Select Page

How To Get Taller – Natural Ways To Get Taller

No one likes to feel left behind in the height department. If you’re shorter than the people around you, you feel inferior. Are you still growing? You can do a lot to optimize your height. What if you’re an adult? You can still enhance your height. 

I know what that’s like. I’m a short guy. Worse, I developed poor posture and a weak core as a young adult. Once I followed the tips presented here, I looked much taller. Also, I felt more confident. So, what’s the answer to how to get taller – natural ways to get taller? Let’s find out!

A simple thing you can do to reach your maximum height is eat a balanced diet. Often in today’s world, eating junk and fast food is the way to go.

Yet, especially if you’re still growing, you need to eat a diet of healthy, nutritious foods. This is because a balanced diet contains the nutrients your body needs to fully develop. The thing is, a diet of junk or fast food lacks vitamins and minerals.

Also, it contains high amounts of unhealthy compounds. The average fast food meal is very high in sodium, sugar, and fat. That’s just the start. 

Eating a balanced diet is as important for adults that have reached their natural height. That’s because a good diet keeps your bones strong and healthy. As we get older, our bones may not be as strong as they should be.

Once you reach a certain age, adults begin to lose height. Weak bones is the reason. Eating foods high in protein, calcium, and phosphorus maintains bone density and health.

There are other important nutrients that stimulate growth. These are vitamin D and zinc. Follow a balanced diet consisting of quality whole foods. That way you can be sure you’re getting all of these essential nutrients. 

You should ingest plenty of protein to maintain healthy bones. A good protein powder can help. It’s an easy and convenient way to meet your daily protein requirements.

Also, make sure you’re taking a multivitamin and mineral supplement. Think of it as health insurance. You can’t be sure you’re getting enough of every nutrient every day. By using a supplement, you can guarantee you are.

Finally, you may want to use a joint support formula. This ensures your joints remain healthy and strong. It also ensures you have good mobility.

We know sleep is important for recovery and next-day productivity. One of the other things sleep does is stimulate growth hormone (GH) release. Here’s how it works. The body produces growth hormone naturally. This is one of the three primary anabolic hormones in the human body.

For reference, the other two are testosterone and insulin. Now, growth hormone, or GH, consists of 191 amino acids. It’s secreted by the pituitary gland. Growth hormone promotes overall growth and development, among other benefits.

Generally speaking, growth hormone is secreted in short bursts throughout the day. The key thing here is that up to 70% of total GH secretions actually happen at night. That’s one reason sleep is so restorative. If you haven’t reached your full adult growth yet, you want to make sure you’re getting enough sleep. This ensures you’re experiencing the maximum benefits of growth hormone. 

If you’re an adult, sleep is crucial to get the most growth hormone possible. You can also take supplements that help stimulate maximum release. Even as an adult, sufficient growth hormone helps you maintain your height.

Are you still growing? Are you having problems achieving normal height and development?

You and your guardian should visit with your doctor. If you have a growth hormone deficiency, you will not reach your full height potential.

Deficiencies can happen, and it affects your height. A doctor can diagnose any possible conditions and prescribe synthetic growth hormone. This is an FDA-approved treatment option.

Let’s be clear. An adult should never resort to illegal drugs in an attempt to increase height. It’s one thing to have a prescription for growth hormone. It’s something else again to attempt to buy it through inappropriate channels. Having said that, growth deficiency in adults can be legally treated in the US. It’s FDA-approved and your doctor can prescribe it for this purpose. (1,2,3)

Natural levels of GH declines as you age. How can you optimize it? 

There are several ways:

Resistance exercise based on compound movements with rest periods of 1-2 minutes is ideal. In fact, maximum GH release occurs at the one minute mark. GH is naturally secreted after about 20 minutes of training. You should plan to train for an hour to an hour and a half.

If you go too long, you’ll begin to dip too far into a catabolic state. Also, plan on using a 3 or 4-day split routine. Why? It seems 20-25 total sets, 8-12 reps per set, and 3-5 sets per exercise are best. These parameters lead to maximum hormonal stimulation. (4,5,6)

Since sleep is important for GH release, natural sleep aids make sense. Also, supplements that stimulate GH release are important. 

These supplements include:

  • Melatonin – This is a popular supplement that has a positive impact on your sleep quality. Melatonin affects natural GH by improving the quality of your sleep. It also has a direct effect on growth hormone release. That means it is a good choice to help you reach your optimal height. (7)
  • GABA – This is like melatonin because it helps you relax and sleep better. You’ll find this in several natural sleep aids that also promote GH release and stimulate growth. 
  • Valerian – Here’s a popular herb that you will find in many natural sleep aids. You can take a pill or drink tea. In fact, valerian tea with other herbs added is a very popular nighttime beverage.
  • Arginine/Ornithine – There was a time when this combo was marketed as a GH releaser. Now, it’s known that arginine stimulates nitric oxide production. It still has a reputation for GH stimulation. Ornithine is also thought to stimulate nitric oxide production. Plus, like arginine, it’s thought to stimulate natural GH release. 
  • Mucuna Pruriens – This is also called velvet bean. It’s thought to be a natural source of l-dopa. That’s a precursor to the neurotransmitter dopamine. This compound increases natural levels of GH.

