Zack Telander learned early that he was too tall for weightlifting. “I noticed it on my first day. The strongest guys in my gym were stocky,” the coach, content creator, competitor, and country singer recalls. Frankly, he’s right — weightlifting is, for the most part, a short man’s (or woman’s) game.
- Measuring Up: Of the five men who won weightlifting gold in the 2024 Olympics, only +109-kilogram Lasha Talakhadze stands above 6 feet, or 1.82 meters, tall. Li Fabin, the -61-kilogram Olympic champion from China, stands at 5 feet 3 inches, or 160cm, shorter than all other athletes in his category.
That’s all well and good for future Olympians, but it don’t do diddly for you if you’re trying to build your total. So we plucked Telander from the studio and picked his brain on some of his favorite weightlifting tips and advice for tall athletes.
Zack Telander’s Top 3 Weightlifting Tips
Telander knows a thing or two about getting it done in the gym if you’re on the sunny side of six feet. We asked him to distill his knowledge down to just three weightlifting tips, developed over a decade-long tenure in the sport and experience alongside some of its most famous athletes.
1. Squat Low and Deep, but Don’t Count Too High
Tall weightlifters should steer clear of high-rep squat sets most of the time, according to Telander. “Technical failure becomes more likely,” he explained to us, as your range of motion gets larger.
“Tall lifters tend to pull with high hips, putting a lot of stress on their posterior chains,” he continues. “You’ll need to balance that out by spending a lot of time in low, deep squats.” Scientific research from 2020 backs Telander here; athletes with longer thighs and forearms are weaker in the squat, but stronger with the deadlift.
- In a Sentence: Prioritize ass-to-grass squats with a lot of hip flexion, and keep your per-set rep counts at, or ideally below, five reps.
Source: Zack Telander
2. Buy Into Your Lower Back
Curious, we asked Telander if there were any consequences to tall athletes having a disparity between leg and back reliance in weightlifting. “Tall lifters aren’t always better pullers,” he stressed, “but you should buy into it regardless.”
In his mind, buying in means ensuring your lumbar spine can bear whatever you throw at it. If you’ve got long legs and a short torso, your lower back is going to take a beating every time you work with the barbell.
“A lot of tall lifters try to over-correct for weak legs by squatting too much and pulling too little,” Telander remarked. He thinks it’s a rookie mistake. “The whole sport is your lower back,” Telander told fellow competitor-turned-creator Dylan Cooper during a January training session.
Telander also noted that belting up for squats isn’t a crutch. Despite what you may think, studies have shown that using a lifting belt increases core activation and improves bracing in the squat.
- In a Sentence: Don’t sleep on direct lower back work, even if you’re used to relying heavily on your posterior chain — Telander personally endorses deficit snatch-grip deadlifts and GHD back extensions.
Here's a helpful video from Zack Telander's YouTube channel where he explains the benefits of leverage in taller athletes.
3. Keep Pulling, Forever
Tall people don’t learn the bones of weightlifting any differently than their shorter counterparts. But, in Telander’s mind, you do need to adjust certain aspects of your technique. “You should have a slight, visible difference in how you extend in the snatch or clean,” he told us. “You’ve got to squeeze every bit of juice out of your extension.”
To the untrained eye, what Telander describes might look like a brief delay in moving from extension to receiving the bar overhead. It’s a bit on the nose, but Telander loves the tall snatch as an accessory movement here. He performs them religiously when he warms up.
“You’re just not going to lift like an athlete from Team China no matter what you do,” he said, referring to the lightning-fast and almost liquid movement of the world’s most dominant weightlifting roster. “So don’t try to.”
- In a Sentence: Give yourself extra time at the top of your pull to put as much height on the bar as you can, rather than trying to beat the bar to the bottom.
WLHOUSE
World record holder Lesman Paredes (BRN -96kg) showing the value of longer limbs with his incredible pulling strength.
Extra Credit
Telander may be weightlifting’s most qualified altitude specialist, but good weightlifting tips come in all shapes, sizes, and from all sources. You may also benefit from having a technical model — an athlete whose body type is similar to your own.
While stockier builds and short limbs are generally considered assets in weightlifting, the platforms at the World Championships or Olympic Games affirm that tall or long-limbed folks can be just as strong, swift, and agile as their peers:
- Lasha Talakhadze (+109KG, GEO): Three-time Olympic Champion, seven-time World Champion, owner of all three world records in the super-heavyweight division.
- Olivia Reeves (-71KG, USA): 2024 Olympic and World Champion.
- Lesman Paredes (-96KG, BRN): World record holder and 2022 World Champion.
- Kamila Konotop (-59KG, UKR): European Champion and record holder.
- Dadas Dadashbayli (-109KG, AZE): European Champion.
- Nina Sterckx (-49KG, BEL): 2022 Junior World Champion, three-time European Championships medalist, two-time Olympian (2020, 2024).
And there are many, many more. Remember, no two weightlifters are alike, which means you shouldn’t try to copy the lifting style or habits of your favorite athlete to the letter. Take Telander’s weightlifting tips to heart, find an athlete who looks and lifts a bit like you, and get to work.
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