Exercise to Increase Height

Everyone wants to increase their height to their maximum capability. Although you might have heard it is genetic, which is true. Do not worry, there are ways to increase your height by an inch or two if you follow a routine of exercise, correct food intake, and get enough sleep.

Height is one of the most important factors in a person’s life, it can’t be ignored. A proper height means a healthy physique along with a proper body-weight ratio. While you can think of various means of increasing your height, it is necessary to understand basic facts and myths. While height is mainly dependent on genetics, there are chances of increasing height through a planned routine.

Various factors that influence our height are genetics, hormonal influence, posture, diet and many more. One of the myths that people believe is that you can grow taller after the age of 25. However, our growth plates fuse between the ages of 18-21 in men and 16-18 in women. This makes it tough for us to grow, although not impossible.

Our height is a mix of various factors ranging from our genes to our diet and routine. The growth of our body is a simple function of our hormones, diet, our adaptability to fitness, sleep and a few more factors. Let us understand how our height is affected by each of these factors.

Genetic Factors

Scientists estimate that 80% of an individual’s height is inherited from their parents' DNA. They play one of the major roles in determining an individual’s height. Identifying height genes and variants affecting height is an active area of genetic research because height is determined by multiple gene variants. Thus, determining a person’s height solely based on a single gene is a difficult task for science. Height is also influenced by hormonal factors, which we will get to know below.

Hormonal Influence (Growth Hormone, Thyroid)

The Growth Hormone is made by the hypothalamus. Hormones are chemical messengers which instruct various parts of the body to perform a specific set of functions. The hypothalamus is situated in the anterior (front) lobe of the brain in connection with the pituitary gland. The process is such that the hypothalamus releases Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone (GHRH), which stimulates the pituitary gland to release Human Growth Hormone (HGH). The HGH, which is released in bursts throughout the day, stimulates growth in cartilage and bones, especially in adolescent years. The Thyroid Gland produces hormones (T3 and T4), which are essential for growth and skeletal development. The T3 and T4 hormones set the pace at which Growth hormones can work, as well as support metabolism and growth hormones so they can do their job.

Role of Nutrition in Growth

If height were a recipe, the genes would be its blueprint and nutrients its ingredients. Let us know about these nutrients in detail to understand their requirement for growth:

• Calcium: Calcium is necessary for strong bones and teeth. The food which contains calcium are Milk, cheese, yoghurt, almonds, ragi, broccoli, tofu, leafy greens, etc. Further, 99% of the calcium in the body is stored in the form of bones and teeth.

• Vitamin D: It helps us to absorb calcium and bone growth. Morning sunlight has abundant vitamin D, along with eggs, fatty fish, milk, and cereals are good for the same.

• Protein: Protein helps in building muscles and tissues, and it supports the release of growth hormone. Eggs, chicken, dairy, lentils, chickpeas, soy, nuts, and quinoa are good sources of protein. Our body doesn’t store protein, it uses it right away as per the body's needs. Thus, it is necessary to have a protein-based component in your diet daily.

• Vitamin A: It supports bone development, immune function and cell growth. Food sources such as Carrots, pumpkin, spinach, mango, sweet potatoes, and eggs are good sources of Vitamin A. Carrots contain beta-carotene, which the body converts into vitamin A.

• Other necessary nutrients: Other necessary nutrients include Zinc, found in Whole grains, nuts, spinach, legumes, etc. Magnesium works with calcium to grow bones. It is found in Bananas, oranges, potatoes, avocados, lentils, etc. Phosphorus is found in Dairy, fish, meat, nuts, lentils, grains, etc.

A balanced diet that includes all these nutrients-combined with sleep, physical activity, and overall health, sets the perfect stage for height growth.

Environmental and Lifestyle Factors

Environmental and lifestyle factors play a huge role in overall growth from a toddler to a teenager to young adulthood and middle age. Our environmental setup, whether it is an urban landscape with brittle air or a town with a fading environmental balance or rural. The fact is that a large portion of our population lives in rural areas, which have better environmental and lifestyle factors, but there is no health and height awareness because of their simple and peaceful living.

Growth Plates and Age Relevance

Growth plates are soft areas of cartilage at the ends of long bones. There are areas where bone-like tissue forms, which improves bone growth. The table below will help you understand the growth plate and age relevance.

