The most common ways to increase human height. The most common ways to increase a person’s height. What needs to be done to increase height.

Increasing your actual body height through exercise is not the easiest task. Unfortunately, in most cases, the problem of short stature can be solved by major surgery rather than by pulling exercises on the horizontal bar. Not to mention the futility of following a special diet to help you grow taller as an adult.

However, straightening the back by performing, developing the abdominal muscles, as well as maintaining a number of simple rules in choosing the color of clothing can make any person visually taller. Exactly the other way around - weak core and abdominal muscles, a hunchbacked spine and improper clothing will turn even a man or girl with completely normal height into dwarfs.

In fact, only a teenager can grow 5 or even 10 cm as long as his growth plates remain open - and in this case, eating foods rich in protein and calcium and regular exercise on the horizontal bar will really help increase height. Adults can only straighten their spine (Berg’s technique is based on this) - and with a straight back become visually taller.

What influences a person's height?

Scientific research suggests that genetic factors and belonging to a particular race play a major role in determining human height. Behavioral factors (eg, adequate protein intake and regular exercise) contribute no more than 15-20% of the result (1) . In other words, human growth is laid down by nature even before birth.

Statistics show that the average height of a Russian man is about 175-177 cm (2), which fits into the average figure for men in Europe and North America - 176 cm. At the same time, the average height of men in Latin American countries is 170 cm, and in Asian countries countries - only 165 cm. The average height of a Russian woman is defined as 169 cm.

How to grow 5 cm - the main rules

By following the rules below, you can grow (or, more precisely, “stretch out”) by 3-5 cm even as an adult. You won't need expensive supplements or painful leg-stretching surgery to achieve this. It is enough just to reconsider your clothing style and regularly engage in special physical exercise to straighten the spine.

1. Strengthen your abs. Constantly being in a sitting position (from working in an office to driving a car) leads to weakening of the core and abdominal muscles. In turn, strong abs will improve your posture and make you stand taller. Read about scientific rankings.
2. Go swimming. Swimming is deservedly considered one of the most important physical activities for creating an athletic physique. However, to increase your height, you will have to learn to swim at least 1-2 km per session, alternating crawl and butterfly styles, and not just splash in the pool for 10 minutes a week.
3. Straighten your shoulders. Maintaining correct posture with broad shoulders and a straight back - the simplest way become a few centimeters taller. There are many effective exercises for posture that can help you straighten your back - most of them are borrowed from yoga.
4. Do exercises on the horizontal bar. Developed muscles of the upper back and shoulders will not only make it easier to maintain correct posture every day, but will also lay the foundation for an athletic physique. Let us remind you that best exercise for the development of the back are not - they are the ones who will “straighten” your spine and help you grow.
5. Dress in correct colors . Clothing can make a person visually taller or shorter. The best combination to increase height is a combination of “light bottom + dark top” - for example, white pants and a dark T-shirt with a V-neck collar. In contrast, wide jeans and a long, baggy sweater will make you look shorter.
6. Change your hairstyle. Hair raised up using styling gel will also help you visually stretch a few centimeters in height. At the same time, forget about the “wet hair” effect and use exclusively matte styling products in small quantities.
7. Increase the amount of protein in your diet. Research shows that lack of protein in a child's diet is a key problem hindering his growth. Sports will be very useful if you decide to regularly practice any strength exercises to improve posture and straighten the spine.

Berg's technique

Height Supplements

The most important dietary supplements for increasing growth are vitamin D and the trace mineral magnesium. Research suggests that getting enough of these minerals from food or supplementation is especially critical during the growing years of adolescence. However, unfortunately, taking these substances in supplements or natural products is in no way capable of increasing the height of adults.

As for calcium, the connection between human height and the consumption of calcium-containing foods has not been confirmed by the latest studies scientific research. In addition, science is increasingly saying that additional use calcium does not improve bone health at all in adults (4). In other words, regular milk is completely incapable of helping you grow taller.

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Once you leave adolescence and the growth zones close, exercise cannot make a person physically taller. However, regular exercises to improve posture (including the Berg technique), pumping the abdominal muscles and doing yoga can straighten your back and visually help you grow. At the same time, choosing the right clothes and styling your hair with gel can also add 3-5 cm to your height.

