Swimming is among the best forms of exercise. It helps develop cardiovascular fitness, strengthen muscle tone, and can torch a ton of calories. However, the question remains- will swimming make you taller?
In general, swimming will not increase your height in any permanent way. All swimming does is get the compression effect of gravity off your spine, allowing your spine to get marginally longer as the soft tissue between the vertebrae swells.
In addition, according to science, about 60 to 80 percent of the variation in height between people is defined by genetic factors, whereas environmental effects, mainly nutrition, and exercise, can determine 20 to 40 percent.
However, there are a few things you can do to help with your height and appear taller. Read on to find out how you can increase your height.
See also: Will Swimming Truly Give You Abs? (Find Out Here)
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Can Swimming Increase Height in 1 Month?
Even though it can elongate your body, swimming can’t increase your height in 1 month. Genetic factors play a significant role in height variation in adolescence, and early adulthood, revealed a study issued by Scientific Reports.
The main factor that will influence how tall you can grow is your genetic structure. For example, suppose you come from a family where your grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and, most importantly, your parents are naturally tall. In that case, the chances are much higher that you will also be tall since it is in your genetic makeup.
However, environmental effects, including nutrition and exercise, contribute about 20 to 40 percent in height variation, according to the same. Swimming is a low-impact sport that engages and works your entire body. When your muscles stretch out to resist the water, they “grow” or lengthen.
Swimming gets the compression effect of gravity off your spine, allowing the spine to decompress and make you appear taller. Furthermore, swimming generally puts less physical stress on the body and lowers bone injury.
How To Increase Your Height in 1 Month
The environment, physical activities, and diet influence about 20 percent of our body height. In other words, there is a 20 percent increase in our height.
Even though swimming will not directly increase your height (particularly once you reach your growth potential), it can contribute to a good and healthy lifestyle which may help ensure that you reach your genetic growth potential.
Though it purely depends on genetics, if you add the following tips to your lifestyle, you can increase your height. Here are a few ways to improve your height
1- Swim at Least 30 Minutes per Day
Swimming 30 minutes a day will begin showing you height growth after about 3–4 months. You will notice an improvement in your confidence and fitness level. As you keep continuing swimming, you will notice a significant improvement in other areas of your life.
Any physical activity which involves stretching the spine will similarly help the growth. And swimming may make you taller for a short period after the swim, particularly front crawl, back, and breaststrokes. Other exercises I would suggest are:
2- Eat a nutritious, well-balanced diet
- Eat healthily and a balanced meal – Your diet should include:
- Fresh fruits
- Fresh vegetables
- Whole grains
- Proteins
- Dairy
See also: 32 Foods That Successfully Burn Belly Fat Fast – Based on Science
3- Sleep for at least 7–9 hours
Getting the right amount of sleep (sleeping for at least 7–9 hours) is an essential factor for your body to grow, and it will also help release human growth hormone, as the name only suggests that it will help you increase your height.
Keep in mind that occasionally skimping on sleep will not affect your height in the long term. But if, during adolescence, you regularly sleep less than the recommended amount, it may influence your growth.
See also: How Exercise Truly Impacts Learning.
4- Get at least 150 mins of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity or 75 mins of vigorous-intensity physical activity per week
In addition to helping you grow, regular exercise has many benefits. It strengthens your muscles and bones and allows you to maintain a healthy weight.
Focus on:
- Weight training exercises, such as pushups or situps
- Flexibility workouts, such as meditation and yoga
- Aerobic activities, including jumping rope or biking.
5- Practice good posture
Being active and focusing on standing up straight and tall can help you appear taller. Mainly, focus on being active and standing tall.
Practice good posture because poor posture may make you look shorter than you are.
Tips to help you practice good posture
- Maintain your head level, looking ahead, not up or down.
- Keep your chest out.
- Shoulder blades back and tucked down, like you are trying to make your neck longer.
- Slightly flex your abs for support.
- And keep your pelvis neutral.
See also: Does Chin Ups Really Increase Height Here’s the truth!
6- Include yoga in your workout to maximize your height
If strength training isn’t your thing, then try yoga. Practicing yoga can align your body, strengthen your muscles, and help with your posture, which will help you stand taller.
The great thing about yoga is that you can practice yoga in the comfort of your own home using Youtube (Here are the best beginners friendly yoga routines with yoga with Adriene). You can also join yoga classes at your local gym or studio.
Commonly effective yoga poses to help you improve your posture include:
See also: 7 Helpful Yoga Props and How You Can Properly Use Them
Best Swimming strokes to help Grow taller
Genetic factors define about 60 to 80 percent of the difference in height between people, and environmental effects, mainly nutrition and exercise, can determine 20 to 40 percent. In other words, there is a chance to increase your height with exercise.
Swimming is among the best exercises to help increase your height because it targets the spine and puts shearing forces on it. With each stroke you perform, your body’s muscles are stretched, increasing growth hormone production.
In addition, swimming is a great way to manage weight and achieve overall wellness. And health experts agree that a healthy diet, proper posture, exercise, and a healthy lifestyle can help people look taller than they are.
If you want to increase your height, you have to improve your physical activity with:
- Swimming
- Pull-ups
- Chin-ups
Wrapping Up
Swimming is an excellent way to exercise because it works all most all your muscles and all parts of the body. In addition, the risks of injury are very minimal.
Even though there is no scientific evidence that swimming will make you taller, there are a few things you can do to appear taller:
- Eat a nutritious, well-balanced diet.
- Sleep for at least 7–9 hours.
- Get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity per week.
- Practice good posture
- Include yoga in your workout to maximize your height.
