According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average height of an American man is 5 ft. 9 in., while the average American woman is 5 ft. 4 in. Retailers are aware of these statistics and make everything from exercise equipment to clothing to fit the "average." While the best-fit method may work well for the majority of the population, if you happen to be over 6 feet tall, you may be discouraged when your stride is cut short and you aren't able to fully extend your extremities on an exercise machine.
Dumbbells and Free Weights
Unlike exercise machines that have a specified range of motion, dumbbells and other free weights allow you to lengthen or shorten any exercise to fit your height. Whether you're 5 ft. flat or you're 7 ft. 9 in., a dumbbell bicep curl or a bench press will look the same, in both instances lifting and lowering fully.
Treadmills
Some exercise machines, like bikes and ellipticals, have a limited ability to adjust for height. You may be able to raise the seat on a bike, but there's an upper limit to your ability to do so. Likewise, you can adjust your stride on an elliptical, but the machine is only so long. If your height presses the boundaries of these limits, your best bet may be a treadmill.
Many treadmills, particularly those at commercial fitness centers, have decks at least 60 inches long. The 5 ft. long deck allows for even exceptionally long stride lengths. If, for some reason, this is still too short, take your cardio routine to the streets. Mother nature can't make you shorten your stride, and there's no reason you can't walk on the sidewalk just as well as you can walk on a treadmill.
Stability Balls
Stability balls come in a variety of sizes including 65 cm, 75 cm and 85 cm circumferences. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, a 65 cm ball fits anyone from 6 ft. tall to 6 ft. 5 in., the 75 cm ball fits almost anyone over 6 ft. 5 in., and the 85 in. ball meets the needs on anyone with particularly long legs. To make sure the ball fits your height, when you sit atop of it with your feet flat on the ground, your knees and hips should both form 90-degree angles.
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