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Assuming all other factors are exact between two individuals, one with long arms and one with short arms, the one with long arms won't be able to move as much weight.
Case of leverage.
However, this isn't always the case, it depends on a lot of factors.
what factors?
Neurological adaptations, style of training, level of muscle mass.
For instance -
You can have an individual who is more muscular, trains specifically in the bench press and has short arms and another individual who is less muscular, doesn't train bench press that much and has longer arms. However, the latter individual is stronger genetically (more neurologically efficient in high intensity exercise) so, he can bench press more. This is the reason you can see a lot of small guys with huge lifts. Not the most common case, though.
Another case -
You can have two individuals who are virtually the same, one with long arms and one with the short. The only other difference is the the long armed individual trains the bench press specifically, so he has undergone the neurological adaptions to become stronger in the lift. The short armed guy, who in theory should be the stronger lifter because of his superior leverage, is weaker in the lift because he doesn't train it specifically.
Assuming everything else is equal, longer limbs make it harder. You have to go through a greater range of motion, and therefore, do more work. Also, longer limbs mean you are working at a greater mechanical disadvantage.
I have a long arm span(75in) with just 5ft 10in height. Shouldn't we be talking about ratios?
try benching half way and see how much more weight u can do vs all the way to chest
its like having shorter arms
I disagree, partially because im short, but i feel that lifting weights is about percentages. if you have a large muscle mass percentage for your height/weight, you will be a stronger individual. so, if I weigh 135 pounds, stand at 5'3", and bench 300 lbs that would be less impressive than a man who weighs 135 and stands 6'0" who benches 300 lbs not because i have to push it a shorter distance, but because that man has a much smaller muscle mass percentage compared to his height/weight. Its not necessarily the distance the weight has to be pushed, but more the amount of muscle to push it. Thats my excuse for it, somebody has to stand up for the shorties!
okay, so me and some guy got into a argument with him saying that short arm's are harder to bench alot because the bones or something will have to much pressure, i say long arm's are harder because simple as you have to move the weight alot further.... so which is it..
Oh, just to clarify, he's completely wrong about there being more pressure on the bones too. That is complete nonsense. The amount of pressure on the bones would only be changed by the surface area of the contact points on the bones, which as far as I can tell is not dictated by one's height.
This isn't about making excuses, I admire those guys that lift more than 2X their body weight. Makes me work harder! If someone makes a heavy lift, they are to be praised.