# Maximum body size for a human... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 21, 2001, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-body-size-for-a-human/69583 "2001-06-21T08:06:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-body-size-for-a-human/69583/1 "2001-06-21T08:06:54Z")
I’m wondering what the approximate upper-height range is for “normal” humans. When you see someone 7’6", you’re pretty sure they’ve had some sort of problem with their pituitary gland; that they’re not genetically that tall. But how tall does someone have to be before it’s relativly safe to assume they weren’t really “programed” to be that big? A similar question that might go along with this is how tall can people get before they start experiencing health problems or shorter life expectancies due to their height and/or associated mass? We already know that no human can grow much past ~9’ (Robert Wadlow/Goliath) and live very long to tell about it, but what about the maximum safe height so to speak? I know that certain isolated populations (historically anyway) tended to be real big, like the Zulus or native Hawaiians. I’m talking more the average among humans in general. I’m guessing that much more than 6’5 or 6’6, and you’re starting to have some problems (not just with low door frames). Are there any medical types or giant dopers out there who could shed some light on this? ---
**Author:** ![Smitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Smitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smitty)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-body-size-for-a-human/69583/2 "2001-06-21T12:13:02Z")
I remember reading that, on average, for every inch over 6’6" a man is, he lives 2 years less. No, I can’t cite it. It was just one of those things that I read “somewhere”. Anecdotally, it seems that you don’t see any men in their 80’s or 90’s who are very tall/large. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-body-size-for-a-human/69583/3 "2001-06-21T15:52:58Z")
I vaguely remember reading a few years ago about a relationship between height and longevity, published by (I think) a medical examiner from Cleveland. I tried to find it a few months ago on the web, but the closest I could find was [Yes, Size Matters](http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,74-93753,00.html) ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-body-size-for-a-human/69583/4 "2001-06-21T16:20:38Z")
I don’t necessailly agree with your premise. I don’t think you can assume that someone who is, say, 7’6" is that tall due to a problem with their pituitary. That in fact may be the case for some… but I believe that at least a few people are just genetically programmed to be that tall. As I understand it,the average height of humans over the last 200 years has gone up considerably due to better nutritition and health care. So while I think it’s possible to be naturally 7’6", you’re right, tall people pay a price. The stress of the added mass on the heart is something they have to worry about that us shorties don’t! There are always tradeoffs! ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-body-size-for-a-human/69583/5 "2001-06-21T18:33:37Z")
This from a Scottish culture website > [@](#): > > Did You Know? > > - Tallest Man in Scotland > The Guinness Book of Records shows that the tallest Scotsman and the tallest “true” giant was Angus Macaskill. > > Born on the island of Berneray off the island of Harris in 1825, Macaskill was 7ft 9in (2.36m) tall. > > He was also strong, reputedly able to lift a hundredweight (50kg) with two fingers and hold it at arms length for ten minutes. > > He died on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, in 1863. > > A cairn on Berneray commemorates him. There is a technical medical term for a giant who is correctly proportioned and is genetically programmed to be that height but I’m afraid I don’t know what it is. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-body-size-for-a-human/69583/6 "2001-06-21T20:05:46Z")
Interesting that you should ask this just now: This month’s _Scientific American_ has an article on it. Their conclusion is that, although Americans are at an all-time high, so to speak, we’ve pretty much leveled off, and are not likely to get any taller. The average height has been at about 5’9" for men and 5’4" for women since 1960. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-body-size-for-a-human/69583/7 "2001-06-21T20:23:08Z")
The largest/tallest “normally” proportioned people I’ve seen are some of the wrestlers that come on the late night talk shows like Conan O’ Brien and Late Night to promote this or that wrestling special. I think one guy with long hair is around 7’4" (claimed)and over 400 lbs. There are real limits as weight (IIRC) increases by the cube of the height (or some similar relationship) so that someone who is 10 feet tall and normally porportioned could weigh close to 900-1000 lbs or more. Even if the larger bones and muscles could stand the strain I don’t think the human cardio-vascular system (even upsized) is configured to maintain the blood pressure and blood volume required by a sack of flesh that big. ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-body-size-for-a-human/69583/8 "2001-06-21T23:18:36Z")
