Exercise to Increase Height: 30 Exercises That Work!

In many places, height is an important factor in determining a candidate's eligibility. Though there is no wrong height per se, a notable personality is usually seen as the one with an above-average height. For a good height, fitness plays a vital role as it helps in developing well-toned muscles.

Exercise to Increase Height

Usually, after the onset of puberty, the height growth stops as the plates in the long bones get fused. However, for some people, height increases till the age of 22-25 years.

Also, some stretching exercises can increase your height by a few inches, even if you are an adult. Listed below are some of these exercises to increase height.

1. The Forward Bend

The forward bend is one of the most commonly practised stretching exercises. It helps in the stimulation of the calf muscles.

Also, it improves liver and kidney functionality and relaxes back muscles. To perform this exercise, follow these steps,

Stand straight and slowly raise your hands straight up.
Now bring your hands down slowly till they touch the toes. Remember, the knee should not bend while practising this pose.
Stay in this position for about 30 seconds. Repeat 10 times per day to make a difference.

2. Hanging By The Bar

Bar hanging is considered to be one of the most effective means of increasing height. This is because it stretches the lower body, i.e., the torso.

Further, it decreases the pull on the vertebrates. Thus, it acts on the stretchable portion of the body to make a difference of a couple of inches in the body height.

To perform this exercise, follow these steps,

Find a solid, firm bar fixed at about seven feet from the ground.
Stand straight and lift your hands straight up in the air.
Lift your body in coordination with all your upper body muscles.
Stay in this position for about 20 seconds.
Repeat the procedure three to four times a day.

3. The Cobra Stretch

Also known as the Bhujangasana, the cobra pose helps you to absorb nutrients better. It occurs due to increased blood and oxygen circulation within the body.

Further, the cobra stretch is also known to promote cartilage growth between the vertebrae.

To perform this exercise, follow these steps,

Lay down on your stomach and stretch your legs.
Take a deep breath in, and placing all the weight on the palms, slowly lift your abdomen and chest.
Wait and maintain the pose, slowly releasing the breath. Perform this pose four to five times a day.

4. The Wall Stretch

Although this pose seems too simple, it is a hard pose to practice. In this pose, your calf muscles experience a stretch which can help increase height. You will also feel a slight stretch in your back thighs. To perform this pose,

Begin with standing straight facing a wall. Now place your hands flat on it.
With knees slightly bent, place your right leg forward and heel flat.
Now lean against the wall and stretch your leg backward as much as possible without falling down.
Perform the pose for about 30 seconds. Repeat this pose.

5. The Dry Swimming Pose

As the name suggests, the swimming pose involves swimming but without water. The pose helps in stretching the lower back muscles.

Also, it acts on the thigh muscles and helps elongate these parts, thereby increasing height. To perform this pose,

Lie down on your stomach on an elevated surface.
Move your arms and legs with an alternate movement.
The pose must be performed for about 20 seconds in each repetition.

6. The Pelvic Lift pose

If your routine involves a lot of sitting, this pose must be involved in your exercises. It helps to recover from the negative effects of sitting for long hours.

The pose helps in improving the strength of your back cells and structure. This pose will also help you to get round booty. To perform this pose,

Lie on your back in a straight position.
Bend your knees and put pressure on your feet.
Gently raise your hips upwards. Remember to keep your back straight.
Breathe slowly inwards and let your lower back down slowly.
Hold this pose for about 20 seconds. And repeat again and again.

7. The Forward Spine Stretch

Remember the physical education class where this exercise was a must. It was because this helps you to enhance your spine. It is best to perform this pose on an empty stomach.

To perform this pose,

Sit up straight on solid ground. Spread your feet out.
Extend your legs shoulder-depth wide. Now breathe in deeply.
Bend your spine forwards. Now keeping your hands joined, stretch them along the spine.
Try to touch your toes in this pose. If not able to, keep your spine flexed to a maximum extent.
Hold each stretch for about 10 to 15 seconds. Perform in sets of three or four.

