How to get Taller ....

[KickChick]

After reading through these posts here....

 

http://www.karateforums.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=177&start=45

 

.... I started thinking about all the younger members here and how some of you are saying that you are short and wish you were taller etc. etc. So I started to research to see if there is any way (maybe through stretching, supplements, diet...) that one could grow taller.

 

Human short stature could eventually be treated by popping a pill which stimulates bones to grow. US scientists say they have identified a chemical compound which could promote new bone growth. "Let me have some eye drops, aspirin, and a bottle of growth pills!" In a few more years, people will visit their local drugstore and purchase these miracle growth pills over the counter.

 

But before then there are some things you can do now to stimulate growth.

 

The anterior pituitary gland is responsible for secreting a substance called somatotropic hormone, more commonly known as "growth hormone," into your bloodstream.Without that tiny gland, it wouldn't matter how many reps of stretching exercises you perform. Without it, building your physique would become an exercise in futility. Why? ... it dictates how your body will adapt itself from all your height increasing efforts.

 

Acting as your body's foreman, growth hormone instructs your skeletal bone to grow larger and stronger while it speeds the conversion of excess fats into energy. In other words... get enough growth hormone floating around in your system and your body has no choice but to grow taller. Cheat yourself from acquiring your fair share and your body can only do so much, no matter how much you do.

 

Although the amount of growth hormone your body regularly produces is entirely up to your brain, there are a few things you can do to trick this gland. I found this all to be very interesting .... hope you all do too!

 

1) Adequate Sleep!. Not getting enough sleep regularly can lower the amount of growth hormone your body produces daily.... is that why my teens sleep so late!!!

 

Even though excess sleep won't necessarily increase the amount of growth hormone your body secretes, constantly burning your midnight oil could be suppressing how efficiently your body distributes growth hormone during the course of the day. Keeping normal sleeping habits may let you tap into a certain percentage of growth hormone that your bones never get a chance to utilize when sleep-deprived.

 

2) Nutritious Diet . Focus on eating six or seven smaller meals during your day instead of three or four larger ones. Consuming large meals with a high glycemic index forces the body to release a high amount of insulin into the system to aid with digestion. This reaction not only forces your body to store fat, it may also inhibit the flow of the growth hormone being released throughout your bloodstream. Instead, make a point of consuming other low-sugar foods that will prevent the release of insulin.

 

Training right, eating right, sleeping right and keeping your stress to a minimum will not only keep you healthier, they will foster the type of environment that encourages the anterior pituitary gland to do its job. Deficits in any of these areas will only slow down how well your body functions as a whole, which in turn slow down the amount of growth hormone that is being continually pumped into your system.

 

3) Pre/Postworkout eating: Food Researchers have discovered that consuming a protein-carbohydrate meal (small chicken salad sandwich) two hours prior to working out and another meal immediately afterward elicited a significant increase in both growth hormone an testosterone within the bloodstream.

 

Even if you're not hungry a few hours before you exercise, you may want to consider having a snack to prevent being hungry within the two-hour window before you work out. Researchers at UCLA found that subjects who exercised with partially digested food in their stomachs experienced up to a 54 percent decrease in the production of growth hormone. Subjects who were fed strictly carbohydrates prior to a workout still experienced a lower production of growth hormone by up to 24 percent.

 

4) Train Efficiently: What you put your body through during your stretching exercise routine has a direct effect on what your pituitary gland puts out to build height. A recent study in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that the frequency and amount of growth hormone the body secretes is relative to the intensity of your workout. Subjects who exercised at a higher intensity experienced greater and more frequent releases of growth hormone after their workouts.

 

Keeping your workouts focused on short-burst, high intensity anaerobic stretching exercises and maintaining a pace that lasts at least 20-30 minutes is a fair standard to follow. This intense aerobic exercise can also cause an increase in growth hormone release. However, what keeps marathoners from looking like basketball athletes is that their bodies react differently to the substance because of the activity they participate in.

 

It is like having someone who never lifts weights using a muscle-building supplement. They have the building blocks within their system, but unless the endurance athlete is performing a significant amount of resistance stretching exercises, the body never recognizes a demand to use these tools effectively to help restructure.