Scientific sources:

1. Child growth: Can you predict adult height?, Jay L. Hoecker, M.D.,
2. Average height around the world,
3. North Korea after Kim Jong Il, The Economist,

As you know, the average person stops growing at 20-25 years old. It is believed that after reaching this age, it is impossible to change your height upward. However, according to some doctors, there is a possibility of growing a little even at the age of 30. What needs to be done for this?

First of all, it is worth noting that there is no need to chase all sorts of drugs, the propaganda of which is actively carried out on the Internet. Some remedies can do more harm than good. In addition, you do not need to go under the surgeon’s knife. You will always have time to come to such a radical measure. First you need to try safer and simpler means of increasing height. These primarily include sports. Those who play sports have a chance to gain a couple of extra centimeters. In particular, doctors recommend regularly playing volleyball, basketball, and visiting the pool. These types are the most effective in terms of how to become taller.

In addition to the above sports, exercises on the horizontal bar, jumping, bending to the sides, bending the body and stretching it help to grow. The main thing is not to overdo it with stress on the body. Excessive activity can provoke the opposite effect and slow down development. Everything, as they say, should be in moderation.

For those who are concerned about how to become tall, it must be said that you can become taller only if you completely abandon bad habits. It is advisable to start tempering yourself, visit a massage therapist, eat healthy products containing potassium and calcium. Those people who want to know how to become taller quickly will be disappointed. In order to achieve visible results, you will need months, or even years.

How to become taller: a set of exercises

There is a set of special exercises that allow you to gain several centimeters of height. Before starting to perform them, it is advisable to do a short warm-up (5 minutes) and only then proceed to the actions listed below.

1. We stand facing the wall and stretch up. Raising yourself on your toes, you need to achieve maximum “straightening” of your torso.
2. We hang on the bar and try to relax all the muscles as much as possible. We oscillate from side to side according to the principle of a pendulum. To increase the effect, you can tie a weight to your legs.
3. We pull ourselves up on the bar, then lower ourselves and hang for three minutes, completely relaxing our muscles. You need to repeat this exercise 5-10 times.
4. We hang on the crossbar and turn our body left and right for three minutes.
5. We jump on the left and right legs in turn, then on both. With each jump, you need to try to reach an object located at a height (chandelier, branch, cornice...). You need to make about 100 jumps a day.
6. Lie on your stomach, stretch your legs straight. Hands must be placed behind your back. Next, you should bend over as much as possible, raising your shoulders and head. This exercise must be repeated 6-10 times.
7. We lie on our backs, stretch our legs, spread our arms to the sides. One by one, you need to raise your legs until a right angle is formed. We repeat the exercise 6-10 times.
8. Lie down on your stomach again, straighten your legs and stretch your arms along your body. We try to raise our closed legs in this position 6-10 times.
9. We go up the stairs to the fifth floor, then go down. We repeat the exercise 5 times.

The question of finding an effective method to increase height worries a huge number of people. This is especially true for the use various additives containing calcium, hanging on a sports equipment such as a horizontal bar.

The formation of height, according to scientists, is 80-85% dependent on genetic indicators such as gender and race, and external factors, that is, an adequate level of nutrition and exercise, influence this process by only 15-20%. If we summarize these data, it becomes clear that exactly nature determines how tall a person will be.

Adults can radically change their height only through complex surgery. Neither a special diet nor hanging on a horizontal bar will help here. There are some exercises, mainly from yoga, a certain approach to the selection of wardrobe items that allow you to visually appear somewhat taller.

How is a child's height calculated?

The formula involves summing the height in centimeters of both parents and dividing by two. The number “13” is added to the resulting value if the calculation is made for a boy, or subtracted when the calculation is made for a girl. The result will be the height of the child when he grows up, with an accuracy of 80% and an error of 5 cm up or down.

There are statistics on average height for men according to geographical location accommodation. In Russia it is 175-177, in Europe - 176, in Latin America - 170, in China and a number of Asian countries - 167, in India - 164 cm.

How to become 10 cm taller?

This question is relevant for adolescents when puberty has not yet completed, that is, the growth zones have not yet closed. If during this period you start stretching, hanging on a horizontal bar or swimming regularly, which is especially effective, you can achieve an increase in height.

Strength training, unlike the listed physical activity, has the opposite effect. Vertical load, typical for exercises with dumbbells or barbells, significantly inhibits bone growth. Testosterone plays an important role, the increased production of which contributes to the growth zones closing earlier.