Ahh… the cube rule. I can remember resorting to this as a D&D dungeon master, when I pit the party against several 24-foot tall giants. One of the characters wanted to dig a pit trap for the giants and needed to know how much they weighed. So I whipped out a calculator and, “hmm… factor of 4 cubed” \ “200 pounds” \ TWELVE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED POUNDS. Six tons. Most definitely a fantasy creature. There aren’t bones in the world that could support that much weight. And I won’t even guess at the kinds of hip and knee problems these bad boys must suffer. No wonder they have such odious personalities. Oh, and as for the players, they were gleeful. They figured they could easily cover the trap with something that could support their weight, but not the giants’. Problem was, they forgot that the giants knew they weighed a lot, and that falling down hurt, so they took great care to watch where they stepped. Eventually, the players did manage to trick one of the giants into walking off of a 40 foot cliff, and the rule for impact damage was 1 six-sided die for each 10 feet fallen. I cubed it, invoking the “bigger they are, the harder they fall” rule. Sixty-four d6. I rolled almost 240 hit points. No more giant. (Your average giant has about 50 or 60 hit points, and the biggest ones seldom much more than 100.) ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-body-size-for-a-human/69583/9 "2001-06-22T00:14:53Z")
Don’t trust wrestling statistics. The “Big Show” Paul Wight is announced as being 7’4" and 500 pounds, when it’s really more like 6’11", 350 (he was actually forced to lose weight, he used to be 400). Only if the wrestler was a former athlete is it more likely to be accurate. As for maximum body size, weight is another dimension to consider. Harry Knowles of Ain’t It Cool News looks to be about 450 or more, and he’s nowhere near 6’11". ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-body-size-for-a-human/69583/10 "2001-06-22T01:00:43Z")
Big athletes and pro-wrestlers seem to be the exception for huge people not being real fit; although their relative youth and good physical training programs are probably the reason you can have a 7’ 300lb basketballer who has the shape and althletic ability of a six-footer. Even Andre the Giant was ripped back when he was 17 or 18, but sadly he died in his 40’s. I wonder what Shaq will be doing at age 55. If you ever see a picture of Robert Wadlow, you’ll be amazed at his height; around 8’11 - but he died in his early 20’s. At the end of the A&E biography of Andre’s, they mentioned The Big Show (not by name though) and said he had the same medical condition as Andre: acromegally. Even of you are real tall but have normal proportions, it doesn’t mean a person doesn’t have an over-active pituitary. I would like to know what a medical definition of abnormally tall is, and how tall an average human can get before they need back or hip surgery, or maybe have difficulty walking later in life due to their size. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-body-size-for-a-human/69583/11 "2001-06-22T03:20:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mmmiiikkkeee \* > If you ever see a picture of Robert Wadlow, you’ll be amazed at his height; around 8’11 - but he died in his early 20’s. I feel compelled to add that Robert Wadlow died resulting from complications of an infection in one of his ankles, which in turn was due to a poorly-fitting ankle brace. Had that not been the case he most likely would have lived a good deal longer, though I’ve no idea now much longer. Jake Earle (Jack Ehrlich) lived into his forties, I believe, and he was something like 7’9" and around 400 lbs. Wilt Chamberlain lived into his sixties, Kareem is still around, and George Mikan is 6’10" and still alive (he played in the 40s). ---
**Author:** ![chimick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@chimick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chimick)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-body-size-for-a-human/69583/12 "2001-06-22T18:16:49Z")
I realise that this question deals with the vertical “size” but do take a moment to consider the horizontal. There was a very intersting article in the June 2001 edition of “Chicago” magazine about the late Robert Earl Hughes, considered by many to be the world’s largest authenticated human weighing in at 1069 Lbs in 1958. His waist was documented at 122 inches. The article additionaly claims that Hughes weighed over 200 Lbs at age 6. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximum-body-size-for-a-human/69583/13 "2001-06-22T22:58:59Z")
As has been pointed out, what really gets you is the cube law. If you double your height, you octuple your weight. But the strength of your bones and muscles is equal to their cross-sectional area, which only squares. This is why a person will survive a four foot drop but an elephant will be killed. So for every unit increase in weight you need a greater and greater proportion of muscle and bone to support that weight. A human with my proportions but 12 feet tall would break his legs if he tried to walk, which he couldn’t, since his muscles wouldn’t be strong enough to lift himself out of bed. You could have very large people who were healthy, but they couldn’t retain the same proportions as regularly sized people.