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Old 06-12-2016, 01:43 AM
 
Location: Sydney, Australia
11,645 posts, read 12,843,622 times
Reputation: 6369

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Quote:
Originally Posted by chiluvr1228 View Post
Maybe the shorter guys all have Napoleon complexes so they bulk up since they can't make themselves taller...... :-)
Or maybe, shorter folks can "fill up" easily as they don't have long stringy bones (which would, physically speaking, take more time and effort).

Spare me the whole "Napoleon complex" and "manlet" crapola. Lol.
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Old 06-12-2016, 01:56 AM
 
5,816 posts, read 15,855,217 times
Reputation: 4734
Quote:
Originally Posted by Juram View Post
OP spends way too much time focused on what other people do and look like at the gym. Not shocked that he's frustrated with the results he is getting. IDGAF what anyone else does, how they dress, how tall, short, skinny or fat they are. As long as they arent doing something patently dumb or getting in my way, they can do them and I'll do me.
I tend to agree with this, but I can also understand how someone could notice things like this and just be curious, and want to get some idea whether others have noticed the same thing and what they think the explanation might be. Just sort of an intellectual exercise.

The OP does seem to contradict himself with a couple of his threads, though. He started the thread "Obesity isn't curable for most, so stop saying it is". In that thread's opening post, the OP criticized fitness buffs who put down overweight people. OP claimed that in many or most cases obese people do have inherited tendencies to gain weight, and shouldn't be chastised for this since they can't help it.

However, he wrote the following in the opening post about muscular guys at the gym also being fat:

Quote:
Originally Posted by hakkarin View Post
Ok, perhaps using the word "fat" isn't really accurate. I don't mean fat as in obese, but fat as in that though they are obviously very strong they have considerable levels of bodyfat to a point of looking unattractive. I know not everybody has to be super lean, but don't most guys go to the gym not only to get healthier/stronger but also to look better? Why invest all this effort only to look like a piece of crap?
It's true that in the "not curable" thread the OP emphasized that he was talking about people who were truly obese, while he said in the other thread that he was often talking about guys who had some extra fat but weren't necessarily obese.

Still, in the "Muscular (or "buff" in the OP's words) guys are fat" thread, the OP seems to expect people to take responsibility for getting trim. There seems to be the implication that they can do this if they want to. In the "not curable" thread, he seems to go the other way and say that many people can't help being overweight. Which is it?
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Old 06-12-2016, 02:22 AM
 
5,816 posts, read 15,855,217 times
Reputation: 4734
I haven't been to the gym in years, but I don't recall noticing a lot of short people when I did go. I have my doubts about the OP's observation, but if there is anything to it, there could be a few reasons:

Quote:
Originally Posted by chiluvr1228 View Post
Maybe the shorter guys all have Napoleon complexes so they bulk up since they can't make themselves taller...... :-)
Maybe this idea of a Napoleon complexcould be one reason. Maybe.

As Blind Cleric points out below, shorter limbs do provide an advantage when lifting weights. Maybe people tend to gravitate toward activities they're good at, so more short guys find their way to pumping iron, where they have an advantage.

Or it could be that you just notice the short guys more, because the leverage advantage that short limbs provides means that they're more likely than taller guys to be really built.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Blind Cleric View Post
. . . shorter limbs are more efficient for lifting weights, so they're better at it than spidery guys.
Speaking of noticing the really built guys more, Vision33r makes a good point below. In addition to the fact that shorter guys may have an advantage in getting so they actually are really built, they also will appear more jacked than taller guys with even a modest gain in muscle.

Quote:
Originally Posted by vision33r View Post
Shorter guys are smaller so it's easier to add a few pounds of muscle and suddenly change their appearance than someone bigger who already has bigger bones and more flesh. It takes longer for a big guy to increase muscular density. A big guy has to consume a lot more calories and work harder for muscles to build bigger.
Along the lines of appearances, I was being facetious in my earlier post when I said there was an optical illusion that made all those fat muscular guys the OP talked about in another thread appear short. Now I'm being serious. There really is something to that.

At a glance, a heavyset person will appear shorter than he really is. From casual observation I'd say that a guy probably would have to be at least several inches above six feet in height to appear tall no matter how large his build. If you don't look too closely, a lot of guys who are 6'0", 6'1", 6'2" or so actually will appear kind of short if they're heavily built. It's only if you actually look closely, or you stand next to them, that you realize they're pretty tall.