One of the go-to ways to increase the chances of increasing height is often exercise. Exercise is the best way to regulate our body in terms of muscle tension, stamina, body endurance and growth. Below are a few exercises which can help you increase your height:

Stretching Exercises

Stretching exercises frees your body's joints and muscles so that your body isn't hindered by any unnecessary stoppage. They lead to muscle flexibility and bone endurance. A few of the stretching exercises are as follows:

• Cobra Stretching- In Cobra stretching, you have to lie down on the floor, straight, with your face facing the floor. Keep your hands on the floor and lift your body while only lifting the chest portion upwards. Your stomach should be kept intact with the floor, stretching your back in a convex format.

• Hanging- Hanging is a simple exercise, which is a mix of your muscle strength and gravity working on your body. The basics is to hang with a strong and reliable rod or hanging surface, which should be more than your height ( for effective hanging). Grab the rod or hanging surface with a normal distance between your hands and let your body hang freely against the pull of gravity. Hold for a few minutes as per your capacity and repeat it daily.

• Side stretches- Side Stretches come in various formats. The first format is to stand straight and lift your right hand high, keeping your left hand on the left side of your waist. Now you have to bend in the direction of your hand at the waist. Bend a few times, till your flexibility point and repeat the same for the right side. The second format is a circular waist stretch. Stand straight and keep both your hands on your waist, then move your waist clockwise in a circular direction and then anti-clockwise as circularly as possible, depending on your flexibility.

Yoga Poses

Yoga poses are evergreen and trusted postures which have multiple benefits. Primary poses which can help you increase height are as follows:

• Tadasana (Mountain Pose): Tadasana is a simple posture which helps us correct our posture. Many times, posture-related habits affect our height. In Tadasana, you have to simply stand straight, with your spine being straight, the chest being forward, with straight legs and hands, and lastly face in the centre and a straight position.

• Bhujangasan (Cobra pose): As discussed earlier, it is a simple backbend. It improves posture, enables core stretching, tests rib stretchability and frees up major parts of your upper half. It is one of the important exercises to enable height.

• Vrikshasana (Tree Pose): Vrikshasana is an ancient yoga practice. To master it, you need to have some body balance: stand straight and get your hands up straight, joining them palm to palm, forming a triangle-like shape. You have to lift the leg you are comfortable with, left and right, then fold it inwards perpendicular to the thighs and rest it on the lower portion of your thighs. Keep the position intact for a few seconds and practice it to master for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Strength and Posture-focused Workouts

Strength and posture-focused workouts are more based on improving the body’s tenacity and flexibility. Below are a few strength and posture-focused workouts:

• Plank: For the plank, you need to be in a push-up posture while you have to touch your hand to your elbow, and you should keep your foot standing vertically. It should be done in such a way that the body weight falls on the guts, and lastly, the spine should be kept straight.

• Sit-ups: For sit-ups, you need to have someone hold your legs or need to have some weight on them. Lie down facing upwards and fold your hands to the back of your head, locking fingers such that you can give a push to your head using locked fingers. The aim is to make your head touch your knees and repeat it a few more times until you are adapted to it.

The supplement market is gaining a lot of attention nowadays due to the nutrient buzz and after-effects. The question is, do height supplements work? Or do they help in growing height?

With the ongoing supplement buzz, let us understand one thing. General health supplements are not a one-size-fits-all pill for height gain. They help in specific nutritional shortfall scenarios but are not growth hormones. Ensuring a child gets needed nutrients (with supplements if appropriate) will help them reach their destined height. Supplements only help if you're deficient; they don’t act as growth boosters for healthy individuals.” For adults, the promise of height gain via supplements is, unfortunately, a tall tale.

We have been driven to understand various aspects of height, ranging from the base that it is 80% genetic and the other 20% consists of various range of controllable and non-controllable factors such as growth plates, growth hormones, nutrients, exercise and more.

While understanding various factors affecting height, a healthy and fit lifestyle is necessary, irrespective of height. A balanced diet and a fit body can be an attempt to increase height, but it shouldn't be solely dependent on this claim. Yes, height is one of the important factors that affect our sense of self-security, and we can work towards it. With a healthy mind and fit body, height will be a natural by-product over time and training. Height may be in your genes, but standing tall is in your hands.

A valid health insurance can help you go a long way to being safe and avoiding any side effects or mishaps. It is better to be safe rather than late; thus, ensuring yourself and your loved ones goes a long way in terms of financial and health security.