I remember getting a message in the website email inbox where a person asked why is it that his friend who has been living a really unhealthy lifestyle like smoking profusely and drinking a lot at his formative growing years still end up being 6′ 4″ where he would be eating right and staying away from drugs only ended up 5′ 9″. He was incredulous over the fact that he felt it was so unfair that his friend would be so much taller for doing the wrong things and still be better off in terms of height.

This got me to wonder whether the claim that “smoking causes stunted growth” to be true or not. So I wanted to spent some energy in this post and do some research to see whether smoking would really cause stunted growth. Before on this website, I had looked at the age old claim and “old mother’s tale” that “drinking milk will help you grow taller” with “The Real Correlation Between Milk, Calcium, Bone Growth, And Height“and whether “drinking coffee stunts your growth” with “Does Coffee And Caffeine Stunt Your Growth?” This post is for the smoking claim.

Analysis: First, we have heard many times over from “studies” that for mothers of the person being analyzed, that the babies of mothers who do smoke are on average less in weight than babies of mother’s who don’t smoke. If we rememberr our conjecture that often the height of a person can be determined by their initial birth size. Most people in general go through a similar growing pattern and growing rate. It just so happens that many giants who were genetically predisposed to being tall were born from bigger, taller mothers who had wider hips (The wider hips to taller eventually babies theory is proposed by me) would be able to hold a bigger baby in their womb/ uterus before they give birth giving the person a greater initial amount of mass, volume, and number of cells to proliferate than other people. This was the case with Yao Ming and Karan Singh who both were born at tremendous sizes. They went through a similar growth rate pattern in their developing years like everyone else, except that their initial size at birth was much bigger than other people. So by converse logic, we can say that at least for the case for smoking effecting a person’s size and height before they are born, there is a high correlation and chance that smoking will cause them to be stunted in overal eventual height. From the website HealthGuidance.com, the theory is this…

Smoking will not affect the pituitary glands which produce the hormones necessary for growth, but however it does result in an increase in carbon monoxide in the blood. This then in turn means that the blood has a lower concentration of oxygen and of the other things that it needs to build and repair tissue such as minerals and vitamins. What this then means is that when an area needs protein or other nutrients to grow, it will not be supplied with them as quickly or in such high quantities and quality. This may then mean that that function of the body is not carried out at all, or just that it is not carried out well.

At the same time smoking may result in lower amounts of testosterone – the hormone involved in building muscle, growing hair, and burning fat. This hormone is also involved in growth as it is an anabolic hormone that tells the body when to build tissue.

I would continue to find form other websites liks LiveStrong.com that smoking does cause some stunting by around 1 inch of height. They state…

In a previous post “Review On Supplement Double Action V Growth Enhancer Supplement, Gain Height and Taller” I had reviewed a product I had found being sold on Ebay as a dietary supplement which can supposedly help people increase their height but on average around 10 cm even in their 20-30s. I did a slightly lengthy review on it, but it seems that the seller, a hi-hawaii is selling also another height increasing dietary supplement product, this one called “Catwalk Growth Enhancer Supplement, 300 mg x 60 Tablets/Bottle, Gain Height & Taller”

What I will do for this post is similar but I will focus more on looking at the active ingredients listed so see if there is any potential. These are the ingredients the sellers claim are in the pill, something called “Cat Walk“. The name makes me think that its intended purpose is to make the legs longer for females who are probably trying to be or are models.

Ingredients: Maltose, dextrin, dolomite, shark cartilage extract, at the end Sansounin, olive leaf extract, Nokogiriyashiekisu, L-ornithine, L-citrulline, black pepper extract, cellulose, sucrose fatty acid ester, silicon dioxide, particulate, V. C, glycine, niacin, L-leucine, V. E, calcium pantothenate, L-valine, L-isoleucine, V. B2, V. B1, V. B6, V. A, folate, V. D, V. B12

