Body Types and Lifting?

[Guest guest]

Recently,in issue 157 of T-mag, an article by Staley on body

types sparked some interest in me. I was reading through " Managing

the Training of Weightlifters " , and I saw a very similar part on pages

53 and 55. The classifications employed by Staley and the authors of

Managing (Laputin and Oleshka, i think) use the same terms to define

the same thing but they use them in the exact opposite way.

Laputin and Oleshka cite A. I. Mulchin's classification system,

calling " athletes with long upper and lower extremeties and a

relatively short and wide toro-- dolichomorphs " mesomorphs,- proper

proportionality, and brachiomorphs have " short upper and lower

extremities and a relatively narrow, long torso " (53).

Staley, in the t-mag article, says that if you segregate people into 2 corners

(based upon limb length), " On the left, we have people with ideal

weightlifting levers (called dolicomorphs), and on the right, their

more brachiomorphic (long-limbed) peers. "

Although this may just be a technicality based upon a typo, clearly Mulchin

designates long

limbed people as dolicomorphs while Staley in an opposite fashion

says they are brachiomorphs. Furthermore, Staley says of Olympic

lifting, " Athletes who are successful in this sport have short levers

[which in his terms would be dolicomorphs and in Mulchins, would be

brachiomorphs]. "

In the " Managing " book, however, Laputin and Oleshka cite

many different types of lifters' body structures (55). Furthermore

they say that with the abolition of the press, it has become a speed-

strength competition, and quoted in " Managing " Dr. Augustiin Dzedzits

says " 'Preference will be given to youths with long muscles' " (8).

This basically says that lifters who are dolicomorphs should excel,

which again is what Staley implied based on his terminology, although

for the exact opposite reason (because they have long limbs not short

as the T-mag article says).

I ask Mel and other members to clear up

this whole chaos and contradiction that I have noticed and am

somewhat perplexed by. With all respect to Mr. Staley, I currently

am believing and leaning toward what was written in the " Managing "

book.

D...... Boyle

San Diego, CA

[Guest guest]

Zhekov (Biomechanics of the Weightlifting Exercises 1976, in

Weightlifting Training and technique 1992) define a brachiomorphic

body structure and a dolichomorphic body structure as follow:

Brachiomorphic: Proportionally shorter lower extremities and a longer

torso.

Dolichomorphic: Proportionally longer lower extremities and a shorter

torso.

Kanyevsky (Teaching the starting position of the snatch and clean &

jerk to novice weightlifters 1982, in Weightlifting Training and

technique 1992) uses the Mulchin classification which goes as follow:

Brachiomorphic: relatively long torso and short legs

Mesomorphic: Intermediate or balanced proportions

Dolichomorphic: Relatively short torso and long legs

So both authors agree (and this goes to show that the info in

" Managing the training of the weightlifter is accurately reported).

Christian Thibaudeau

Quebec, Canada

[Guest guest]

D. Boyle wrote:

> Recently,in issue 157 of T-mag, an article by Staley on body

> types sparked some interest in me. I was reading through " Managing

> the Training of Weightlifters " , and I saw a very similar part on pages

> 53 and 55. The classifications employed by Staley and the authors of

> Managing (Laputin and Oleshka, i think) use the same terms to define

> the same thing but they use them in the exact opposite way.

Huh: will wonders never cease?

> Laputin and Oleshka cite A. I. Mulchin's classification system,

> calling " athletes with long upper and lower extremeties and a

> relatively short and wide toro-- dolichomorphs " mesomorphs,- proper

> proportionality, and brachiomorphs have " short upper and lower

> extremities and a relatively narrow, long torso " (53).

I am no expert on taxonomic terminology (maybe an expert will chime

in here), but a quick web search on the terms indicates that

'dolicho' refers to long limbs in comparison with torso length,

whatever the torso form. A good example is the dolichopodid, a long-

legged fly that is a predator of other flying insects:

http://www-personal.une.edu.au/~dbritton/dolicho.htm

Similarly, the term 'brachi' refers to short limbs in comparison with

torso size. Interestingly, at the following URL, Kozlov and

Vershubsky refer to dolichomorphs as having narrower than average

shoulders in comparison with height, and brachimorphs as having wider

shoulders/height.

http://www.user.cityline.ru/~tksggver/ak/morphology.html

This thus lumps the torso form and limb length into a single measure.

This doesn't quite jibe with Mulchin's scheme w.r.t. torso form

(e.g., Mulchin's scheme classifies long legs as implying wide

shoulders). Still, Mulchin's scheme at least pushes things in the

same general direction in terms of limb length, so I'd say that

'Managing' wins on balance.

- Wayne Hill

Westborough, MA

[Guest guest]

I just sent the following email to the T-mag crew. Since it is sent

to their feedback section I feel that I can post it on this board

without disrespecting the correct netiquette:

" This letter is in reference to M. Staley's latest article " Body Type

and Training Strategy: An observational analysis " . I found it to be a

very interesting article as well as a very applicable article,

However M. Staley seems to have misused the correct body type terms

Dolichomorphic and Brachiomorphic.

