxie
    jaxxie Posts: 572 Member
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    It's debatable. I've seen tall fat people (6' and over) and short fat people. Same with thin tall people and thin short people (think Asians here).
    IMO, it comes down to how one trains and eats.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    Or in some cases the amount of Jose Cuervo one consumes, lol! Couldn't resist as a result of your profile pic,....too awesome!
  • heatherloveslifting
    heatherloveslifting Posts: 1,428 Member
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    It's true. Taller people have more area, and can hold a lot more weight. Same for men and women. Just look at gymnasts...usually short people. They get bulky pretty readily (imho it's a nice look for both the male and female gymnasts).

    HAHA! They are NOT bulky. They are LEAN. They weigh like 110 pounds on average.

    Gymnasts look "bulky" because they use their muscles to contort their bodies into positions the rest of the population would find impossible wearing very little clothing under bad fluorescent light. Go stand next to one- they are super tiny and lean up close.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    Yes us little short people have a mechanical advantage in some lifts, but there's no way on earth I'm ever going to be able to do a slam-dunk, or achieve anything of note in basketball.... and I suck at running.
    Though when you are tall, you can weigh more and look a lot thinner. When you are short, that fat doesn't have anywhere to go but sitck out =)

    This is very true. When I'm lean I look like a neanderthal. When I was obese I looked like a blob, and I wasn't even that obese really... but I still looked like a blob. I'm short and large framed I'm never going to look like a pixie or a waif, no matter what I do. So I'll settle for being short, stocky, muscular and relatively lean, because that's a lot better than being a blob :drinker:

    Ditto! ditto! Put on just a few lbs and it SHOWS. Which also BLOWS, By the way neandermagnon, according to www.23andme.com I am 3% neanderthal from my DNA test.(that's in the high range.) ;)

    I think that test probably underestimates how much neanderthal DNA some people have. So you could have more than 3% neanderthal DNA. The genetic studies of neanderthals are in their infancy, they've only analysed the DNA from about 6 neanderthal skeletons, it's possible that future studies will show quite a bit more neanderthal DNA in some modern populations. Also, I'm expecting that other human species' DNA will turn up in modern humans too.

    I haven't done that test myself.... I just found I had a whole bunch of derived neanderthal characteristics when I studied human evolution at university, including that my body proportions were like a neanderthal's. I also don't feel the cold much... prior to going to uni the only explanation anyone could give me for that was something that made no sense involving brown fat cells... then at uni I found out I have the ideal body proportions for surviving ice age winters :laugh: It'd be really interesting to find out if any of these characteristics really do come from neanderthals.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    It's debatable. I've seen tall fat people (6' and over) and short fat people. Same with thin tall people and thin short people (think Asians here).
    IMO, it comes down to how one trains and eats.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    granted that you get fat people of all heights and frame sizes, however if you are short and large framed, you have a different surface area to volume ratio, so having less surface area on which to store fat. So if you take two people at 35% body fat, one is short and large framed, the other is tall and small framed, the short, large framed one will look a lot fatter, but they're actually just as fat.
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
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    :huh: I'm 5'9" and look pretty muscular. I was able to bulk. It took eating 3000 calories a day but it worked. I can also hit parallel on squats obviously.
  • EmilyJackCO
    EmilyJackCO Posts: 621 Member
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    :huh: I'm 5'9" and look pretty muscular. I was able to bulk. It took eating 3000 calories a day but it worked. I can also hit parallel on squats obviously.

    I LOVE your profile picture, and I want to get there someday... I think it means I may have to do a lot of work and maybe even gain back a bit. But, OMG, you're *awesome*! :D:drinker:

    I'm 5'9" as well, and it's been REALLY hard to put back on LBM after all I lost. I mean, I've been lifting for 4 years, and not really bulking at any given point (not meaning to anyways), and have only really started looking like I have definition in the last 6 months.

    I know it makes a bit of a difference that I started at the lowest weight I'd been since I was 22....and was extremely unhealthy when I started working out - and never had set foot in a gym. I dropped 65 pounds in a year by just refusing to eat, (divorce diet with a side of violent stalker) and then I got really sick towards the end of that year, resulting in another 20lb loss. It took me 2 years to gain up to 130 pounds, and then I stayed there til last year when my mom got sick, and that just went sideways quick.

    Even though I lifted - I didn't really 'get it' until I joined MFP last year and saw what was possible, even at my age, and then I started pushing myself a lot harder. And THAT has made a huge difference. I'm doing all kinds of things I never thought I could, and starting to realize that I just might have limits - and to step back and refocus a little bit on perfecting, instead of more more more. :) I want to continue to get stronger, but I do NOT want to get hurt in the process. I tweaked my back somehow unknown this week and it is making me think.

