What I want to know is how it is possible for me to grow any more taller than I am right now.
Growth hormones are secreted up until the age of thirty (right?).
So how can I possibly naturally increase the levels of growth hormone my body produces? (I hear exercising can help - but I don’t really understand how it does what it does. Any volunteers?).
Another thing. Why do you take calcium whilst you are growing? If your bones calcify (i.e. harden) would that not put more “shrinkage” on your frame - meaning that your bones are now so “solid” that they won’t grow anymore?
Also, would doing “stretching” exercises such as yoga help me any? I have a feeling that in the long-term they wouldn’t be as much use as say, sprinting, because once you stretch your body it naturally “springs” back into shape.
Which brings me onto my final point. Why are sprinters so tall? You take a look at the Men’s 100M and they’re all over 6"1. Any reasons?
Answers from anyone who specialises in the biological fields (and anyone who has any type of associated interest) are appreciated.
There is an operation where they break the long bones in your legs, then attach a metal framework to them. The framework is slowly stretched, pulling the bones a millimeter or so further apart each day. The bones grow longer as they try to heal, and the soft tissue of the leg stretches with them. You can gain several inches, but you’ll be confined to a wheelchair for half a year or more as it’s done.
Usually this operation is only done for people who have one leg longer than the other, but it could be done on both legs to increase your height. Won’t be cheap.
Stretching excercises won’t make your bones longer, but they will make you more limber and might improve your posture.
Sprinters are tall because they were born and grew up that way. Having longer legs helps you sprint faster - more distance covered with each step.
Xavier sez:
<<Which brings me onto my final point. Why are sprinters so tall? You take a look at the Men’s 100M and they’re all over 6"1. Any reasons? >>
Ummm… why are basketball players so tall? Why are jockeys so short? Why are (American) football players so doggone DENSE? Eat good, exercise hard, and hope for a spurt. I went up 6 inches when I was 18 after I signed on with the Navy. YMMV.
Nonsense. Are you serious? Six inches? Do you know exactly when people stop growing or does it differ for every person?
What kind of training exercises did you go through? Was the balance on aerobic (e.g. jogging) or anaerobic (e.g. weight-lifting) exercises? Was it more long-term endurance activity or short “burst of energy needed” activity?
astro - I’m just reaching 5"8. I only need a couple (maybe two inches), a third of how much Stockton grew.
Xavier, why do you need a couple of inches? Do you aspire to a profession where height is a requirement? (Runway model is about the only one that I can think of…maybe there are others?)
Actually, for years many believed that tall people made lousy sprinters. But it may have just been that taller athletes went into other sports like basketball.
You’re not implying that basketball players are tall because they play basketball whereas jockeys are short because they’re jockeys, are you? I mean, it’s quite evident that the causal link here works in the other direction.
That smokin’-hot girl who says she’d never date a guy shorter than 5’10".
(Seriously, I worked with that girl in college. She was 5’9", looked like a young Farrah Fawcett, and one of her criteria for dating material was that the guy had to be at least a few inches taller than her. Shallow, maybe, but still hot. )
A few years ago, I overheard a short teenage girl talking with someone, a doctor had suggested to her that she could be given growth hormones if she wanted to get taller. That should still work for you.
Well, this is a zombie thread, but still worth mentioning:
It probably won’t. Once the “growth plates” in the bones have fused (which is a simple way of saying they ossified and turned from cartilage to bone,) no amount of hormones will make them keep growing.
Too bad this thread is a Zombie, (albiet seemingly more active than in it’s original run), as I am just a millitad over 5’8" myself, and would like to know why Xavier need to grow 2" inches taller. What else am I’m missing out on because I’m not 5’10"? I wouldn’t mind being 5’10", nor would I mind having the strength of five men and two squirrels.
And did Xavier ever get his legs broken and injected w/ bovine growth hormone or something? Inquiring minds and all that…
It can also be dangerous; it’s fairly common in China, and less-than-competent doctors have crippled quite a few people with that operation.
Oh; and “attach a metal framework to them” means “bore holes into through your legs into your bones and stick rods through them”. I imagine that “painful” is an understatement.