8. The Pilates Roll Over Pose

To stretch your spine, the practice of pilates is quite effective. By performing this stretch, you will provide length to your upper body. It will also extend the vertebrae in your neck.

The pose is quite tough and may seem to feel like the bones in your body are breaking. However, the pain is normal. To perform this pose,

Begin by laying down straight on the ground.
Lay your arms on your sides, and your palms should face downwards.
Now slowly lift your legs upwards and, stretching them upwards, take them behind till they reach the floor.
Keep the pose for about 10 seconds.

9. The Low Lunge Arch Pose

If you are looking for an exercise to tone your body, this pose is made for the purpose. Arch the upper body, and the hard work will help you tone your calf muscles.

It will also help enhance your back muscles and achieve thinner arms. It will also lengthen your shoulder and leg bones. To perform this pose,

First of all, kneel down on the ground.
Placing your right foot forward, bend the knee.
Now place your left leg backwards and knee touching the ground.
Now raise your hands upwards and join them together, as in the Namaskar position.
Hold the pose for as long as you can. Repeat the pose after alternating the leg.

10. The Side Stretch Pose

The side stretch pose will help elongate and strengthen your intercostal muscles. You should feel the muscles stretch along your side from the lower back to the shoulder. It helps increase the height. To perform this pose,

Keeping your feet together, stand straight. Clasp your hands on the side.
Now gradually bend your upper body to the right. Then bend towards the left.
Hold each stretch for about 10 seconds. Return to the initial position.

11. The Single-leg Hopping Pose

Hopping is one of the best exercises to increase height. It enhances your lower body muscles and abdominal muscles. To perform this pose,

Hop on your left leg ten times.
Lift your hands straight upwards, pointing to the sky.
Hop on your right leg ten times.

12. The Puppy Pose

The puppy pose is useful to increase the length of bones and flex the spine and leg muscles. To perform this pose,

Position yourself on your fours, i.e., hands and legs, on a mat.
Line your knees on your shoulders and hands on your shoulders.
Now tangle your toes and walk your hands a few inches forward.
Now stretch your hips backwards, about halfway to your feet.
You will feel a stretch in your lower body. Hold this position for about 60 seconds.

13. Jogging

To make your legs slimmer, jogging is an effective exercise. It helps your bones get stronger. It is especially good to practice at the onset of puberty. Jogging involves mild running at a consistent speed for longer periods.

14. The Vertical Bend Pose

This pose helps increase height by increasing the calf muscles in a vertical direction. To perform this pose,

Stand straight up and position your legs at some distance from each other.
Bend down and touch the ground. Make sure your knees do not bend.

15. The Standing Stretch Pose

The standing stretch is similar to the vertical bend pose. Instead of keeping your legs apart, keep them joined together. Remember to keep your knees straight.

16. Toe Lifts

This exercise is one of the best exercises of the other types. It gives better results and is easy to perform. To perform this pose,

Stand on your toes with a straight back.
Now stretch the muscles of your legs and reach upwards.
You can stand on your toes and hold a wall for support to reach higher.

17. The Legs Up Pose

A simple yet effective way of increasing your height is by raising your legs upwards. To perform this pose,

Lie down with your face and hands down.
Place your palms on the side of the chest.
Keeping your feet straight together, raise your legs as high as possible.
Support your back with your hands if needed.
Let this last for about 60 seconds. Perform this pose for 10 minutes with repetitions.

18. Alternate Leg Kick

Inspired by the Korean Martial arts, this pose helps in extending your body muscles. To perform this pose,

Stand straight on a mat. Stretch your body to a maximum height while extending your right leg upwards.
Keep your hands close to your chest with fists tightly closed.
Start kicking the space ahead for about 30 seconds.
Repeat the procedure with your left leg.