    The only downside I've noticed is that my thighs are a bit larger than I'd like, but I'll take it to have the booty that I always wanted! :D:D:D The still LOOK slimmer in horizontal striped tights though - so I think it might be in my head.
  • Txracy
    Txracy Posts: 78
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    As a former gymnast, I was never, ever "bulky" LOL. I was very lean, and still am (minus a "fat phase" that lasted a few years). It's also just my body build, but my short, lean, small-framed body lent itself well to the sport.

    I am actually thinking about bulking. I am underweight, and even though I eat back my exercise calories and do heavy lifting, I have a little bit of muscle definition, but I think I need to majorly increase my calories to get that that strong, muscular body I want. (Plus, I can stand to gain a few lbs, honestly)
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
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    I hate being reminded of this. I want to be strong, and I don't want to look stockier in the process.
  • annasor70
    annasor70 Posts: 187 Member
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    Op you are lucky....I would way rather be long and lean...I can look stocky imho which I think is unattractive. I would exchange my 5 foot 6 pear shape for long and lean in a minute! Who cares about big muscles ;)
  • Fithealthyforlife
    Fithealthyforlife Posts: 866 Member
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    As a former gymnast, I was never, ever "bulky" LOL. I was very lean, and still am (minus a "fat phase" that lasted a few years). It's also just my body build, but my short, lean, small-framed body lent itself well to the sport.

    I am actually thinking about bulking. I am underweight, and even though I eat back my exercise calories and do heavy lifting, I have a little bit of muscle definition, but I think I need to majorly increase my calories to get that that strong, muscular body I want. (Plus, I can stand to gain a few lbs, honestly)


    I can't argue with this.

    Gymnasts look "bulky" because they use their muscles to contort their bodies into positions the rest of the population would find impossible wearing very little clothing under bad fluorescent light. Go stand next to one- they are super tiny and lean up close.

    I have not stood next to a real competing elite level gymnast in real life. The closest I've gotten is to gymnastics coaches who were no longer competing--when I was a kid and trying out the sport. They were no longer very muscular. Maybe I am wrong since I've just been going by pictures like the one I posted earlier!

    .
  • PapaverSomniferum
    PapaverSomniferum Posts: 2,677 Member
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    I feel like fat works the same way. Tall girls get to carry a much higher body fat percentage and still look slim.

    Short girls gain 5 lb and it translates into 5 pants sizes.
  • Fithealthyforlife
    Fithealthyforlife Posts: 866 Member
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    I feel like fat works the same way. Tall girls get to carry a much higher body fat percentage and still look slim.

    Short girls gain 5 lb and it translates into 5 pants sizes.

    Agreed. But when it comes to muscle mass, imho, a woman can never have enough, since it's so much slower/harder for women to build muscle than men. I can't ever say I've seen a woman in person who looked too muscular. Only ever thought that when lookng at photos of women who had been documented as having taken anabolic steriods.

    Sort of like how a woman can never be "too tall"...since women are rarely over 6' anyway.
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
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    I feel like fat works the same way. Tall girls get to carry a much higher body fat percentage and still look slim.

    Short girls gain 5 lb and it translates into 5 pants sizes.

    We get to carry a higher weight, but not actual body fat percentage. 5lbs on a 100lb 5' tall woman is 5%. 5lbs on my, 160lbs and 5'9" is only 3.1%.
  • Trechechus
    Trechechus Posts: 2,819 Member
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    I don't know about that. I'm 5'3" and can't lower my BF% to save my life. So, though I'm building muscle, it's pretty hard to see it.
  • xxghost
    xxghost Posts: 4,697 Member
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    Bottom line, being tall can really suck sometimes.
  • jfrankic
    jfrankic Posts: 747 Member
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    Shorter girls have it made.

    I eat anywhere from 2600-3000 calories a day, weight in at a whopping 158 pounds and am 5'8 tall. Okay, I'm not a beast, but I get to eat like one. I'll take my size.....AND my food.

    BTW, I lift heavy stuff, put it down and repeat 3x per week.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
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    It's true. Taller people have more area, and can hold a lot more weight. Same for men and women. Just look at gymnasts...usually short people. They get bulky pretty readily (imho it's a nice look for both the male and female gymnasts).


    I wouldn't call gymnasts "bulky." They are muscular and girls tend to be flat chested and to have a "pigeon breast" look. I assume it's the result of the training as well as the natural physique of girls who tend to be successful at gymnastics. And don't they tend to be short because shorter people have a lower center of gravity, which is an advantage is gymnastics?

    Please don't comment on my breasts. Thank you!
  • vtmoon
    vtmoon Posts: 3,436 Member
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    Shorter girls have it made.

    I'm 4'11". Come grocery shopping with me, and after half an hour of fetching cereal and whatnot off the top shelves, you will feel better.

    Way to go, making me feel bad about laughing at this. :angry: :laugh:

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