Analysis: This analysis is only on the ingredients. In the previous post I sort of went over the issues I had with the seller of this product. The bottle is $65 for 1 bottle and $180 for 3 bottles. Some of the ingredients I have never seen before and some I have. The L-ornithine, L-Leucine, and glycine I remember are amino acids which are just basic building blocks of proteins. Others like silison dioxide I had seen before from my research into whether Silicea and Baryta Carbonica have any potential to increase height long ago. Niacin is Vitamin B3 and there has been a lot of controversy over this compound due to other people’s research before me. It seems however that a lot of the other ingredients are just different types of vitamins which can be found from a multivitamin like a Centrum Silver. I know that maltose is a type of basic sugar and that dolomite is a type of stone, made of Calcium Magnesium Carbonate, apparently (Wikipedia). It has no claimed medicinal or cosmetic applications. The shark cartilage extract is interesting since shark cartilage has been reported to help cure cancer and may increased the collagen level in a person’s body very little. black pepper extract is something that can be good for either reducing or causing inflammation. Other compounds like Nokogirihashiekisu is really hard to find any english based resources to see what it is, but a quick search on google suggest that it is some type of extract from a plant. This is also the case with Sansounin. These two I have no idea what they do. From just doing a very short outline guess at the applications and properties of the ingredients, I would say the supplement being sold is little more than a multivitamin combined with a few extracts from japanese plant extracts. I extremely doubt it would even help young children who are still growing increase their growth rate or ultimate height. There is even a chance that making a human swallow dolomite could cause them to develop pathologies and medical conditions, like kidney stones. Just stay away from this Ebay product since there is almost zero chance it will do anything.

Here is a picture at the bottom of the sales page which supposedly shows a Japanese man who grew upwards of 20 cms (almost 8 inches) from taking this supplement.

My Opinion: I want to say that this picture is one of the worst ways to prove that the supplement is effective. It is a sideways view shot of an asian looking man who on the right appears to be taller. There is so many ways for the seller or graphic artist to digitally edit the photo that this one picture is never enough to prove that such a thing does work. It could be that the two people in the two pictures are two different people, who happen to have close or similar side pictures. Or the picture was photoshopped, edited. or the angle of the picture was changed and moved closer to the person, to make the same person on the left look bigger in the right picture. If I was to guess, I’d say that the two pictures are of two different men.

I have NEVER heard of any supplement ever claim that they can make a 28 year old man grow taller, especially by 20 cms. The Japanese or whoever is selling this supplement are very outrageous and arrogant to claim that such a product even exist.

Further on, we would see pictures of another female who supposed grew taller by over 10 cms in 1 month, but of course the two pictures are of the back of a woman’s head. Really???

There is one picture at the bottom of the page in Japanese which might try at least to explain why the supplement has a chance of working but I personally can’t read Japanese so I am not sure.

From the page on Ebay selling this product, in the Description section…

Catwalk Growth Enhancer Supplement, Gain Height and Taller

18g/Bottle (300mgx60 Tablets)

Expiry Date: 2014

Suitable for someone who are serious about wanting to gain your height, it is special for long legs.

Ingredients:

Maltose, dextrin, dolomite, shark cartilage extract, at the end Sansounin, olive leaf extract, Nokogiriyashiekisu, L-ornithine, L-citrulline,black pepper extract, cellulose, sucrose fatty acid ester, silicon dioxide, particulate, V. C, glycine, niacin, L-leucine, V. E, calcium pantothenate, L-valine, L-isoleucine, V. B2, V. B1, V. B6, V. A, folate, V. D, V. B12

How to use :Take 2-6 tables a day before bed time. (with warm water). Should start with small quantity at first and increase it.

Quantity to see result :

10-19 years old = 1-2 bottles
20-29 years old = 2-3 bottles
30-39 years old = 3-4 bottles
40-49 years old = 4-5 bottles
50-59 years old = 5-6 bottles

Recommend: Sleep before 11p.m.

Exercises like basketball, jogging, jumping,swiming, pilates,yoga,pilates, stretching every day.

Keeping Condition : Avoid sun light,away from children and keep in dry area.

Please avoid for who get allergy from ingredients or when you pregnant or during feeding.

This is samples of people who took this supplement but please consider that how height can you grow, it depends on each indiviual person.