 

There are certain stretching exercises that may help squeeze out a little extra growth hormone. By utilizing stretches that include several muscle groups to work collectively, the intensity of the workout subsequently increases as well, forcing the anterior pituitary gland to issue more growth hormone to compensate for the extra effort.

 

5) Supplements: Taking the amino acid glycine immediately before you work out can mildly stimulate the release of growth hormone, but only when taken as a supplement. Trying to achieve the same effect by consuming glycine-rich foods such as poultry or milk prior to exercise only inhibits growth hormone by causing you to exercise on a full stomach, plus the glycine doesn't get absorbed in the same way.

 

Being introduced into the body in the presence of additional amino acids forces the glycine to compete for transport across the blood-brain barrier, diminishing its effect on the growth hormone levels. The only way glycine can cause a reaction is when taken in isolated supplement form, preferably on an empty stomach to speed up absorption and prevent outside interference from other amino acids.

 

6) Don't eat before Sleep: Never eat a large meal within two hours of going to sleep. The reasoning ties into avoiding the same insulin surges you're trying to prevent during the day, but this more important before bedtime.

 

The body releases the greatest amount of growth hormone during the first two hours of sleep. Having excess insulin within the system after a large meal suppresses this higher output of growth hormone, preventing your body from taking advantages of it as you rest.

 

Nighttime also seems to be the best time to take additional supplements to increase the flow of growth hormone. UCLA researchers have found that taking the amino acid arginine and orthinine together on an empty stomach right before bedtime can boost growth hormone levels significantly. However, the amounts required to see a difference were between 40 and 60 grams, dosages too large to take in any version besides injectable form.

 

There are safer, more accessible supplements you can try, such as 5-hydroxy tryptophan, a safer derivative of tryptophan. This sleep aid used to encourage drowsiness also helps the brain release growth hormone.

 

Beware of HGH supplements...

 

http://www.atozfitness.com/cgi-bin/links/jump.cgi?ID=714

[Bro_Joey_Gowdy]

Ill be the first to say : Yes, I'm happy with my height.

 

Why should one compare themselves to other people ?

 

You cannot be someone else - you can only be you.

 

To thine own self be true.

 

Know Thyself.

[Taikudo-ka]

Inadequate diet and long term malnutrition can stunt your growth. Eating right with sufficient calories plus plenty of exercise does seem to produce taller people. I think childhood food consumption can have a marked effect on your final adult build. This can easily be seen with poor migrants from third-world conditions who's children grow much taller and heavier when exposed to 1lb steaks, chips, dairy products, etc. Of course the combination of rich foods and constant TV/video games has also produced an obese generation. Physical activity is the key that will make you grow up instead of out.

 

The old adage about smoking stunting your growth is also true. It's best if you avoid tobacco completely, but if you must at least wait until you're fully grown. I see way too many very young girls lighting up on the street nowdays.

[ZeRo]

wow i do like the oppersite to almost everything on that list! no wonder im so short! i shall try and be betterso i grow more. thanks for the tips.

[LeaF]

I agree wit you completely Bro. I am pround to be 5'9". Sure I wouldn't mind growing a few more inches but I do pretty much everything on that list, and there are 16 year olds who are 6"4" and eat terribly and get no sleep. So I think it is basicly in your genes and you may be able to manipulate that a little but I think you have to be happy with what you got, and not be too concerned with little things like how tall you are

[Radok]

I'm 14 and about 5' 10", I think this a few inshes too short.

[Bro_Joey_Gowdy]

Also - i take Coral Calcium pills - look it up on the net and you will see its awesome benefits such as - prolonged life, increased health, 100% calcium for stronger bones -- its from Japan and China.

 

[monkeygirl]

Who needs to grow when short people rock? It puts you so much closer to those more vulneralbe areas of your male target

[Jack]

Who needs to grow when short people rock? It puts you so much closer to those more vulneralbe areas of your male target

 

*Hides*

 

I am 5'9", I would like to be a few inches taller, with 6' being perfect, and I do have several more years of growing left so it is possibly.

 

I think we all have a certain genetic potential for height that varies person to person, but through proper diet, sleep, and activity, we will reach that genetic potential instead of limiting ourselves further by eating wrong.

[ZeRo]

I'm 14 and about 5' 10", I think this a few inshes too short.

 

you think your too short!! im 14 and 5'2" !!! now do you really think your to short.