PT Health Life – Currently, on social networks there are many advertised exercises that can help increase height in people over 21 years old. So are these exercises really effective? What should adults do to improve their height?
1. Can height be improved after adulthood?
factors that determine a person’s height include genetics, nutrition, exercise and living environment. Genetic factors play an important role in determining height, but not all. Each person has up to 77% chance of increasing height depending on nutrition, sleep and exercise.
However, even when combining a healthy diet, sleeping on time , and exercising, most people’s height will stop increasing after age 18, or may only increase by a maximum of 1-2cm. The reason height stops increasing after adulthood is that the growth cartilage has ossified into bone.
When approaching the end of puberty, growth hormones gradually decrease and eventually stop completely, causing the growth cartilage to completely ossify, fixing the bones, and at this time the height growth process will almost stop. Although bones stop growing in length after age 18, they may continue to increase in thickness or diameter, in response to stress caused by increased muscle activity. The increase in bone diameter is called applied growth, so after age 18, each person’s height can increase by 1-2cm.
Therefore, height increasing exercises will not be effective for people over 21 years old. There is no evidence or research proving that barbell exercises, mountain climbing, and swimming… can impact height growth after adulthood. Height may change slightly during the day due to increased or decreased compression of the discs in the spine.
2. How can adults improve height?
Height increasing exercises are not effective for people over 21 years old, but adjusting your posture can also help improve your figure. Because poor posture and gait can make you look shorter, which in the long run can affect the health of your spine.
To improve your posture , you can practice the following stretching exercises :
2.1. File menu bar
Pull-up bar exercises help stretch the spine and increase muscle tone to feel healthier. This way, you can improve your posture and make your arm and back muscles stronger.
To perform this exercise, you first need to choose a pull-up bar suitable for your height, according to the principle: When installed, the pull-up bar needs to be 30 – 50cm higher than the practitioner’s height. Warm-up is a very important preparation step for all exercises, requiring a thorough warm-up of the wrist, ankle, neck, shoulder and waist joints…
- Jump while holding the bar firmly so that your hands are shoulder-width apart.
- Swing on the bar and relax your body into a straight state. Hold your body like that for as long as possible and then release.
- Repeat 3 – 5 times after relaxing for 30 seconds between each exercise.
2.2. Yoga stretching
Stretching exercises help increase flexibility and reduce the risk of injury during physical activity. Additionally, stretching can also reduce muscle soreness caused by intense exercise. This is one of the effective measures to help improve posture, especially suitable for people who often sit in one place for long periods of time.
- Sit on the floor, legs stretched out in front of you, opened in a V shape.
- Raise your arms straight in front of you, shoulder-width apart, eyes looking straight.
- Reach forward so that your hands lightly touch the tips of your toes. Hold the position for about 15-30 seconds then return to the starting position.
- Repeat the movement 3-5 times, paying attention to deep breathing.
2.3. Jump on the spot
Jumping helps stretch the whole body and joints. Proceed as follows:
- Stand up straight, feet hip-width apart, arms straight above your head.
- Lower your hips so your thighs are parallel to the ground.
- Jump as high as you can, swinging your arms from front to back.
- Land on your toes, lowering your hips into step 2 position.
- Continue jumping, you should do 5 sets, 10 times each set.