When I was writing the previous post confessing that I still am wearing shoes, boots specifically, with multiple insoles inside to make myself feel and look taller, I started to really stop and think about why I am still doing these things.

I had stated before that I was relatively comfortable and accepting of my height before on the site, so why do my actions not reflect that? Maybe the right way of expressing this issue is that I am not as obsessed or extreme in my height increase desire like I was years before. Back then, during a 4-6 month stretch of time, I only wanted to achieve one thing, and that was to grow taller, or at least get to the 6′ 0″ mark, which was only 1/4th of an inch away. Through intense exercise I did reach that goal,

However, I still am searching for such a solution, and willing to dedicate many years of my life to this cause, even if it turns out that there is nothing I can do that would work.

I think back in my life and wonder whether my obsession with height is not the cause, but an effect of something else, a deeper and more painful insecurity or anxiety which I am not willing to admit to myself at this point in my life and development. I know that for me, I never cared about becoming taller until I was in my early 20s, around the age of 22 to be exact. It started out small when I noticed that I was shorter than most of the other men in my swimming class. It slowly over time grew into a full blown obsession with me trying to read everything and research everything I could find.

I have studied some basic psychology and I know that if I was to be my own therapist and try to diagnose myself, I can objectively claim that I have an unhealthy focus or obsession over an area of my life which can’t really be changed. Then again, that is the opinion of a 40 year old medical school trained professional who is rich, successful, stable, and has a bright future.

I wrote in a previous post opening up further about my past, and the pain I felt. I had stated that because of me getting left by the my first love, I would go through several intense tramatic psychopathological breakdowns. Along with the seperation were two other even darker aspects of the breakup which really drove me even crazier than if this was an ordinary breakup/dumping. I have heard many, many stories of men/husbands going crazy and lossing their sanity after their grilfriends/wives suddenly leave them after being with them for many years.  I would feel extreme anger, depression, regret, fear, etc. and in the end, I had decided that I had to do everything that I had ever been secretly desiring to do. One of my goals was always to create this type of resource for everyone else in the world. I would go on to tell a friend who is on the short side that I wanted to dedicate my life to researching and finding to this problem. He was very supportive and happy that someone like me would be willing to put in the effort to do this since he also wanted to be taller. This is my first and only guess, my renewed fervor over height increase is my way of overcompensating for the fact that I am depressed and angry that “love” was taken away from me. At some area in my mind I think that I am a bad person or a person who never deserved to get the type of love I (and almost everyone else) so desperately crave. 

An amazing insight Anthony Robbins said once was that there is two very fundamental fears we have which we would do almost anything to avoid, displace, or repress. They are…

• We are afraid that we would not be loved or accepted by other people – We are afraid that love will be taken away from us. We are afraid of getting rejected, getting hurt, or not being loved back.

• We are afraid that we are not enough – That we are not good enough, good looking enough, smart enough to have the type of love, success, money that one part of us really desire and the other side is trying to resist and reject. We are being torn up inside over conflicting desires and emotional forces.

The problem seems to be more than just me. At home, my family members and relatives are still comparing height with each other, even though everyone has stopped growing. For my entire family, height has always been a sensitive issue, which I has wrote about in previous posts. From what I can see, all of this comparing to others to see who is taller, smarter, better, etc. is a way to make ourselves have a valid or real reason to love ourselves. I don’t think that I can really completely love myself.

If I was asked by another person “Do you love yourself?” I would have to say no. I am not who I wanted to be, not who I hoped I would already be. I feel like I am lacking in soooooo many areas of life.

When I was going through a phase in my life years ago where I was learning about the dynamics of male-female relationships, there was one question that was posed to see whether a person was truly ready to be in a relationship after being so shy and afraid. It it “If you are a girl/boy, would you date yourself?”. At this point, I would say “no”. I don’t really love myself. I feel like I am not good enough, or deserve to gain the success or wealthy I do have. There is an amazing amount of guilt I carry and i am not sure why I can’t seem to let that feeling of guilt go.

So my basic question that I was asking myself since yesterday was this “What really caused this obsession to surface? What was the initial trigger that started this entire process?”