And who's really going to look that closely? With the number of heavier-than-average guys who lift weights, it actually could be that the OP takes a quick look around the gym, and this optical illusion gives him the impression that a lot of lifters are shorter than they actually are.
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Old 06-12-2016, 08:42 AM
 
6,039 posts, read 6,019,953 times
Reputation: 16753
Quote:
Originally Posted by hakkarin View Post

Interesting. I wonder if tall men simply don't feel the need to get buff for this reason. Honestly I hate it how so few people in the gym actually care about their health and only want to look good. I bet 90% of men who work out don't actually eat healthy food in addition to going to the gym.
You seem to hate everything.
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Old 06-12-2016, 09:28 AM
 
Location: Southern Colorado
3,680 posts, read 2,937,447 times
Reputation: 4809
Yep.....basic physics. I think this is especially true on push type lifts...such as the bench press.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Blind Cleric View Post
Maybe so.

Also, shorter limbs are more efficient for lifting weights, so they're better at it than spidery guys.
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Old 06-12-2016, 09:49 AM
 
Location: Iceland
876 posts, read 994,524 times
Reputation: 1018
Quote:
Originally Posted by ogre View Post
I tend to agree with this, but I can also understand how someone could notice things like this and just be curious, and want to get some idea whether others have noticed the same thing and what they think the explanation might be. Just sort of an intellectual exercise.

The OP does seem to contradict himself with a couple of his threads, though. He started the thread "Obesity isn't curable for most, so stop saying it is". In that thread's opening post, the OP criticized fitness buffs who put down overweight people. OP claimed that in many or most cases obese people do have inherited tendencies to gain weight, and shouldn't be chastised for this since they can't help it.

However, he wrote the following in the opening post about muscular guys at the gym also being fat:



It's true that in the "not curable" thread the OP emphasized that he was talking about people who were truly obese, while he said in the other thread that he was often talking about guys who had some extra fat but weren't necessarily obese.

Still, in the "Muscular (or "buff" in the OP's words) guys are fat" thread, the OP seems to expect people to take responsibility for getting trim. There seems to be the implication that they can do this if they want to. In the "not curable" thread, he seems to go the other way and say that many people can't help being overweight. Which is it?
There is a difference between being somewhat overweight and being hugely obsese.

Quote:
Originally Posted by elhelmete View Post
You seem to hate everything.
I don't. People are merely more likely to mention the things that make them annoyed or otherwise get in their way. If I created a thread for every single thing that I loved I would spend all day creating threads lol.
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Old 06-12-2016, 11:23 AM
 
Location: Phoenix
29,836 posts, read 18,685,324 times
Reputation: 25816
For the record, I'm 6'6" and 215 lbs. and lift weights. I think shorter guys work out harder because they feel they have to compete with taller men and want to be bulked up. In the competitive arena, at a given weight class, a shorter man has an advantage over a taller man of the same weight both because they can have more muscle mass at the same weight and they have to push the weights a lesser distance so less energy.
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Old 06-12-2016, 12:20 PM
 
Location: Bel Air, California
23,769 posts, read 28,875,608 times
Reputation: 37326
short people don't have to lift the weight as high up as a tall person would have to, may seem as if it would only be a few inches with each lift but over many reps, that amount could be many miles of difference
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Old 06-12-2016, 02:19 PM
 
Location: Clovis Strong, NM
3,376 posts, read 6,076,813 times
Reputation: 2031
Whatever helps them sleep at night. If they're short(below 5'7ish) and feel the added muscle gives them the confidence they need to get through life, then it seems to be doing its thing. I feel short myself(being around the 5'8 margin) but apart from the health benefits of weight training, it doesn't really make me feel any better about myself.
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Old 06-12-2016, 04:25 PM
 
Location: Central IL
20,726 posts, read 16,212,902 times
Reputation: 50368
Professional or otherwise? Pros are shorter because having a low center of gravity is an advantage. For others, I think it's just a perception...maybe more muscled guys just seem stockier....or maybe tall guys already have THAT advantage and aren't gonna put themselves out to get muscle?
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