19. Wake Up Stretching

Sometimes, the intervertebral discs of your spine get compressed. Hence, there cannot be any height increase. This is why, to increase your height, stretching as soon as you wake up allows you to release any compressed muscles and discs. To perform this pose,

Extend your arms over the head and stretch as much as possible. Hold the stretch for 30 seconds and relax the body. Repeat the pull stretch.
Start with lying down on your back and extending your arms and legs towards the sky. Hold for about 20 seconds before relaxing.

20. Glutes and Hip Bridge

The pose targets the lower back, thighs, and hip muscles. To perform this pose,

Lie down on your back.
Grab your ankles and lift your knees to parallel your body to the floor.
Lift the torso upwards as your back muscles stretch to end the pose.

21. Forward Spine Stretch

The pose targets the back, hamstring, and abdominal muscles. To perform this pose,

Sit erect with your legs straight.
Spread your legs wider than the width of your hips.
Sit as tall as possible from the base of the spine.
Stretch through your arms and reach through your heels.
Pose in a way so that your back forms a C.

22. Cat Camel Backstretch

The strength of your back is also vital to increasing your height. To perform this pose,

Rest slowly on your hands and legs.
Slowly arch your back so that the lower, middle, and upper spine extend slowly. Do this slowly and gently.
Stay in this position for three to four seconds. Repeat five to six times.

23. Mermaid Stretch

The mermaid pose helps in enhancing your intercostal muscles. It helps correct your posture, like bowed shoulders. The pose correction helps make you look taller. To perform this pose,

Sit down and bend your left knee.
Hold on to your ankles with your left hand.
Raising the right arm, extend your arm and reach over the head.
Hold for about 20 to 30 seconds. Repeat the procedure on the other side.

24. Cycling

Cycling is a great pose to increase your legs' length. It can increase a few inches and is best to practice during teenage.

25. Jump Squats

One of the best ways to increase height is that this pose helps in conditioning the joints and muscles of the body. This helps in increasing the height of the body. To perform this pose,

Start with a normal standing pose and body facing forward.
Lower your body in a squat, i.e., lowering your hips, back downwards, and knees bent.
Drive hard with your legs as you come up out of squat while initiating a jump.

26. Bird Dog

The bird dog is a useful exercise to improve lower back strength and balance. It helps experience a stretch from head to thighs and improvises your height. To perform this pose,

Begin with a push-up pose but with knees touching the ground.
Lift one leg above the ground and backward.
Slowly lift your opposite hand off the floor and extend that arm in front of you.
Hold onto this pose for a few seconds. Repeat this exercise for the other side as well.

27. Inversion Table Exercise

This pose eases and stretches your back muscles by shifting the body's centre of gravity. To perform this pose,

Lock your feet on the base of the inversion table.
Slowly raise your arms upwards. Now rotate your entire body upside down.
Stay in this pose for about 15 to 20 seconds. Return to the normal body position thereafter.

28. Surya Namaskar

This pose involves bowing to the sun in 12 different yoga poses. Each of these yogasana is useful to stretch your body parts. It acts on the back, shoulders, and leg muscles and helps increase your height.

29. Side Planks

By practising side planks, you will notice your legs grow slimmer and longer. To perform this pose,

Lie on your right shoulder below your neck. Stretch your legs straight and place your left hand on your left hip.
Lift your waist off the ground until you reach the right-hand level.
Align your body diagonal to the floor and hold the position for about 30 seconds.

30. Downward Facing Dog

This pose resembles a downside V. It will elongate your back muscles and strengthen the back muscles. To perform this pose,

Keeping your hands at shoulder-width and feet at hips-width apart, bend your body so that you are on all your fours.
Push the floor away and elongate your tailbone towards the ceiling. You will feel a gentle stretch in your arms, shoulders, and spine.

Height Increase Foods

Although it is not possible to increase height once the maximum height is attained, certain foods can help maintain your height by keeping bones, joints, and body strong. Protein, for example, helps in tissue repair, which could be a factor limiting cell growth.

