I fear for...
I fear for his health
!!!
X2! Great post, Bevo!!!
Regarding the heights of professional bodybuilders, from my vantage point [176cm morning height, 174 nighttime height {5'9.3" to 5'8.6"}] bodybuilders do not generally lie about their heights.
I think Curry has been listed at...was it 5'7, or 5'9?
I have found 5'9 often means 5'8.5" [Jay Cutler, Phil Heath], but bodybuilders don't normally round up too much. Dorian is 5'10.5". Ronnie WAS around 5'10.5" to 5'11" [with hair, probably 5'10.75"], but that was pre-back surgery #1839.
Ronnie is probably closer to 5'9.5" now.
Shawn Ray claimed 5'7.5", but in his "Fit After 40" DVD [I think that's what it was called - I reviewed it on my website, Bodybuilding Pro, so check the side menu if interested], he was measured at 5'6.5" - call it 5'7. Same as Dexter Jackson [also 5'6.5"].
Dennis Wolf is a solid 6'0, if not 6'0 and 1/4.
Art Atwood was 5'11.5".
Gunter was 6'1.5". Same height as Arnold in his prime.
Etc.
Bodybuilders tend to lie about weight [Dexter Jackson never weighed in at any Ironman contests - he would claim 230-lb, but I suspect he was closer to 215-lb, like Shawn Ray - who was honest about his weight]. King Kamali claimed to be 290-lb "with abs" in one of his DVDs, but...that was nothing like Ronnie Coleman at 287-lb with abs, in his "The Unbelievable" DVD.
The list goes on.
Shawn claimed 5'9.5", and I would bet that is pretty accurate. Another rule of thumb that I heard on an ABC show on YouTube about short men is that men tend not to lie if they add the 1/2" or 0.5" in there. It was a female dating coach who said this. So when you hear that women like men to be six feet tall, keep in mind that men who are 5'10" call themselves 6'0".
My friend is 5'11", and says he is 6'0" on dating profiles. I think that's ok to say. After all, all other men are lying [or most], so he's sort of forced to lie, or else women will think he's 5'9" if he says 5'11".
Why would a man say he is 5'9.5" if he was 5'8"? Wouldn't he just say 5'9"? Why lie with that extra 0.5"?
But yeah - long story short, pro bodybuilders are typically honest about their heights, if not their weights.
Frank McGrath is 5'11" on the button. Great physique! And "tall" for a bodybuilder...oddly.
Is it safe to say that 5'8.5" to 5'11" is ideal for Mr. Olympia? Tall enough to have some stature on stage...but not too tall to make it impossible to fill out their frames? Six feet seems to be the death knell for pro bodybuilders...the exact opposite of strongman, where six feet is the minimum required height to get to the world stage [some exceptions apply - I am super impressed with 5'8.5" Dimitar Savatinov from Bulgaria placing #7 in the world in 2015. Great stuff!].