Diet to increase height

Factors such as insufficient caloric intake and protein deficiency can slow down the processes of natural growth in childhood. South Korean men are about 7 centimeters taller than North Koreans. The reason for this, as you might guess, was the lack of vitamins and constant malnutrition in the latter.

Only a balanced diet can realize the growth potential inherent in a child. The diet should include vegetables, cereals, mineral-rich cereals - buckwheat, lentils, oatmeal. It is important that the menu must include sea ​​fish, which is a source of iodine and omega-3 fatty acids.

Dependence of growth on special additives

There are components whose consumption is critical for the growth of every child in the first years of life. This is zinc with vitamin D. However, taking these substances with food or as supplements does not have the same effect on the adult body.

The role of calcium, which has long been considered an essential element for a growing organism, has not been confirmed. Recent studies have shown that it does not improve bone health in adults.

How can an adult become taller?

Growth hormones administered by injection are prescribed only in adolescence. They are prescribed by a specialist and act on the bones, promoting their stretching. This technique is not suitable for adults, since the growth zones are closed. The only option left is surgery to stretch the bones.

This is a rather painful operation when staples with wires are inserted into the upper bone layer of each leg. Pulling is carried out using a threaded rod, which is moved apart by 0.25 mm four times a day. As a result, a person becomes 6-7 cm taller, but this is achieved only in a year, most of which he has to walk on crutches.

If the horizontal bar and swimming cannot help an adult become taller, then straightening the spine and improving posture from doing some yoga exercises allows you to stretch 5 cm.

When you have to put up with growth, it is important to choose the right wardrobe. A dark bottom with a light top, a V-neck, and a gel-lifted hairstyle is a look that makes you appear taller.

Conclusion

Helps children and teenagers grow taller proper nutrition and non-strength sports. For an adult, they are replaced by yoga and some tricks in selecting clothing items and a competent combination of shades.

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You and I know that a person grows up to a certain age (girls - up to 18, boys - up to 24 years). Afterwards growth stops. Is it possible to grow up after 25? To answer this question, we need to understand the process of growth.

Why are we growing

A person grows by increasing the length of his bones. And this process lasts until the bone growth zones - the cartilaginous zones in the spine and at the ends of the tubular bones - are completely closed. As long as there is uncoarsened tissue in these areas, a significant increase in body length is possible under the influence of growth hormones. When the cartilaginous zones ossify with age, this will inhibit further growth.

It turns out that it is no longer possible to grow by lengthening the bones after 25 years, unless with the help of surgical intervention. But it is possible to “stretch” your body a few extra centimeters. And it's not too difficult.

How to increase height

This can be achieved by stretching the intervertebral discs. The thing is that the human spinal column consists of 24 vertebrae, the sacrum and the coccyx. Between the vertebrae there are intervertebral discs, which absorb and absorb the load and provide flexibility to the spine due to the fact that they consist of cartilage-like tissue. And if it is cartilage, then it can be stretched, which will lead to an increase in the length of the torso.

In fact, most people are 2–6 cm (or more) below their maximum possible height. This is due to the spongy nature of the intervertebral discs, which are compressed under the influence of gravity and high pressure, which can be caused, for example, by poor posture or lifting heavy objects over the head.

Therefore, even if you do regular spinal stretching exercises, your growth will not remain constant unless you correct your posture, stop lifting weights overhead, and strengthen your core muscles.

How much can you gain in height?

Let's do the math. There are 23 in total in the spine intervertebral disc. If you stretch each of them by only 3 mm, then in total you can add about 7 cm in height. Not bad, right?

There is a known case when one circus performer could grow as much as 16 cm on stage only due to spinal traction.

What exercises help increase height?

Exists a large number of various exercises for stretching the spine, I will highlight only a few of the simplest and most effective. They will be quite enough to get started.

1. Hanging on the horizontal bar

This is perhaps the simplest of all exercises. All you need to do is hang on the horizontal bar and stay in this position for 15-30 seconds. The force of gravity will do the rest of the work for you. It is recommended to practice 2-3 approaches daily.

This is what it looks like:

2. Lying spine traction

To perform this exercise, you need to lie face down on your stomach and extend your arms and legs so that a straight line is formed. Now raise your left arm, followed by your left leg. Hold this position for 20-30 seconds and then switch arms and legs. Do 2-3 approaches.

