How to Grow Taller Naturally
Height is an important issue for some people. Being born genetically short can be very demeaning to most, as it often leads to some problems in social interaction later on. For example, studies indicate that people tend to take you somewhat less seriously if you’re considerably under the average height.
Depending on your age, you can either help yourself grow taller quite a lot, or you may not be able to do anything at all. To start though, you first need to understand how exactly growth works in humans, and what your body needs to grow taller.
What happens with your body?
Your skeleton has several so called “long” bones, which are usually the main defining ones in your arms and legs. At the ends of those bones are what is known as growth plates. They extend as you grow older, and are the main source of increased length in your bones.
Subsequently, your leg bones are most of what gives you your height in the end. Your spine is important as well, but the legs are easier to manipulate.
Now, the main problem with growth plates is that they don’t keep on extending forever. When you reach a certain age, your growth plates “shut”, and they stop extending. This age is different for men and women, and in most men it happens at around 24 years, while in women it’s usually much earlier, around the age of 18.
How can you control it?
There are several known ways that you can influence the extension of your growth plates and take control of your height at least to some extent. The best thing you can do is perform specific types of exercises, aimed at increasing height – the most efficient from these are the stretching type exercises, as they put a large strain on all your joints, while also extending your spine to some extent.
Speaking of your spine, it’s also very important in growing taller – the spine makes up for roughly a quarter of your total height, and it’s very flexible too. It consists of special disks, twenty four of which can be extended – they’re very fluid in their nature, allowing them to safely increase in width, in result lengthening your spine.
You should also concentrate on your knees – apart from stretching exercises and spine-targeted ones, knee exercises can contribute to gaining height to a huge amount, so make sure you include enough of them in your workout routine.