Ask Rip #64

[Jennifer Williams]

If you folk moved away from the imperial measuring system to metric your height would increase to 157cm give or take a mm, your weight training lifts would gain, for example a Kg is equal to 2.2lbs so you would be lifting more and your cars fuel range would increase and you would only use 7ltrs per 100km instead a miserly 33 mpg, the thing is endless, I service my car at 15000Km instead of 9000 miles, the benefits are boundless.

I like the way you think, Wal. Maybe I’ll start saying 157cm instead, although that is also rounded up by .79 cm. So that “sounds” worse than being off by .50. None of it matters so much since I’m usually walking around at 5’4.5 anyhow, or even 5’5.5!!!! I’m sure that my intervertabrae probably expanded too, so I’m probably even taller than that!

[Kiril]

One other thing Kiril because I live down at the bottom end of the earth we are not so affected by gravity as you folks are up there in the northern hemisphere and our kilo's are actually only 2.0 lbs, so we are doing some fantastic stuff with lifting records.

South Africa? Antarctica? NZ? ArHentina? By the way, I live 1.5 hours from the Dead Sea, which is the lowest level of land. There, you almost have no gravity, not even one inch.


Jennifer Williams,

Maybe I’ll start saying 157cm instead, although that is also rounded up by .79 cm. So that “sounds” worse than being off by .50. None of it matters so much since I’m usually walking around at 5’4.5 anyhow, or even 5’5.5!!!! I’m sure that my intervertabrae probably expanded too, so I’m probably even taller than that!

Interesting. I'm 162-164 cm, but looking at your feet and inches, you are taller than me. Weird.

[wal]

I like the way you think, Wal. Maybe I’ll start saying 157cm instead, although that is also rounded up by .79 cm. So that “sounds” worse than being off by .50. None of it matters so much since I’m usually walking around at 5’4.5 anyhow, or even 5’5.5!!!! I’m sure that my intervertabrae probably expanded too, so I’m probably even taller than that!

Yeah well it does not matter about the outside it is what is inside. 5'4.5 outside but 6'4.5 on the inside, it is all in the mind. Years ago when I was working full time some of the guys I worked with would say "I have duck's disease", you know their backside was close to the ground, however they were some of the strongest folk around than some of those skinny 6 foot plus guys who could reach the top shelf but could not lift a 6ft power pole crossarm.

[wal]

South Africa? Antarctica? NZ? ArHentina? By the way, I live 1.5 hours from the Dead Sea, which is the lowest level of land. There, you almost have no gravity, not even one inch.

New Zealand? What is the biggest continent nation in the world? It is even bigger than Mark Rippetoe's country of Texas. Gravity by the way is over rated.

"Gravity is a contributing factor in nearly 73 percent of all accidents involving falling objects."

Dave Barry

[Jennifer Williams]

Jennifer Williams,

Interesting. I'm 162-164 cm, but looking at your feet and inches, you are taller than me. Weird.[/QUOTE]

Not so much, my height changes by my choice of shoes. 5’1.5 in flats and on up:

Wal,

I’ve never had an issue with my height. I just like to joke around about it. I was fortunate to grow up with friends who never made me feel too small for anything. My best friend stands at 5’8, but always treated me like I was 10 feet tall. I have thanked her for that in recent years. Pretty much all of my friends growing up were endearing like that. . Some of the people in my adult life have sucked, but they were flawed anyhow,

[Buddy Rich]

Rip never addressed the Orangutan (as was teased).

Ask Rip, "How do I Power Clean if I don't have Bumper Plates" and you'll find out the fate of the Orangutan.

[wal]

Jennifer Williams,

Interesting. I'm 162-164 cm, but looking at your feet and inches, you are taller than me. Weird.

Not so much, my height changes by my choice of shoes. 5’1.5 in flats and on up:

Wal,

I’ve never had an issue with my height. I just like to joke around about it. I was fortunate to grow up with friends who never made me feel too small for anything. My best friend stands at 5’8, but always treated me like I was 10 feet tall. I have thanked her for that in recent years. Pretty much all of my friends growing up were endearing like that. . Some of the people in my adult life have sucked, but they were flawed anyhow, [/QUOTE]

All people have flaws, believe it or not even me! That is what makes us different. Some of the strongest folk that I have worked with were on the short side, lower centre of gravity, more stocky build, better leverage, I don't know, I don't know what "tall" is, is it 6'ft plus and short is 5'ft and under? It used to be here in Aus that 6ft was the minimum height for a cop, now height it is a discrimination factor and I think now as long as you can stand up you can join the force, some that I have seen, I reckon I could outrun them, they do not look fit at all. Times have changed somewhat since the 60's.

[Jennifer Williams]

Some of the strongest folk that I have worked with were on the short side, lower centre of gravity, more stocky build, better leverage, I don't know, I don't know what "tall" is, is it 6'ft plus and short is 5'ft and under? It used to be here in Aus that 6ft was the minimum height for a cop, now height it is a discrimination factor and I think now as long as you can stand up you can join the force, some that I have seen, I reckon I could outrun them, they do not look fit at all. Times have changed somewhat since the 60's.

Being on the small side is certainly an advantage. I don’t having to move the weight nearly as far. I’m sympathetic to the tall people. At least, sometimes I am when I’m being nice.

Your police story reminds me of an older gentleman at my old, law firm. He was in his 70s when he practiced for a time with our firm. He used to come to my office all the time to discuss his cases with me. And he’d ask for help with research since he hadn’t acclimated to researching online. Anyhow, he would talk to me for long periods of time discussing law, comparing strategies, etc. Then he’d always tell me on his way out how he only had one woman in his law school class. Never left without mentioning it. It was funny to watch him trying to reconcile how things have changed. I loved working with him. He was a really decent man. I wonder how the world will pass me by, by the time I’m in my later years.

The height requirement for police officers is silly. But I do agree with you from the standpoint of fitness. We have plenty of very unfit police around. I work in the business world and wouldn’t make it if I was grossly overweight. You rarely see it here.

[Mark Rippetoe]

The height requirement for police officers is silly.

Depends on your police work. If parking tickets is all you do, it's silly. If breaking up a bar fight composes even a small fraction of it, who do you think is more effective, the 6'4" 245-pound man, or the 5'2" 135-pound man?

[Mark E. Hurling]

The height requirement for police officers is silly.

The only advantage a short cop has is that it's easier to get underneath the center of gravity of most of the people they have to subdue in order to throw them in a takedown. Sadly, given the potential for injury to those other people and the propensity for ensuing litigation, those type of takedowns do not fit the kinder, gentler, manner in which order is expected to be maintained these days by lawyers. From my own anecdotal observations and experience, short cops suffer greatly from two things.

* Little Man's Disease, which is an overcompensation by the short cop to make sure everyone knows they are in charge.
* Bad guys seeing short cops as less capable and so more likely to challenge or resist them than they might, say, a 6'+ bigger cop.

But I do agree with you from the standpoint of fitness. We have plenty of very unfit police around.

True. Always have, always will. Some cops take their work seriously and prepare to do it effectively, and some never will.

I work in the business world and wouldn’t make it if I was grossly overweight. You rarely see it here.

The gritty blue collar world of cops and the business world are two vastly different venues. The business world is not a paramilitary civil service outfit that is expected to do dirty, sweaty, hard, and sometimes dangerous things.