The more I think about it the less it makes sense from an objective point of view. I am average height of a US male, maybe even slightly taller. Some people in my family even say that I am “tall” which is a label that I have ben extremely careful never to use to describe myself. This problem with feeling insecure about my height never bothered me when I was younger, and I was comfortable with being average height. What happened? What caused all of this?

Why do I every day when I walk along the street have to be constantly comparing myself to other people in height, and nothing else. It doesn’t matter that if they were dressed in suits and I was dressed in sweats, if I was taller than them I felt good about myself, and if I was shorter than them, I felt bad about my self. Can a person’s self of confidence or self be so much linked to one’s size? Is there no other barometer I can use to measure my worth or value as a human being?

At this point, I realize that I am not perceptive and aware enough about myself to be able to answer this question on what really caused this thing to develop. I do think now that my constant over-emphasize on size and height is most definitely either a distraction or expression of a repressed anxiety or insecurity. I think that ultimately, if I dug deep enough inside of me, the real core of all of my insecurities, the cause for my insecurity of my height, is from something else.

The most common stated answer is that I am acting out of fear. I am afraid of something and my way of dealing with this internal anxiety is to try to control something else, displacement, and not ever being able to be honest with my subconscious mind and deal with what is really giving me internal pain.

When I try to answer this question of the post “Can Our Desire For Height Or Height Dissatisfaction Be A Symptom Of A Deeper Insecurity Or Unresolved Issue From Our Past?” I think that this issue is something that is from my past which is from something deeper, and I can only make a guess but I still don’t know what would be the real original cause for this issue.

At some level, this website/blog has been my way of expressing some of my deepest insecurities on my own height issues for so long. And here is another confession I wanted to reveal to the readers. I am partly ashamed to reveal it but I think it has to be done since I finally feel like I can be more open about these thing.

To this day, I still wear boots with padded height increasing insoles inside because I am still insecure about my height. In the beginning I tried stuffing 2-3 insoles into sneakers 1-2 sizes bigger than what I would wear so my feet would fit. Each insole was only about 1/3 of an inch thick. It doesn’t seem like a lot but for me, even 1 inch felt like a huge difference to me when I would be walking outside in public. I know personally a 5′ 4″ guy who must always wear his New Rocks Boots which gives him also 3 inches of height.

At this point, I feel comfortable with myself enough to actually enjoy wearing  these types of insoles and boots. They give me a comforting feeling when I put them on, and they make me feel safe and secure because of how strong and durable the boots are.

These days I put either 4 or 5 insoles inside to give me maybe around 1.5 extra inches into the shoes. In addition to the around 1 1/2 inches of heel height already in boots, that means that I am standing on 3 inch tall boots, which overall is actually comfortable, and easy to walk in. I have gone down in number to just 4 insoles in recent months because I tried out thicker socks. It turns out that there is actually some brands of really thick socks I have found which seems to make the insoles less important. I have even experimented with using even less insoles numbers with brand named dress shoes for a more classic look. If this talk sounds like the speech of a man obsessed or crazy, I am willing to admit that I am a little crazy about my height and height increase.

On one extreme, years ago I tried hiking boots with really thick heels, about 2 inches thick, and put multiple insoles (around 6-7)  in to see how they felt that was really awkward and dangerous so I reduced the height to something that I could walk and even run in. I would be standing 4 inches taller but I looked so strange when I walked in them so that phase went away.

The shoes that I have been wearing for over 4 years now, which I haven’t changed because they easily and rather comfortably fulfills all of my needs. It is Steel Toe Hiking Boots from Walmart. About 5 years ago they cost only about $27 plus tax but these days due to inflation it has increased  to around $34 plus tax. I like these shoes because of the high outer edges. With some shoes, when you add the thick insoles, it leaves no room for one’s feet or the feet slip out. The shoe sizes I buy is around 3-4 sizes bigger than the ordinary size. However, I really feel great with the extra 1-2 inches of extra height, the strong steel toes, the quality of the boots, and sturdiness of the heel.