The article by M. Staley clearly state that individuals with

" brachiomorphic " body structure are individual with long limbs and a

short torso, This is either stated directly in his article or

strongly implied. Here are some examples:

M. Staley says:

- Brachiomorphic Body Type (long limbs)

- on the right, their more brachiomorphic (long-limbed) peers.

- Brachiomorphs, those long-armed benchers who hit the wall and crash

Similarly, M. Staley defines individuals with dolichomorphic body

structures as having short limbs and a long torso. This is also

either stated directly or implied. Here are some examples:

M. Staley says:

- Dolicomorphic Body Type (short limbs)

- On the left, we have people with ideal weightlifting levers (called

dolicomorphs),

While I do not dispute the value of M. Staley's article (which I

think is still applicable) I think that he should revise the use of

the words brachiomorphic and dolichomorphic because HE CONFUSED THE

TWO!

From IP Zhekov (Biomechanics of the Weightlifting Exercises 1976, in

Weightlifting and Training Technique 1992):

1. Brachiomorphic: Proportionally shorter extremities (limbs) and a

longer torso.

2. Dolichomorphic: Proportionally longer extremities (limbs) and a

shorter torso.

From VB Kanyevsky (Teaching the starting position of the snatch and

the clean ? jerk to novice weightlifters 1982, , in Weightlifting and

Training Technique 1992):

1. Brachiomorphic: Relatively long torso and short legs

2. Mesomorphic: Intermediate proportions (balanced)

3. Dolichomorphic: Relatively short torso and long legs

From NP Laputin and VG Oleshko (Managing the training of

weighlifters 1982):

The Mulchin table which compare body proportions of lifters of

various body types and weight classes:

1. For light classes:

a) Dolichomorph: the leg length is 55.5% of the total height; the arm

length is 45.8% of the total height.

Mesomorph: the leg length is 53.3% of the total height; the arm

length is 44.0% of the total height.

c) Brachiomorph: the leg length is 51.1% of the total height; the arm

length is 42.2% of the total height.

2. For middle classes:

a) Dolichomorph: the leg length is 55.0% of the total height; the arm

length is 45.3% of the total height.

Mesomorph: the leg length is 52.9% of the total height; the arm

length is 43.8% of the total height.

c) Brachiomorph: the leg length is 50.8% of the total height; the arm

length is 42.3% of the total height.

3. For heavy classes:

a) Dolichomorph: the leg length is 54.2% of the total height; the arm

length is 45.1% of the total height.

Mesomorph: the leg length is 52.1% of the total height; the arm

length is 43.6% of the total height.

c) Brachiomorph: the leg length is 50.0% of the total height; the arm

length is 42.1% of the total height.

So as you can see from this information dolichomorphs have the longer

limbs, not brachiomorphs as M. Staley wrongfully said.

In fact, light dolichomorphs have legs that are 4.4% longer and arms

3.6% longer than their brachiomorphs counterparts.

For middle classes this difference is 4.2% and 2% and for heavy

classes it's 4.2% and 3%.

Sadly, terms like brachiomorphic and dolychomorphic are seldomly used

by trainers. So if you are to spread its use around (your mag

reaches a lot of peoples) at least use the correct definition for the

correct concept! "

Christian Thibaudeau

Quebec, Canada

www.ironmag.com

[Guest guest]

It was written:

< " This letter is in reference to Staley's latest article " Body Type

and Training Strategy: An observational analysis " . I found it to be a

very interesting article as well as a very applicable article,

However M Staley seems to have misused the correct body type terms

Dolichomorphic and Brachiomorphic. " >

I also (second part of my letter) question his application, for

OLing. I feel that it is possible that Staley extrapolated that

dolicomorphs have dominant body type for OLing and thus he tried to

explain it in his (incorrect) terms. The problem is that OLing is a

speed strength competition (refer to 9184 original) and therefore

(moderately) long limbed athletes have the advantage-- with the

abolition of the press. Mr. Staley goes into this detailed explanation on how

max effort lifting may benefit OLers, since the majority are short

limbed (which although he doesn't outright say it, would in his terms

be dolicomorphs). This assertion clearly contradicts the speed

strength nature of OLing which again suits in real terms Dolicomorphs

(not his terms).

Boyle

San Diego, CA

[Guest guest]

me2dsupertraining@... wrote:

> Laputin and Oleshka cite A. I. Mulchin's classification system,

> calling " athletes with long upper and lower extremeties and a

> relatively short and wide toro-- dolichomorphs " mesomorphs,- proper

> proportionality, and brachiomorphs have " short upper and lower

> extremities and a relatively narrow, long torso " (53).

>

> Staley, in the t-mag article, says that if you segregate people

> into 2 corners (based upon limb length), " On the left, we have

> people with ideal weightlifting levers (called dolicomorphs), and

> on the right, their more brachiomorphic (long-limbed) peers. "

In Greek, " dolicho " means " long " and " brachy " means " short " . I can

see how using one for " long-bodied but short-limbed' and the other

for " short-bodied but long-limbed " might get confusing.

To further complicate matters, " brachio " means " arm " . That could

further confuse you into thinking " brachiomorph " meant " long-limbed "

-- at least if you thought you recognized " brachio " and didn't know

what " dolicho " meant.

Anyway, we're all mesomorphs here, right? ;^)

Matt Madsen

City?