Diet, exercise, plastic surgery and hair dye. It seems you can change almost anything you want about yourself these days. One thing that's not so easy to change is your height. Most people would like to be a bit taller and a few inches closer to the supermodel beauty ideal. Unfortunately, you can't change your height like you change your hair color. While exercise can't make you grow taller, it can help you to appear taller by lengthening your muscles and teaching you to stand straighter.
Yoga
While yoga cannot actually make your body grow, it can add centimeters to your standing height by building and lengthening the muscles of the back and creating space between the vertebrae of the spine. The spine can become compressed from sitting and slouching your way through life, which can take inches off of your height. However, to gain and maintain height results, it is necessary to practice your yoga routine almost every day.
Pilates
According to Pilates trainer Zoe Anderson on her site Think Pilates, Pilates can work toward correcting bad posture you may have lived with your entire life. For those who have acceptable posture already, Pilates, a series of stretching exercises invented by Joseph Pilates, may simply improve the way you stand. The exercise technique aims for adherents to always keep their spines in a neutral position, creating neither convex nor concave curvature of the spine if an observer were to see you in profile. Neutral spine is a way most people have never stood in their entire lives.
Stretching
Traditional stretching and weight-bearing exercises performed on gym machines can also aid in your quest to stand taller. Dr. Wayne Westcott performed a study that proved that adherents following a 10-week program incorporating stretching exercises such as leg curl, lateral raise and neck extension gained 1/4 inch in height. He published the results on his Quincy Personal Trainer website.
Lifestyle
Eating a healthy diet and getting plenty of water and sleep can help your quest to lengthen the muscles and look taller. Eliminating or minimizing the effects of stress in your life can also help the body to flourish. Try supplementing these exercises with meditation or other stress-reduction techniques to reach your best, and tallest, you.
Member Comments