Maybe one day I will be completely comfortable with me just wearing shoes (or even sandals) without any type of padding. But not right now, I like the extra height the boots with insoles give me.

I realized that for at least half a dozen posts so far I’ve been referencing this idea I have coined known as “Hidden Height’ and I wanted to explain it completely and as well as I can with this post.

I want to create this post so I can just reference and point to this post and idea the next time some person decides to message or tell me that their cousin/friend/brother/etc. managed to grow 1-2 inches from doing exercises and al taking some weird Ayurvedic and/or traditional Oriental medicine based herbal multi-vitamin, all natural supplement pill.

Some people have also been good and understand the idea completely and realize that some minimal amount of height increase might be possible using ordinary stretching, regular intense exercising, and a lifestyle change.

If we wanted to get really technical, if someone asked me “Can I grow taller even though I am 25-35 years old and my growth plates are closed using ordinary exercise routines and taking some type of supplement?” I would have to say Yes. Technically, they can but not at the results that they would hope for. Instead of 7 inches, I say that they will only gain 1 inch in extra height, maybe 1.5 inches if their previous lifestyle conditions satisfy certain qualities. Most people should only expect around 1/4 to 3/4th of an inch increase from before.

Usually the people who come to this website are below average in height, and hoping for some type of Miracle or Magic Pill or supplement or multi-vitamin that can be a fast, easy, relatively painless way to increase their height by over 3 inches. Some people I get messages from ask to gain 7-8 inches. They want to go from 5′ 7″ to 6′ 4″ (This is by YouTube profile height increase seeker SkinTightFlash). What he is asking for is a 9 inch increase in height. From NBA basketball lingo, he wants to go from a Spud Webb to a Dwyane Wade. Some other people make equally insane desires with wanting 7-8 inches in increase.

Well there is NO SUCH THING at this point in medical science and technology. However, if we use our common sense and think a little, we realize that it is more likely that we can gain some height if we are persistent and do exercise on a regular schedule. I once wrote in another post that probably around 40-50% of an group of people in the developed countries can increase their final maximum height by up to 1 cm, permanently too. Now, it may not seem like lot since 1 cm is actually less than even half of an inch (more precisely, 1 cm = 0.393700787 inches). What I am saying is that with maybe just 30 days of hard intense exercise, a percentage of people who wish to be taller will be taller.

Most doctors, orthopaedics, and endocrinologist would claim that it is impossible to grow taller after you have reached physical maturity, which is another way to say your epiphyseal growth plates are closed, or that your are now passed the phase of puberty. The truth is that they are not being completely accurate on that claim. Technically their are only half right.

I am validate the fact from my own personal experience of gaining 1/4th of an inch through a many month long exercise regime and many other people who post on the GiantScientific.com forums that it is possible to gain some height after reached adulthood.

However all that height was really just the result of one’s vertebrate decompressing less during a certain time of the day. A few years ago, I measured my height with a completely shaved standing up completely straight, leaning against a completely vertical white wall, looking at a large mirror in front, and standing completely straight, that my height actually was slightly over 6′ 0″ when I measured myself immediately after getting out of bed after a long sleep at night, maybe even reaching almost the 6′ 0.25″ mark. I had reached this arbitrary set length standard point made by the US/British Unit Standards. I was at 182.88 cms tall, which has been some sort of social based acceptable height level for so many females on most online dating sites. For other nations who use metric units, that acceptable height level for dating by many females was 180 cms, or 70.8661417 inches, which is actually less than 5′ 11″. Of course the height increase was only for the maximum height after getting out of bed. I never measured whether my evening height also increased, which was something I forgot to do.

“Hidden Height” comes from the vertebrate and torso region. It will not come from the limbs/ legs. There is no space in the knees or other synovial joints which can expand, decompress, or be stretched out through normal exercise. This idea refers to the potential of real possible a height not completely maximized or realized a person can gain if they went through ordinary but intense exercise routines. The human body is technically a living organ/tissue which can be manipulated and molded, but when it comes to the hardest type of living tissue, the bone, only certain areas of the human body can be stretched out further in the vertical direction. The height increase gained is from effectively changing one’s lifestyle of exercise. If a person is already fit, healthy, and exercise regularly, their “hidden height” would be less than for a person who in the beginning has vertebrate curvature like a person suffering from hunched back and scoliosis. People who have been traditionally lazy, overweight, and slouches a lot will see the biggest results. Every one else will see results that are much less.

