Dr Mel Siff Blog

<< I am from Bangladesh. In my country people have this conception that if
teenagers do more of stretching exercise or hang theirselves on to bar, they
will grow taller. Could you please tell me whether stretching does help a
person to grow tall? >>

*** Since height depends strongly on skeletal length, it is extremely
unlikely that short periods of time spent on stretching soft tissues will
have any noticeable effect on overall height. Height and general growth is
determined predominantly by genetics and nutrition.

A Russian book, called “School of Height” did discuss methods of increasing
height in youngsters (probably pre-pubescent), one of them being sleeping
under weighted traction, another being regular weight training. Dr Yessis
translated parts of this book, so he may be able to recall more details than
I can.

Pathological shortness of stature and impediments of growth have been treated
in very young children with human growth hormone, but stretching like in the
typical fitness class or yoga session has never been shown to produce any
significant permanent increases in height. To borrow an expression that has
been applied in other senses, “if you want to be tall, you have to choose the
right parents!”

Dr Mel C Siff

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Tags: Bangladesh, Fitness Class, Genetics, Human Growth Hormone, Impediments, Increasing Height, Lt, Mel C, Mel Siff, Noticeable Effect, Russian Book, Senses, Short Periods, Soft Tissues, Stature, Stretching Exercise, Teenagers, Weight Training, Yoga Session, Youngsters