Up through high school I had a huge hangup about my height. I hate, hate, H-A-T-E-D how short I was. My buddies that I hung out with were almost all at least six feet tall. They all just towered over me and it drove me nuts. As I got older I found that life has a way of teaching you what is and isn't important and being tall isn't one of them. Now I could care less about my height, which is great.
I was looking at the front page of BodySpace and I noticed something interesting. Four of the top six guys are around my height. That kind of blows my mind a little even though it shouldn't. What other athletic endeavor is there where being "shorter" is actually helpful? I never would have guessed it when I first started. It never ceases to amuse me at how many misconceptions I had about lifting before I started.
I could go on all day. I'm just thankful that none of them kept me from starting!
- I'm the most unathletic person in the world. I'm not sure I'll be able to do this. WRONG
- I'm concerned that I might be too old to make any real progress. WRONG (I actually did think this BUT I was never let it going to stop me from trying. I just took a "screw it, I'm going to try anyway" attitude!)
- I'll stick out like a sore thumb and be uncomfortable in a gym full of fit people. WRONG
- I don't like to eat much and I've never been over 145 pounds. I doubt I could get any bigger than that. WRONG
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Results 1 to 30 of 99
Thread: Being "shorter" and lifting
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06-30-2009, 08:14 AM #1The Cake Is A Lie!
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Being "shorter" and lifting
There will come a day when I tire of listening to 80's music. That day is not today.
I Really Miss The Old BodySpace
-O35 5'8" Crew- -Karl_Hungus Crew-
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06-30-2009, 08:26 AM #2Old as dirt...
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In powerlifting, you'll find alot of guys our height or even shorter.......... sure there are tall guys, but us guys closer to the ground do have an advantage.
I've never felt too bad about my height, most of my friends were taller than me, but who cares. BUT now-a-days my son who is pushing 6' real hard and seems to just keep getting taller is making me feel short........ probably because in my mind he should still be a little sprout. 
Was friends with Methuselah
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06-30-2009, 08:30 AM #3When in doubt, mumble
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5'8"-5'10" is the ideal height for bodybuilders.
I was 5'8" at age 12, and never grew after that. I went from the tallest guy in my class to below average with each passing year.
BTW your comment I pasted below cracks me up. I substituted my replacement verbiage to make it fit me:
I like to eat much and I've never been under 145 pounds since I was 10. I doubt I could get any smaller than 200.Yorkshireman I: Right! I had to get up in the morning, at ten o'clock at night, half an hour before I went to bed, eat a lump of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill and pay mill-owner for permission to come to work, and when we got home, our dad would kill us and dance about on our graves, singing Hallelujah!
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06-30-2009, 08:33 AM #4The Cake Is A Lie!
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Dang. Did you marry an amazon? I should have counted my blessings back when it was bugging me. I ended up taller than both of my parents.Originally Posted by Old-Time-Lifter
BUT now-a-days my son who is pushing 6' real hard and seems to just keep getting taller is making me feel short........ probably because in my mind he should still be a little sprout.
It's silly but I actually thought that. I was 139 when I started.Originally Posted by namtrag
There will come a day when I tire of listening to 80's music. That day is not today.
I Really Miss The Old BodySpace
-O35 5'8" Crew- -Karl_Hungus Crew-
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06-30-2009, 08:48 AM #5me
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5'8"? In my family that's considered very tall, what are you complaining about?
Gnomefit...ain't for everybody, only the sexy people.
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06-30-2009, 08:59 AM #6Old as dirt...
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No, she's 5'4" he's a throw back to my mom's dad who was about 6'3" or 6'4"Originally Posted by StressMonkey
On my dad's side all the men for 4 generations were all 5'8". I have 3 brother's and you can set a 2x4 on our heads and it would be level. rofl.Originally Posted by GnomusMaximus
Was friends with Methuselah
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06-30-2009, 09:00 AM #7Originally Posted by StressMonkey
sadly, at most gyms, those who are truly fit stick out like a sore thumb
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06-30-2009, 09:09 AM #8When in doubt, mumble
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I am one of the fittest guys at my gym, and I am 22% bf...lol
Yorkshireman I: Right! I had to get up in the morning, at ten o'clock at night, half an hour before I went to bed, eat a lump of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill and pay mill-owner for permission to come to work, and when we got home, our dad would kill us and dance about on our graves, singing Hallelujah!