In the beginning of my initial research I looked for case reports of people who on the height increase forums claimed that they did gain some increase, but it either went away or was reduced after they stopped doing the exercises. Most of these people would go into deep detail on their exact routine.

From this thread HERE, I am copying and pasting a post a efocmacro, Veteran Height Seeker said…

Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 3:52 pm    Post subject:

Hey guys, i started July 7th 2007, i did spine stretches with the lynx backstretcher and did yoga stretches for a duration of 3 months. i hit a 2 inch gain (im lucky because my spine was already pretty curved to begin with). After the 3 months, i went on hiatus, i didnt really do any back stretching up until about a few days ago. I regained some of the height but not the full 2 inches yet (i had lost an inch from being on hiatus). I will progress on that as time moves on. 

I started 5’6, i am now 5’7.5 

Right now i am experimenting something new. I already handled the top portion of my body (spine), now its time to try the lower portion of my body and the most difficult (legs). Since my Growth plates are already fused, i dont know what GH can really do for my legs, but im willing to give it a shot. 

I am currently taking GH factor supplements 

From a 2nd post by someone I have referenced and talked about before, a Monaug5 HERE – Monaug5’s Progress from 5’8 to 5’10

monaug5 Veteran Height SeekerJoined: 05 Sep 2008 Posts: 231 Location: Essex, UK

Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 3:54 pm    Post subject: Monaug5’s Progress from 5’8 to 5’10 Age: 20 (Birth Date: Aug 1991) Starting Height: 5’7.75(Night time) -1.72m-(March 1st 2009) Current Height: 5’9(Night time) -1.75m- (As of January 2012)Dream height 5’10(Night time) -1.78m- Mom’s height : 1.70m (5’7- Daytime) Dad’s Height : 1.85m (6’1 – Daytime) Bro’s Height : 1.80m (5’11) – was 5’6 when he was 13!!!!!!! _________________ Starting Height: 5’7.75 -1.72m (On the 3rd August 2008) Current height: 5’9 -1.75m- (Currently) Dream height 5’11 (1.80 m) Age : 20Last edited by monaug5 on Tue Jul 10, 2012 9:51 am; edited 13 times in total

Well my routine will be similar to N Specs but without the muscle building: 
– Sprint for 5 mins with 5lb ankle weight attached to my legs. 
– After sprinting attach 5lb to each leg and sit for 1 hour then take then off and go to bed. 

I am expecting a growth from this. 

I am sure you can all see from my families height why I want to be 5’10 and beyond lol

I have decided to change my routine for the final time as now I have thoroughly read through the routines of legends of this forum such as summerdance, outofthebox and N Spec and t therefore come to the conclusion that large enough weights with a suitable sitting time will get results.

———————————-

So my routine is simply sitting with 10lb each leg ankle weight or also known as 5kg each leg for 30 mins. Multiple sessions of sitting with this weight will be done throughout the day Monday to Friday with me posting my progress at least every 2 months(most likely sooner) 

The gains will not come fast and I will be happy if I can see a 1.5inch gain between the month of September and July 2010 as that would see me hit my 5’10 goal with ease. 

Tomorrow I am buying the weights from ebay for £28 thats Great British Pounds by the way so if I do gain all of this will be known as quite cost effective. 

My eventual goal will be to hit 5’11 during my routine and then take a few weeks break to see if I lose 1 inch but after speaking N Spec and him tell me that he is 5’8.8 from 5’9.5 he previously was I am expecting to end up at 5’10.25 once my break is completed. If I feel good with my body after the break then I will look into continuing the routine further but for me the immediate height satisfaction will come once I am as tall as my brother. 

One revelation I found out today is that my brother has legs that are no more than 3.5cm longer than mine meaning I could gain 4cm/1.5inches in my legs then I would be equal to him. 

