Taller girls look less muscular

neplainjanepas
neplainjanepas Posts: 37 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Shorter girls have it made. When bulking... and simply in general during training look alot more muscular. Being taller.. I have to put on what feels like twice as much....
What gives?
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Replies

  • grantdumas7
    grantdumas7 Posts: 802 Member
    You have longer muscle insertions so you will have to put on more muscle than someone shorter than you.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    After a life of being called "shortarse" and living with the constant implication that short is somehow inferior, it's nice to know that we little short people excel at something :drinker:

    although IMO frame size has a lot to do with how muscular someone looks, and short, small framed women don't look muscular easily either. (I'm short and large framed so get the best of both in this case :drinker: )
  • Fithealthyforlife
    Fithealthyforlife Posts: 866 Member
    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'm not tall, but just barely tall enough that this sort of thing affects me. I don't look that much different with a 20-lb fluctuation in muscle mass.
  • toutmonpossible
    toutmonpossible Posts: 1,580 Member
    I'm short and pear-shaped and if I worked out the wrong way I'd look stocky even though I'm well within a normal weight range.
  • toutmonpossible
    toutmonpossible Posts: 1,580 Member
    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?
  • Fithealthyforlife
    Fithealthyforlife Posts: 866 Member
    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?

    At the advanced levels, they do tend to head into what many people would consider bulky.

    http://jasonferruggia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/strong-gymnast.jpg

    At average height, a guy would have to be roughly 240 lbs at 8% body fat to look like that. Being short does mean less muscle is needed to look a certain way.
  • bostonwolf
    bostonwolf Posts: 3,038 Member
    Shorter girls have it made. When bulking... and simply in general during training look alot more muscular. Being taller.. I have to put on what feels like twice as much....
    What gives?

    This is true for men as well, but on the flip side when us tall, long limbed folks DO add that muscle mass we look better. Shorter folks (guys in particular) tend to get really stocky.

    Also, think of when you do a compound lift (squat, deadlift, bench, etc) and how far you have to move that weight compared to a shorter person. In short, you DO have to work harder to add that muscle. You have to move the weight further.
  • CakeFit21
    CakeFit21 Posts: 2,521 Member
    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.
  • jaxxie
    jaxxie Posts: 576 Member
    Shorter girls have it made. When bulking... and simply in general during training look alot more muscular. Being taller.. I have to put on what feels like twice as much....
    What gives?

    This is true for men as well, but on the flip side when us tall, long limbed folks DO add that muscle mass we look better. Shorter folks (guys in particular) tend to get really stocky.

    Also, think of when you do a compound lift (squat, deadlift, bench, etc) and how far you have to move that weight compared to a shorter person. In short, you DO have to work harder to add that muscle. You have to move the weight further.

    OMG so true!!! I'm about 5'10 and constantly ***** about the squat and parallel. ***** next to me is 5' and schools me! Life is just not fair, lol!
  • __Di__
    __Di__ Posts: 1,658 Member
    Just so that I am clear, can somebody please give me their definition of what they mean when they said they want to "bulk up".

    I have a sneaky suspicion that said term means different things to different people.
  • Fithealthyforlife
    Fithealthyforlife Posts: 866 Member
    Just so that I am clear, can somebody please give me their definition of what they mean when they said they want to "bulk up".

    I have a sneaky suspicion that said term means different things to different people.

    Gain some amount of mass including muscle. That amount will vary by person. Could be 5 lbs. Could be 50 lbs.
  • Taterpoof
    Taterpoof Posts: 416 Member
    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 =)
  • Yanicka1
    Yanicka1 Posts: 4,564 Member
    Yes!!!!!!!!

    *do a victory dance*
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    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:
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    short, stocky people can also withstand the cold better than tall, slender people.

    ETA: on average. For a scientific reference for that see Allen's rule.
  • apriltrainer
    apriltrainer Posts: 732 Member
    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.) ;)
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,984 Member
    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
  • zedgt87
    zedgt87 Posts: 379 Member
    your complaining about being tall? When tall people are built its so much more impressive.
  • slmakar
    slmakar Posts: 7
    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.
  • Howbouto
    Howbouto Posts: 2,121 Member
    Well look at as a trade off. Us tall girls can put on 5 to 10 pounds and no one notices, but if a short girl does that it is very noticeable (of course this is a double edge sword, I have to lose 20 pounds to drop a pants size.....)
  • kaned_ferret
    kaned_ferret Posts: 618 Member
    In to see picture of Chyna...
  • jaxxie
    jaxxie Posts: 576 Member
    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
    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
    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
    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
    :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.
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  • EmilyJackCO
    EmilyJackCO Posts: 621 Member
    :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
    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
    I hate being reminded of this. I want to be strong, and I don't want to look stockier in the process.

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