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Old 06-22-20, 08:29 AM  
Demeris
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Maintaining Height/Increasing Height with Exercise

Both Miranda Esmonde-White and Teresa Tapp relate anecdotes of clients who grew taller by doing their exercises, while in their 60s and 70s.

Has anyone experienced anything like this?

Has anyone heard or read similar claims by other fitness instructors?

Have you encountered any exercise modes/systems that claim to help one maintain height as one ages?

thanks
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Old 06-22-20, 09:57 AM  
fanofladyvols
 
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I hear and read alot about doing abs/core exercises, back and shoulder exercises to maintain posture so you don't hunch forward. Basically maintaining posture, which would maintain height in essence.

Do you think that's what they're talking about? I have always assumed that's what Miranda was really referencing.
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Old 06-22-20, 10:00 AM  
Pat58
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I don't believe for a minute you can "increase height." You can reverse the effects of slouching, and appear taller than when you were habitually slumped over.

I respect and admire Miranda but when I was a subscriber to Essentrics and doing the workouts daily, I noticed Miranda making claims that are a little "stretched," pardon that awful pun.
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Old 06-22-20, 11:45 AM  
Eibhinn
 
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This is one of those things that always annoys me with the misleading linguistic imprecision. The only things that will cause you to actually increase in height after your growth plates close at the end of puberty are serious health conditions like having a tumor on your pituitary gland. Do. Not. Recommend.

The effect fitness instructors are referring to is people improving their alignment and posture so that their effective height (ie. where the top of your head is when standing up against a wall) vs. actual height (ie. length of the body) appears to increase. My height as a teenager and young adult always measured at 5'4 3/4" so I always rounded up and said I was 5' 5". After spending a bunch of time concentrating on alignment and postural exercises, I actually started measuring at 5'5". I didn't grow, I was just standing up a little bit straighter.

This article about an 85 year old woman who improved her posture using yoga is a pretty inspiring example. Looking at the before and after photos, she'd probably register as being 2 inches taller now, but she obviously didn't actually grow.
https://nypost.com/2016/08/08/this-8...eep-you-young/
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Old 06-22-20, 11:53 AM  
yogapam
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Location: West coast of Canada, eh. ;)
I don’t believe you can actually grow taller either. You can certainly improve your posture and as a result reach your true height and appear taller.
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Old 06-22-20, 12:20 PM  
fanofladyvols
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eibhinn View Post
This is one of those things that always annoys me with the misleading linguistic imprecision. The only things that will cause you to actually increase in height after your growth plates close at the end of puberty are serious health conditions like having a tumor on your pituitary gland. Do. Not. Recommend.

The effect fitness instructors are referring to is people improving their alignment and posture so that their effective height (ie. where the top of your head is when standing up against a wall) vs. actual height (ie. length of the body) appears to increase. My height as a teenager and young adult always measured at 5'4 3/4" so I always rounded up and said I was 5' 5". After spending a bunch of time concentrating on alignment and postural exercises, I actually started measuring at 5'5". I didn't grow, I was just standing up a little bit straighter.

This article about an 85 year old woman who improved her posture using yoga is a pretty inspiring example. Looking at the before and after photos, she'd probably register as being 2 inches taller now, but she obviously didn't actually grow.
https://nypost.com/2016/08/08/this-8...eep-you-young/
Ahhh thanks for that story!! So inspiring!!
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Old 06-22-20, 12:21 PM  
fanofladyvols
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pat58 View Post
I don't believe for a minute you can "increase height." You can reverse the effects of slouching, and appear taller than when you were habitually slumped over.

I respect and admire Miranda but when I was a subscriber to Essentrics and doing the workouts daily, I noticed Miranda making claims that are a little "stretched," pardon that awful pun.
Lol, yeah, do the exercises bc they feel good..ignore the chatter
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Don't just work hard, work smart....Pat Head Summitt

Never give up on your body!-- Miranda Esmonde-White

Word/Guiding Principle for 2024: Embrace: embrace my faith, my family, my friends, myself, the process, the progress, the hard work, the strength program I choose, the recovery methods and rest I need, my life, the good times, and the memories of good people.
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Old 06-22-20, 12:23 PM  
katalina
 
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I did "grow" about an inch many years ago when I started exercising/doing Pilates. I always attributed it to better posture.
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Old 06-22-20, 12:24 PM  
Lori_Michigan
 
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In 2016, I had been doing CS near daily for a year. My height at my yearly physical was 5'4 1/2" in 2015. In 2016, it was 5'5". Two nurses took it and were baffled when I told them I thought it was from stretching every day. It has stayed there, even taking a few months off each year since.
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Old 06-22-20, 12:44 PM  
Vintage VFer
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Demeris View Post
Both Miranda Esmonde-White and Teresa Tapp relate anecdotes of clients who grew taller by doing their exercises, while in their 60s and 70s.
Has anyone experienced anything like this?
Has anyone heard or read similar claims by other fitness instructors?
Have you encountered any exercise modes/systems that claim to help one maintain height as one ages?
Some instructors "enhance" the truth to promote their own systems. Improving posture can add height, but mostly if you had bad posture to start with. Many women in their 60's and 70's experience kyphosis. It is possible to prevent, lessen and even reverse it a bit.

I've always been a posture nut. After fracturing a vertebra, I had to be twice the nut I was to avoid kyphosis.

My favorite posture video is Janice Novak's "Posture, Get It Straight!" (Be advised that it is a DVD-R. I usually get riled up abut that. I like the workout enough to let that go. I digitized it and put it on my iPad.)

https://www.amazon.com/Posture-Get-S...2847126&sr=8-1

It also has the hardest seated ab work I've ever done.

She has a book, too, but the video is better.

***ETA: This workout is free on YouTube. Look for links in my post below.***

I'm a big fan of Bob & Brad, "The World's Most Famous Physical Therapists" on YouTube. They have several videos about improving posture:

https://www.youtube.com/user/physica...?query=posture

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