Like N Spec I will be measuring my height against something but my first measurement was taken with a measuring tape. 

As you can see the measuring tape is not 100% straight but if it was then I measured as weak 5’8 as my brother 5’10 and a family friend 5’11.5 measured me with the inclusion of my little brothers hand. My next photo should come around Q2 2010 with me proudly measuring 5’9 or thereabouts as currently as of typing this I stand at 174cm(5’8.5nighttime) 

——————————–

From another post Hi5even, Gained 1 Inch – Seeking another one more…

Hi5even Rookie Height SeekerJoined: 14 Feb 2012 Posts: 44

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 5:38 am    Post subject: Gained 1 Inch – Seeking another one more Hi,I started at 5’7, now im 5’8. About 6 months back, i started my HI routine, the first 3 months were Tremendous, and i gained an Inch from that. The last 3 months have been horrible, quite a few irregularities, the food intake hasnt been all that great either. First three months, i started Skipping and hanging together. Due to monsoon, i could only hang as i do it in the park next to my apartment. I DID start skipping, last month, again i couldnt do it cause of lack of discipline, work commitments, etc. For those who want to read a journal of my first 3 months, heres the link -> http://www.giantscientific.com/height_gain_forum/viewtopic.php?t=3247&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 As for now, i am starting my HI routine again. I must say im a bit let down due to no progress in the last 3 months, though the disciple hasnt been strong, id still say i hung 85% days all these months. So my routine will be fairly simple and straight – Jumping rope – Ive been doing about 1200 – 1400 since last 1 week. Hanging – Ive been 12 sets of 30 seconds. That means 6 complete minutes, with 30 seconds of break in every set. From today, im going to push it to 7 minutes. Sleep – My sleep pattern hasnt bee stable. I sleep 8 Hours average, but there have been times i could get only 6 hours of sleep. Id really like your inputs. I also want to know if, in your experience has any one lost their gains after a big gap or after they finished their HI program. Thanks and eagerly waiting for you guys’ response.

What is obvious from maybe the only 3 members of the forum who got some clear results is that none of them ever managed to get even 2 inches of height increase. Monaug5 had the largest increase in height, around 1.5 inches, but he states from his post that he already had some vertebate curvature to begin with. I think I remember seeing maybe 2-3 other people on the forums say that they got some increase too, and one person did claim 2 inches.

————————————-

This was by someone named WireySpindell –  ONE YEAR, TWO INCHES

WireySpindell Height Seeker PhDJoined: 11 Mar 2006 Posts: 1363

Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 3:04 pm    Post subject: ONE YEAR, TWO INCHES Hello everybody, I stumbled across this site a few months ago, and figured now would be a good time to share my story with you. Today is my one-year anniversary of starting my height program, and as of this morning I am 5’10 1/4″ – exactly two inches taller than when I started a year ago.My routine began with mostly stretching excercises, about 20min a day, 6x a week. I used one of the routines found at www.geocities.com/gottogrow/ . The site hasnt been updated in 5 years and i tried to contact the administrator with no reply, but there is still plenty of helpful information that can be used along with the wealth of info on this site. Click on the OTHER INFO section and theres posts from a guy who gained 3 inches in 2 years. I found that inspirational when I went a few months without results. I later added swimming to my routine, swimming 5 days a week for a good while, recently cutting down to 3 after i began lifting weights again. Lifting weights can be helpful in boosting GH production, and generally leads to a more balanced physical development (shooting up an inch in 2 months can leave you feeling skinny!), but I make efforts not to do excercises that put too much strain on the spine. For instance, istead of doing curls standing up, i’ll use the shoulder rests, I stay away from shoulder press, etc. I’m not sure how detrimental certain excercises can be to your success, but i figure theres no harm in being careful. I find bench press and squats the best for pure GH production. I also bike with a raised seat for 10 min before every workout, and try and get at least 5 min of bar hanging every work out day. As for supplements, I take a multi- vitamin 1x/day, calcium 2x/day., glucosaime/chondroitin 2x day, and glutamine 1x/day. I’m about to replace the glutamine with L-arganine L-ornithine. I eat healthy, and also take a whey protien, as your body needs all the protien it can get when doing this. The most important factor though, I believe, is the right mindset. You have to believe that you are going to accomplish your goal, and stick to your program. Growing isn’t the easiest thing in the world to do, but then again it isn’t the hardest either. Patience, hard work and dedication is all that is really is standing in your way. I’m looking forward to re-dedicating myself to this program, and getting to 5’11” 5′ 11 1/2″ by this time next year. If you have any questions feel free to ask, i’ll do my best to answer them. _________________ Cheers, WireySpindell Starting Height: 5’8″ (March, 2005) Current Height: 5’10” Goal: 5’11”, and then 6’0″ … Parents Height: 4’11”, 5’9 1/2″ Age: 25

