Recently I feel like there have been a few myTakes and questions on height and the comments are usually a minefield of people citing disadvantages and being bitter about being short. Well, being the optimist I am and bringer of good vibes, I decided to list some positives about being short.
P.S. I just focused on the guy's perspective.
Sure, some of these might be trivial reasons and you can go on about how it's still more advantageous to be tall, but I'm trying to act positive, damnit, it so leave that shit elsewhere and go to the subreddit "r/short" if you want to feel negative about being short.
1. Losing weight is more obvious on a shorter frame.
I get that this is a bit of a double-edged sword in the fact that you have to eat less if you're shorter, but I mean 10 pounds from a 5'5 guy and a 5'10 guy it's gonna look more obvious on the shorter guy.
2. You are less likely to develop blood clots.
VTE (Venous thromboembolism) is blood clots in the veins and this is a very serious problem and is a big factor to death and disability worldwide. There are 10 million VTE cases annually and 100,000-300,000 related deaths just in the US. Men over 5'8 are 2.5x more likely to develop this due to blood needing to be pumped a longer distance by the calf which can cause reduced blood flow and a higher risk of clotting.
3. Muscle is more obvious on a shorter guy
While short and tall guys build muscle at the same rate, with less surface area muscle won't be spread out as proportionally as tall guys so you'll look more ripped (again this is a double-edged sword if you are all about strength as the tall guy will be stronger). So it will take less time to look more aesthetic which is pretty good.
4. Less leverage
With shorter limbs there's going to be less force acting on them when they are fully stretched this can be useful in various exercises e.g. dumbbell curls. The force that taller people with long arms feel when their arms are at 90 degrees is going to be more than a shorter person even on the same weight, and this makes it easier for a shorter guy to do. Benching, pullups and squats are also exercises where less leverage gives you an advantage and makes it easier.
5. More legroom in cars, planes and beds
Yeah I know this is getting pretty insignificant but it's a positive nonetheless. Lots of people like to have legroom and some people with certain leg problems basically need it. Well, shorter people always have some; my knees never touch the back of a chair and I don't have to keep fidgeting like some of my taller friends. I imagine that this is more comfortable and is pretty useful on long flights. Also, you can take a nap in the back of a car comfortably which I use a lot, so it's a big advantage.
6. Less common and less severe injuries
Short people are less injury prone and those injuries are usually less severe because a taller person has a further to fall and with more momentum leading to more impact and a worse injury. No one wants to get injured so if I can have less serious and frequent injuries that's a great advantage.
7. Less risk of spine and back problems
Things like Lumbar disc disease which can cause continuous back pain, muscle weakness and numbness have higher relative risks for those of a higher stature. These are very serious problems and lower back pain is the biggest cause of disability worldwide and 80% of Americans will experience back pain in their lifetime. I know I'd like to not have lots of back pain and spine injuries and at least my chances are lower.
8. Less likely to get divorced
Yeah I know correlation doesn't equal causation (but I'm clutching here to rack up the points) but men who are 5'7 and under are 32 % less likely to divorce than men of average height. NY university researchers say this is because shorter guys get married later in life and if courtship takes longer they believe it could result in a more steady ground for marriage.
9. Less likely to suffer from exhaustion or sun stroke
A shorter person's surface area proportionally to heat generated by the body allows them to lose heat more rapidly than taller counterparts.
P.S. I'm not trying to inspire a debate on which is better, so please don't turn it into that. I just wanted to give some positives that you don't often see for being shorter. They both have positives and negatives.
Sources:
https://www.menshealth.com/guy-wisdom/benefits-of-being-short/slide/1
https://www.worldthrombosisday.org/issue/vte/
https://www.BBC.com/future/story/20150928-tall-vs-small-which-is-it-better-to-be
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/7-ways-heigh-affects-your-health_us_5783ad23e4b0344d51500c3d
https://tall.life/tall-people-and-back-problemspain/
https://www.acatoday.org/Patients/Health-Wellness-Information/Back-Pain-Facts-and-Statistics
https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/27ycgs/is_it_harder_for_tall_people_to_build_muscle/
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