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06-30-2009, 09:13 AM #9O_o \m/
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5'8" rocks! But I aint gonna lie, I wouldn't mind being 5'10"... But I guess if I had height too, it just wouldn't be fair to the rest of the guys
Sept of Baelor was an inside job. Wildfire can't melt stone masonry.
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06-30-2009, 09:16 AM #10Teacher and Bodybuilder
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As a tall man, and a bodybuilder, I've often envied shorter men because they seem to "muscle up" quicker than I do. I've known a number of men 5'-8" or shorter who were BUILT!
Of course, we are all our own worse critic and "the grass is always greener".
And, sadly, LOL at fit guys sticking out like sore thumbs, only because I've "been there, done that" several times - in gyms, at pools, at outdoor events on hot days when shirts either get pasted with sweat or taken off completely.
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06-30-2009, 10:15 AM #11Registered User
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I am 5'4 so I do not see what the OP is crying about. Never stopped me from getting hit on by chicks at Target
Be happy with the way the good Lord made you.
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06-30-2009, 10:35 AM #12When in doubt, mumble
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I have never been hit on in my life, honestly
I thought it was because I am short! lolYorkshireman I: Right! I had to get up in the morning, at ten o'clock at night, half an hour before I went to bed, eat a lump of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill and pay mill-owner for permission to come to work, and when we got home, our dad would kill us and dance about on our graves, singing Hallelujah!
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06-30-2009, 10:43 AM #13Registered User
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You are joking Right?Originally Posted by namtrag
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06-30-2009, 10:52 AM #14When in doubt, mumble
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Nope, I have never been hit on that I know of. It may have happened and I was oblivious, but to my knowledge, never had a woman try to score on me.Originally Posted by JolietKev
Yorkshireman I: Right! I had to get up in the morning, at ten o'clock at night, half an hour before I went to bed, eat a lump of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill and pay mill-owner for permission to come to work, and when we got home, our dad would kill us and dance about on our graves, singing Hallelujah!
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06-30-2009, 11:18 AM #15Old as dirt...
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Originally Posted by namtrag
Holly Smoke!!! That's sad man!!!Originally Posted by namtrag
Back in college I used to get picked up by chicks at the bars all the time.
Back in Jaycees I had them hitting on me all the time, and most of that time I was still married to my first wife. I was still in Jaycees when I married my current wife, for some reason she always tagged along with me to all the events even the National ones...... odd???????
Was friends with Methuselah
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06-30-2009, 11:19 AM #16When in doubt, mumble
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It is pretty sad, but now I am glad it doesn't happen, because I am married (25 years on 7/21)!
I wish it had happened way back when though. I always wondered why it didn't, I don't think I am that homely! lolYorkshireman I: Right! I had to get up in the morning, at ten o'clock at night, half an hour before I went to bed, eat a lump of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill and pay mill-owner for permission to come to work, and when we got home, our dad would kill us and dance about on our graves, singing Hallelujah!
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06-30-2009, 11:23 AM #17Bammed
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My own irrelevant 2 cents: Shorter guys have an easier time wrestling with that lower center of gravity.
"Blessed be the Lord my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle." - Psalm 144:1
Also, taxation is theft.
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06-30-2009, 11:26 AM #18OATZ-N-SQUATZ
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My wife and I have kind of "adopted" a single mother and her young son. Isaiah is only 2 years old and already short for his age. He is kind of stocky but has short arms and legs. His absent Father was short (5'6) as well, so it looks like Isaiah will be also.
People already make fun of him and make jokes about his size.....it's all good I tell them. Once he gets near puberty Paw-Paw will have him down at the Gym moving iron. Then they will be laughing out the other side of their faces when he is benching 500#, squatting 800# and able to tear the arms out of the sockets of anyone dumb enough to laugh at him.
That's when they stop laughing.
"Modern bodybuilding is ritual, religion, sport, art, and science, awash in Western chemistry and mathematics. Defying nature, it surpasses it."
-Camille Paglia
"I don't have time to lift, I make time"
-Unknown
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06-30-2009, 11:30 AM #19Registered User
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hahahahaOriginally Posted by CP3102435
My wife and I have kind of "adopted" a single mother and her young son. Isaiah is only 2 years old and already short for his age. He is kind of stocky but has short arms and legs. His absent Father was short (5'6) as well, so it looks like Isaiah will be also.
People already make fun of him and make jokes about his size.....it's all good I tell them. Once he gets near puberty Paw-Paw will have him down at the Gym moving iron. Then they will be laughing out the other side of their faces when he is benching 500#, squatting 800# and able to tear the arms out of the sockets of anyone dumb enough to laugh at him.
