Jumping on a trampoline, and other forms of jumping, is definitely a great form of exercise and lots of fun! But can jumping make you taller? Read on to find out!
We all experience height loss with age. Height loss is caused by age-related changes in the bones, muscles, and joints.
On average, people lose around a half an inch in height every 10 years after the age of 40. This height loss increases rapidly after age 70.
Your height is determined at the end of puberty, and there are things you can do to influence both growth factors and height loss. Keep reading to find out the different factors involved in making you taller or shorter.
Factors That Affect Height
1. Genetics
Unfortunately, if shortness is in your genes, you’re likely to end up looking similar to your parents and grandparents.
Sometimes, we can’t completely influence the way we look as it has already been predetermined.
But, all is not lost, as you can still put in place a number of measures to increase growth during puberty and to reduce height loss when you grow older.
2. Diet
It’s true that a bad diet can stunt your growth from an early age. It can also contribute to more rapid height loss when you get older.
Eating a balanced diet, rich in calcium and vitamins will help to increase growth and prevent height loss.
3. Posture
Your height is highly related to the way you carry yourself.
There’s a reason our parents told us to stand up straight, and it’s this: standing up and sitting straight leads to less height loss and more growth in the child and teen years, whereas slouching and maintaining a bad posture throughout life will contribute to the opposite.
So, Does Jumping Affect Height?
As a child or teenager, jumping can lead to an increased height. However, this is not because jumping lengthens your bones to directly impact your height as you grow.
Instead, jumping works to improve flexibility and posture, which causes good posture habits to be instilled from an early age. Slouching and carrying a poor posture can affect both your actual height and the appearance of your height.
You may look shorter if you are used to slouching as your back is in a more curved position, reducing the appearance of your height. Your back should naturally curve in three places.
Slouching can also cause physiological changes to your back and therefore your height, as the curves in your back may shift to accommodate your poor posture, reducing your actual height.
Once you’re an adult, your bones have been fully ossified, which means they have completely developed and finished growing.
Your epiphyseal plates (thin layers of cartilage where the growth of long bones occurs) are fully sealed, which means you can’t change your height, but you can still improve your posture to appear taller and reduce your age-related height loss.
Jumping frequently helps to remove decompressions on vertebrae. These decompressions happen over time as a result of bad posture as well as normal wear and tear, and lead to height loss.
There are many different jumping activities that you can easily incorporate into your routine, some of which are outlined below.
Jumping Exercises To Improve Posture
1. Trampoline jumps
These are great fun and good for kids and adults alike, they help to improve posture and flexibility, as well as providing an enjoyable way to get that important daily exercise in.
2. Single-leg hop
A nice, easy exercise you can fit in at any point in your day.
Whether you’re on a coffee break at the office, or have just finished hanging the washing out, single-leg hops are probably the most suitable jumping exercise to squeeze into a busy lifestyle.
3. Jumping With A Rope
Not only is jumping rope an excellent cardio workout, it’s great for posture (and height) as well.
You can’t slouch while you’re doing this exercise! Jumping with a rope can burn a whopping 15 to 20 calories per minute, so you don’t have to do much to see the benefits.
4. Jump squats
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Complete a regular squat, and once you’re in a sitting position, engage your core and jump up explosively.
Once you land, lower your body back into the squat position and repeat.
This jumping exercise greatly improves upper and lower body strength, burns a ton of calories and is easy to fit into your routine. It does wonders for your posture, too!
Some examples of sports where a lot of jumping is involved include: basketball, netball, athletics, badminton, football, gymnastics, dancing and many more.
Maybe that’s one of the reasons why lots of professional basketball players are so tall!
There are lots of different ways to add frequent bouts of jumping to your life, which should help to increase your growth factors if you’re still growing, and reduce your future height loss as you get older.
