There are two main things that make exercises (bodyweight or otherwise) harder for taller people: Range of Motion–If you have longer arms, you'll have a larger range of motion necessary to do a pull-up, than someone with shorter arms. If you have longer legs, squats will require a greater range of motion.
Taller guys generally have a harder time gaining lean mass. Taller guys have a more challenging time performing traditional strength exercises through a full range of motion. Taller guys are more susceptible to joint discomfort if treated like every other lifter.
People of a certain structure (usually tall and long-legged) may have a more difficult time squatting than those who are shorter and stockier. This is because the squat is all about leverage.
Muscle to Weight Ratio
So, if you are lean (like most tall people), you require a certain amount of strength to be able to execute a push-up correctly. It's usually a lack of strength coupled with distance traveled and leverage that make push-ups harder if you are tall.
Height plays no significant factor in a person's ability to grow muscle. Whilst shorter people may appear to have gained more muscle in less time, it's simply because they need less muscle to fill out proportionally. In contrast, a taller individual with longer limbs may take more time to fill out.
A deadlift can be more difficult the taller you are due to having to bend more at your hips. You also have to lift the weight a higher distance against gravity than shorter people. As a taller person, you are more prone to injuries during deadlifts because of the extended range of motion.
This puts more strain on the muscles and even joints because flexibility comes into play. A 6'6 person will have a much more difficult time hitting a high number of weight in a squat, deadlift, or bench press due to the distance of their ROM as opposed to someone who is 5'3.
That's because taller people usually have a longer leg-to-rest-of-body ratio than shorter people. "Those moves are more challenging for taller people because they likely have more leg to keep in the air in relationship to the rest of their body," says Burke. "So it puts more of a strain on their muscles."
For example, substitute back squats with reverse lunges, deadlifts with hip bridges, bench presses with weighted pushups, and military presses with landmine presses. Your shoulders, knees, and back will thank you. Build slabs of muscle to fill your frame with set-and-rep programs that have a lot of volume.
As such, keeping reps lower (for really tall guys I'd suggest 4-8 reps on squats and 3-6 reps on deads), and doing a high number of sets while stopping sets 2-3 reps short of failure is where you should spend most of your time.
Benching for the Big Man. While the Barbell Bench Press might not seem like a daunting task to a taller lifter, in terms of efficiency, they are still at an extreme disadvantage compared to shorter athletes. When it comes to this exercise, a long, lanky frame is not ideal for optimal pressing.
The taller the body is the longer the span becomes between your feet and arms. This means much bigger stresses are exerted along your body during pushups and planks.
On average, women have a strong preference for tall men. In fact, women care more about dating taller men than men care about dating shorter women. A study on women's and men's height preferences found that women are most satisfied when their partner was 8 inches (21cm) taller.
The study found that shorter height led to lower levels of education, lower job status, and less income, particularly in men; while higher BMI resulted in lower income and greater deprivation in women.
Not really. Shorter lifters have a definite advantage in the other powerlifts, the squat and bench press, but taller, longer-limbed lifters often make up the difference in the third and final event, the deadlift.
Squatting with long legs can be very difficult. The length of your thighs impacts body positioning making hitting full depth more difficult than it is for shorter-legged athletes. But with a few simple adjustments, we can often rapidly improve positioning for better squat mechanics.
But NIST physicists have made it a lot more personal - a scale of about 1 foot - and showed that you even age faster if you are taller than your relative. The good news is you won't be able to see the difference, that one foot difference in height adds about 90 billionths of a second over a 79-year lifetime.
Among the average individual, being able to perform a bench press of 135 pounds is actually quite possible – though nearing the upper limit of their capabilities.
Because we know that the bench press is highly effective at growing the chest. Recent papers (this, and this) that track an individual's bench press strength and chest growth over time show a strong positive correlation between them. And that means that a bigger bench does seem to lead to a bigger chest.
Burpees and thrusters are more difficult for taller athletes. While on the other hand, rowing and wall balls are harder for shorter athletes.
In many cases, the front squat is a better choice for most tall lifters. Having the bar front loaded allows you to maintain a more upright torso position and sit deeper into the lift. Unfortunately, back squats can easily become ugly when tall guys try and force themselves to hit depth.
Benefits for Tall People
Deadlifts are an effective way to build strength and muscle, and tall people can benefit from the increased range of motion that comes with doing deadlifts. Taller people can also use deadlifts to improve their balance and coordination.