That's when they stop laughing.
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06-30-2009, 11:34 AM #20Registered User
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Maybe it was the way you carried yourself. If you were sel conscious about yourself, women would have been able to pick it up. My size never kept me from getting taller women. My wife is 5'6 and 5'7 in heels.Originally Posted by namtrag
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06-30-2009, 11:35 AM #21Old as dirt...
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Back in wrestling I hated wrestling tall guys.......... couldn't hardly reach high enough on their arms to break them down. But I was always stronger and had better endurance than the guys I wrestled........ didn't always help me though because I'm slow as well as short.Originally Posted by Marius_Ursus
Was friends with Methuselah
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06-30-2009, 11:35 AM #22Registered User
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My son is already up to me waist. I imagine that he will be quite a bit taller than me when it is all said and done, good Lord willing of course.Originally Posted by CP3102435
My wife and I have kind of "adopted" a single mother and her young son. Isaiah is only 2 years old and already short for his age. He is kind of stocky but has short arms and legs. His absent Father was short (5'6) as well, so it looks like Isaiah will be also.
People already make fun of him and make jokes about his size.....it's all good I tell them. Once he gets near puberty Paw-Paw will have him down at the Gym moving iron. Then they will be laughing out the other side of their faces when he is benching 500#, squatting 800# and able to tear the arms out of the sockets of anyone dumb enough to laugh at him.
That's when they stop laughing.
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06-30-2009, 11:36 AM #23Registered User
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There are a greater percentage of shorter guys certainly here. One of my favorites is:
http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/MostMuscular/
Now that's motivation!
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06-30-2009, 11:37 AM #24Bammed
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That's really funny. Watching wrestlers, the small guys always look the most explosive. What's your excuse???Originally Posted by Old-Time-Lifter
Back in wrestling I hated wrestling tall guys.......... couldn't hardly reach high enough on their arms to break them down. But I was always stronger and had better endurance than the guys I wrestled........ didn't always help me though because I'm slow as well as short.
"Blessed be the Lord my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle." - Psalm 144:1
Also, taxation is theft.
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06-30-2009, 11:42 AM #25Registered User
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I am the same weight as that guy. cool. Taller even (cant say that too often).Originally Posted by thomasale
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06-30-2009, 11:47 AM #26When in doubt, mumble
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total lack of self confidence, still struggle with it.Originally Posted by JolietKev
On the subject of the thread, my 5'10" son curses me for being "short". He said in his age group a 5'10" guy is short, and he says there are lots of hot girls who are taller than he is.
Last edited by namtrag; 06-30-2009 at 11:49 AM.
Yorkshireman I: Right! I had to get up in the morning, at ten o'clock at night, half an hour before I went to bed, eat a lump of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill and pay mill-owner for permission to come to work, and when we got home, our dad would kill us and dance about on our graves, singing Hallelujah!
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06-30-2009, 12:16 PM #27Old as dirt...
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I'm slow...................... but I did pin alot of guys who were better than me. Just wore them out and kicked their butts.Originally Posted by Marius_Ursus
That's really funny. Watching wrestlers, the small guys always look the most explosive. What's your excuse???
Nothing beats pinning a guy in the last few seconds of a match when he's been killing you on points through the whole match. Loved watching those guys throw fits........
Was friends with Methuselah
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06-30-2009, 12:23 PM #28Bammed
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I love that sort of thing...same as boxing when it looks like a fight's going to go the distance and have to go to decision, and there's a knockout in the last minute of the fight.Originally Posted by Old-Time-Lifter
I'm slow...................... but I did pin alot of guys who were better than me. Just wore them out and kicked their butts.
Nothing beats pinning a guy in the last few seconds of a match when he's been killing you on points through the whole match. Loved watching those guys throw fits........ "Blessed be the Lord my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle." - Psalm 144:1
Also, taxation is theft.
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06-30-2009, 12:31 PM #29Registered User
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I was pretty good in wrestling, however I enjoyed partying more in HS. I would lose the wrestle offs on Thursdays so I did not have to wrestle in the tournaments on the weekend. That way I could party it up on the weekends. Wasted Youth.Originally Posted by Marius_Ursus
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06-30-2009, 12:52 PM #30Registered User
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HEY NOW.....Originally Posted by aneas
He is an accountant we never get hit on.
Speak for yourselves.
/jkLife's too short not to have a great body.
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