3. Cat stretches

4. Exercise “Cobra”

Conclusion

If you decide to stretch your spine, then do not forget to strengthen your torso muscles, especially your abs. After all, the stronger your muscles, the greater their resistance to pressure that is placed on the torso due to gravity or poor posture.

And remember: stretching your torso a few centimeters is not difficult, nor is it difficult to lose these centimeters if you stop exercising regularly.

Human growth is one of the elements of the human development process. It is determined by genetics and is subject to work endocrine system. However, it is influenced by the environment, chronic diseases, intrauterine development, and hormonal balance. Most people, due to various circumstances, do not fully realize their growth potential; they have a margin of several centimeters left. How to activate it and how to become taller is a problem that worries many teenagers and young people.

Growing pains

Typically, a person’s active growth stops by the age of 17-20. However, due to various life circumstances, growth can either slow down very much or stop completely. Let's discuss a few obvious situations:

• A good example is gymnasts and female gymnasts, whose childhood is filled with heavy physical activity. Moreover, when intensive training is canceled, in most cases the child’s body takes its toll and resumes full development, but may simply not have time to gain the centimeters that are missing during the growth period.
• A strong blow to a child, especially to the head, for example, during training in professional boxers or during a fight, falling from a bicycle, etc. also will not pass without a trace for health in general and growth in particular, because It's not just trauma, it's shock.
• Stress in childhood or adolescence can take away centimeters, because many strong experiences are often accompanied by a violation metabolic processes and a malfunction of the hormonal system, but this is not always detected by relatives. All this leads to growing pains.

In addition, the lack of sufficient variety, especially protein, sleep problems, a difficult psycho-emotional situation and ecology will increase these problems. Naturally, for a successful and fulfilling life, growth is not the main thing. But in their youth, comparing themselves to taller peers, many short people feel inferior. They believe that their short stature is the reason for their career and personal failures. To eliminate feelings of insecurity and unnecessary worries and complexes from your life, you can try to grow up, especially since medical science claims that the bone skeleton completes its development no earlier than 25 years, but according to the latest data, the cartilage layers in the spine are fully formed and ossified by the age of 35 . This gives hope to increase growth at least to the value that was inherent in nature, but did not manifest itself. Typically the margin is 7-12 cm.

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How to become taller

• Growth stimulants. Some pharmaceutical companies offer growth stimulants. In their advertising campaigns, they say that not all the necessary substances for harmonious (from the word harmony, not hormone!) development can be obtained by a person with daily traditional nutrition and offer special complexes, which include everything, and, very likely, hormones . Taking such drugs to increase height is a very responsible decision that cannot be made alone or only after receiving recommendations and advice from a pharmacy; one must definitely obtain professional medical advice. Much safer is a healthy lifestyle and a set of special exercises.
• Leg lengthening. The second cardinal way to increase height is surgery to lengthen the leg bones based on the method of G.A. Ilizarov. After a computer examination of all leg bones and joints, an external apparatus is installed on the lower leg, which crosses the large or small tibia. At the site where the bone is cut and the leg gradually, often spontaneously, stretches, a callus begins to grow, filling the gap. Orthopedic surgeons promise an increase in height of 3 cm per month. The whole process, taking into account personal characteristics and assigned tasks, can last a whole year or even longer, because first they perform surgery on one leg, lengthen it, carry out rehabilitation measures, and only after that they move to the second leg. In fact, you will have to spend this period of your life in a hospital; it is very difficult to combine such treatment with work or study. Therefore, any healthy person, before making a decision about surgery to increase height, must collect maximum information, reviews, evaluate the cost of this process and carefully weigh the pros and cons.
• Shoes with heels or platforms. The simplest and quick way increase height - use on high heels, on a platform or thick sole. Women have no problems in this matter. They offer a variety of models for everyday life, sports and recreation. But men shouldn't be upset either. Modern manufacturers produce special shoes for all seasons with a built-in high insole, which allows you to increase your height by 5-10 cm, and visually these shoes are no different from ordinary ones.
• Gymnastics. And the last way to become taller and stop worrying about it is through gymnastics. Basically, all gymnastic exercises for growth are aimed at stretching the spine and strengthening its muscles. Having chosen a certain complex, it is important to make sure that they do not cause harm to the joints. If pain occurs, classes should be canceled and run to the doctors. However, it is important to be able to distinguish pain from difficulty performing exercises, especially under load. Difficulties can be caused by a lack of training and flexibility. Exercises to increase height can be done at home, including on a wall bars or gymnastics board, in a fitness center with an instructor and using specially designed exercise equipment.