Water has no direct effect on your height. Yet drinking enough water helps flush out toxins. Plus, it optimizes your metabolism and ensures good digestion of nutrients.

Finally, it keeps you hydrated. All of this benefits the things that have a direct effect on height. A good metabolism helps you stay thin.

Digestion of nutrients is the key to getting the most out of your nutritional program. This includes supplements. If digestion is poor, you won’t get all the nutrients you need.

Finally, staying hydrated means you will get more out of your workouts. These things can lead to greater GH release.

As an adult, there are several ways to optimize your height. One of these is to make sure your posture is good. This involves two key steps. 

First, you have to be conscious of your posture. You’ll have to practice keeping your shoulders pulled back. Your chest should be out, and your stomach should be pulled in. This takes conscious effort but will become a habit with practice. By improving posture, you can instantly add a couple of inches to your height. 

Second, strengthen your core. The core muscles include the ab muscles and those along your spine. Developing these support the spine and prevent slouching. Good core exercises include crunches, planks, and superman. 

Let’s look at each exercise:

  • Abdominal Crunch – Lay down on your back with your knees bent. Keep your feet flat on the floor. Use your abs to pull your head and shoulders up. Pull up, tense your abs, and lower back down. Repeat. Your range of motion is limited. Do not attempt to pull up farther than you can naturally go. 
  • Plank – This is the top position of a push up. Your body should be straight, and your ab muscles should stay engaged. You can work up to holding this position for one minute at a time. This is one rep. 
  • Superman – Lay on your stomach, and extend your arms, legs, and head off the floor and hold. To visualize this, imagine Superman flying. Hold this as long as possible. This is one rep.

There are other exercises that you can do. Some of these include lower back exercises such as deadlifts. Also, bent rows for the back, and all ab exercises. For optimal posture, make sure your routine emphasizes core training. 

One way to appear taller is to wear clothes that fit. Properly fitting clothes highlight the natural lines of your body. Baggy, loose fitting clothes hide these natural highlights. This can make you look smaller. 

You can also enhance your height by looking slimmer. This means wearing darker clothes, and a matching top and bottom. Darker clothes can enhance the appearance of height. Also, if your outfit has stripes, make sure they are vertical. This creates an appearance of being taller than you really are. 

If you’re a guy, do not wear jeans or pants that don’t fit. Many guys that are overweight wear jeans that are too small in the waist. They tend to hang around your lower midsection. Choose a pair of pants that reflect your actual waist size. Also, wear them around your waist, not your hips. 

Finally, you can wear shoes that have a thick sole. The thickness depends on the style of shoes. This lets you add an inch or so to your appearance of height. What if you really want to create an illusion of height? You can wear lifts. These will increase your appearance of height by 1-3 inches. 

Your genetics determine 60% to 80% of your ultimate height. Yet that doesn’t mean you can’t make the most of the factors that affect height.

If you’re still growing, here is a method to calculate your potential height:

  1. First, find out your mother and father’s height.
  2. Then add both heights together using inches or cm.
  3. Next, add 5 inches if you are male. Subtract that amount if you are female.
  4. Divide your total by 2.
  5. The result will be your approximate adult height within 4 inches. 

We will use my parent’s heights as an example:

  • My Dad’s height is 5’5”
  • My Mom’s height is 5’2”
  • Total = 10’7” 
  • 10’7” divided by 2 = 5’3.5”. Now, add 5 inches. That will equal 5’8.5”. I’m 5’8” tall, so that’s very accurate.

What if you’re an adult? Following all the tips presented here, you can improve the appearance of height. Focus on improving your posture. This will add a couple of inches to how tall you look. Further, you can prevent the loss of height that occurs as we get older. Follow all the tips suggested. You will maintain your full height for years to come!

If you’re young, avoid stunting or slowing your growth. This means avoiding the bad habits of smoking, drinking, and drugs. It’s believed that smoking can slow your growth. Drinking and drugs also may slow growth. Anything that interferes with optimal health and a good night’s sleep will affect height. The tips presented here encourage a healthy lifestyle. That’s the best way to make the most of your genetically determined height. If you’re older, it’s the best way to maintain your height. 

So, you’ve seen how to get taller – natural ways to get taller. Proper sleep, good nutrition, exercise, and posture control. Not to mention, maximizing GH release. There are also cosmetic things you can do to enhance your appearance. Finally, don’t forget supplements, from sleep aids to bone support. These tips will optimize your height whether you’re an adult or still growing. If you follow these tips, you can be taller than ever! 

  1. Normal Physiology of Growth Hormone and Insulin-Like Growth Factors in Childhood , Cecillia Camacho-Hubner, MD, Dept of Endocrinology, St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London EC1A 7BE, UK
  2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482141/#:~:text=The%20direct%20effects%20of%20HGH,HGH%20binding%20to%20surface%20receptors.
  3. https://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-gh
  4. Hormonal Responses and Adaptations to Resistance Exercise and Training, Prof. William J. Kraemer, Nicholas A. Ratamess
  5. Growth hormone responses during intermittent weight lifting exercise in men, W. P. Vanhelder, M. W. Radomski, R. C. Goode
  6. Effects Of Very Short Rest Periods On Hormonal Responses To Resistance Exercise In Men by Mohammad Ghaderi
  7. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8370132/
Join

Subscribe to stay up to date with lates health and fitness news 

15 + 3 =