Further, as per studies, a bacteria found in fermented foods is also known to increase height in children. Here is a list of food that will help in increasing food that will help you increase your height.

Beans
Chicken
Almonds
Leafy veggies
Yoghurt
Sweet potatoes
Quinoa
Eggs
Berries
Salmon
Milk

Best Exercise to Increase Height

As mentioned above, the exercises that help in stretching your back muscles are great for increasing height. Some such exercises are as below:

1. Vertical bends

One of the stretching exercises, the vertical bends, involves the calf muscles of your body. The stretch developed in these muscles helps to increase height. To perform this pose,

Stand up straight.
Now position your legs slightly apart.
Bend downwards and make sure your knees do not bend.

2. Glutes and Hip Bridge

This exercise is quite useful for enhancing the flexibility of your back. The stretch in your hips and back thighs can help to increase your height by a couple of inches. To perform this pose,

Lay down on your back. Move your hands down to grab your ankles.
Now lift your hips and knees.
Lift your torso slowly. You will feel yourself stretching out on your back.

How to Increase Height Without Exercise?

To increase height without any exercise, stimulating the acupressure points in your body can help. This should be practised daily for about 10 to 15 minutes.

For instance, pressurising your thumb and index finger against each other. It helps strengthen the digestive system, which helps in the better absorption of nutrients like proteins. Thereby helping increase height.

Tips for Growing Height

Although our height majorly depends on genes, a few tips may help for the same. There may be a few things you can keep in mind to grow height.

Eat a healthy breakfast. A healthy diet provides the necessary nutrition required for cell growth.
Get adequate sleep. Deep sleep helps secrete growth hormones more effectively.
Exercise regularly so as to stretch your muscles enough.
Stay away from smoking and drinking.
Yoga can also help increase height.

Till What Age Height Increases in Males?

As per growth charts, males usually grow a little after the age of 18 years. In rare cases, some who hit late puberty may grow in their twenties for a couple of years.

Till What Age Height Increases in Females?

Females usually grow in height by the age of about 14 or 15 years or a couple of years after the menstruation phase starts.

Factors That Affect Height

Height spurt is largely dependent on a number of factors. Here are some factors that affect height:

Genetics
Nutrition
Medications
Health conditions

It is a well-known fact that DNA largely determines the height of an adult. As per scientists, about 700 gene variants determine the height. Apart from this, the right amount of nutrients such as protein is important for the growth of the body's bones.

A well-balanced diet plays an important role in this. Also, several health conditions, such as thyroid, could affect a child's growth.

Summing Up on Exercise to Increase Height

Height is majorly dependent on genetics. Although, there are a few factors that you can try to add up a couple of inches. Nutrition, adequate sleep, and health conditions are some crucial factors that play a role.

Usually, after a couple of years of attaining puberty, the height spurt stops. In other words, the long bones fuse. After this, there is almost no way to increase your height. Remember, there is no wrong height.

FAQs

Does Skipping Increase Height?

Yes, Jumping and skipping can add a couple of inches to your height by correcting your body posture. Further, it helps burn calories. A slimmer body usually looks taller.

Does Running Increase Height?

Running does not increase height. It tones down the legs, and hence slimmer legs look taller.

Does Hanging Increase Height?

The hanging pose involves stretching your body. It helps stimulate the lower body muscles and the effect of gravity. Hence the pose can help add a couple of inches to your body.

Does Doing Pull-ups Increase Height?

Yes, pulling up involves aligning your upper body muscles, i.e., arm, chest, and back. This helps in improvising the posture of the body. As a result, it shows up in your height.

References

Ojochenemi J Onubi, May 2015; Effects of probiotics on child growth: a systematic review - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5025996/
Katherine Gunter, December 2007; Impact Exercise Increases BMC During Growth: An 8-Year Longitudinal Study - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2679385/
João Guilherme BezerraAlves, March 2019; Effects of physical activity on children's growth - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002175571831026X