Exercises to increase height

The number of sets of exercises designed to stretch the spine and increase height is limitless. The final choice should be left to a specialist - a sports doctor or fitness instructor. However, there are quite primitive exercises, the implementation of which cannot cause any harm and will help preserve good posture, support the internal muscle corset and even protect against scoliosis.

• Lying on your back, on a hard surface, bend your knees, your feet should be close to the floor, and do not raise your head. Smoothly turn your legs to the right and left 5 times.
• Lying on the floor, on your back, bend your legs in turn and press each one to your stomach with your hands 5 times. The head should be motionless.
• Repeat the previous exercise, raising your head while pressing your leg.
• Lying on, extend the opposite arm and leg as far as possible, relax, repeat for the other arm-leg pair. Then simultaneously stretch your arms and legs. Repeat 5 times.

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Foods to increase height

To increase growth, a full-fledged, competent, healthy eating, good metabolism and lack of excess weight, because the more weight, the greater the load on the joints and intervertebral discs. But you shouldn’t exhaust yourself with diets at the same time as physical exercise.

Foods for the spine (advised by V. Dikul)

There should be 5-6 meals during the day. Fruits are best eaten 20-30 minutes before meals. Animal food must be accompanied vegetable salads, including green leaf lettuce, celery, spinach, tarragon, onions and leeks, leaf parsley, dill and any other herbs. During the day you need to drink up to 2 liters of water, and every half hour you need to take 2 small sips; for this you should always carry water with you in your bag.

Video tips

1. Eat food with plenty of vitamin A, in particular 2-3 carrots a day, preferably boiled and flavored with butter or sour cream.
2. There are a lot of apples, pumpkins and apricots.
3. Eat a lot of blueberries and drink an infusion from dried berries and leaves. Blueberry extract increases the amount of dopamine in the body, and dopamine promotes the production of growth hormone - somatotropin.
4. Play volleyball and basketball.
5. Hanging on a horizontal bar or bar until fatigue forces you to unclench your hands, but not less than 10-12 minutes 2 times a day, pulling yourself up on the bar and swinging back and forth will help in your quest to increase your height.
6. Walk and run.
7. Do not lift or carry heavy objects.
8. To sleep a lot.
9. Draw a mark on a wall or door that is almost impossible to reach while standing on tiptoes, and reach for it with both hands in turn several times a day. When it is easy to reach the mark, you need to draw the next mark higher, and so on. This is simultaneously a stretching of the spine to increase height, education of will and joy for teenagers from visual results.
10. Jump up from a sitting position and reach for the ceiling.
11. Do Irish dancing, which involves a lot of jumping.
12. Another piece of advice that can be found on the vast expanses of the Internet seems controversial and even dangerous. To increase height, it is recommended to take very expensive special hormones; first, however, it is advised to undergo a full health examination and receive an extended consultation with an endocrinologist. However, no doctor can accurately predict how a hormonal course to increase height will come back to haunt you in the future, what complications and problems it may cause. Taking hormones is dangerous advice!!!

Naturally, all deviations from healthy image life - smoking, excessive work at work will not only reduce, but will negate all efforts to elongate the spine and increase height. Obviously, good sleep, carrots, blueberries and apples are great, especially since age-old human wisdom says that one apple a day protects against all diseases. But any gymnastic exercises to increase height should be discussed with a sports doctor or specialist physical therapy, and with a trainer who will teach you how to perform them correctly in reasonable quantities. You should always remember that the main thing when increasing your height is not to harm your spine, your health and your body as a whole!

Video tips

And one more remark, or rather, an appeal to parents who are vegetarians and raw foodists. By imposing your way of life and your ideology on children, to which they cannot oppose anything due to their age and defenselessness in front of you, do not be surprised at the lack of gratitude from them in the future. The likelihood that they will be smaller and weaker than their peers is very high. And deciding how to become taller is much more difficult for them than for others. Almost impossible. Think about it.

How were you able to increase your height?