Here in a next post he explains the results and at what time frame he achieved them in.

WireySpindell Height Seeker PhDJoined: 11 Mar 2006 Posts: 1363

Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 1:58 pm    Post subject: Well, the excercises on the other site are pretty much the same on the ones found on this site. What was helpful on the other site was that it actaully had a 6-month program you could follow, and different excercises for every week so your body is constantly adapting. You don’t neccessarily need to follow any program word for word, just keep in mind you should change up the excercises every week or so to keep your body adapting. This goes for any form of training.As for results, I kept a log so its easy to break down. I grew about 1/2 an inch in the first month (5’8 1/4- 5’8 3/4). This, of course, was a big boost. It was another couple of months to get another 1/2 inch, growing maybe a quarter inch every month (5’8 3/4- 5’9 1/4). Over the next 3 month period i grew half an inch, with some gaps where i didn’t see too many results and then waking up one morning and being up a quarter-inch. So, after 6 months I’m up 1 1/2 inches. The last 6 months i put on another 1/2 inch, again, long gaps with no progress followed by occasional spurts (I’m now 5’10 1/4 in mornings). I think the fact that winter was setting in slowed me down a bit -I’ve heard it talked about on here that spring and summer are peak growth times, and winter is slowest (I also recommend a vitamin E supplement to offset this as well as help with calcium absorption). I also thing though, that there’s a drop off in growth as you move forward- i grew 1/2 inch in month, then 2 months for another 1/2 inch, then 3 months, then 6 months, etc…. I think every consecutive inch takes a little longer, and this kind of makes sense because when you start your body develops quicky and reaches a peak, after which its hard to improve on. Kind of like weight lifting- the first 15 lbs are easy, and then it takes ages to gain anther 5. hope that kind of explains things. _________________ Cheers, WireySpindell Starting Height: 5’8″ (March, 2005) Current Height: 5’10” Goal: 5’11”, and then 6’0″ … Parents Height: 4’11”, 5’9 1/2″ Age: 25

What we are seeing from these members is that some of them do achieve what I thought was not possible, which is up to the 5 cms or 2 inch mark. You can see that these guys are not doing anything really innovative, crazy, or intense. They are being smart, practical, but also dedicated and persistent.

What they have been able to do is get the “Hidden Height” or potential height increased. to be fully realized. From exercising and stretching they have been able to increase their height. As for the supplements, I am not sure if the supplements they were taking helped in any way. However I don’t think it would hurt to take some of the supplements like Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulphate.

Sometimes all that is needed to validate an entire area of field is one real case that is proven in the laboratory in a double blind study with controlled variables with a p value over say .001. This type of arguement can also be applied to the idea of validating the existence of an afterlife. All it takes is for one person to come back from the dead and claim that they saw Jesus or some other religious symbol and most people would believe that it is real if they could come back with some proof.. The cases above show that “Hidden Height” does exist and for some people, it can be substantial. People like Lance Ward and Pierre Pozzuto (creator of A-Grow-bics) have been able to get some height for their clients. With Pierre’s program, a reporter did go through with his program and achieve 2 inches of height increase. She wrote about it in the article entitled “Impossible? No. But it’s definitely a bit of a stretch! How one 5ft 2in writer gained two inches in height“. However I would say that she got a little more than average, and most people should expect less.

Some height increase is possible. and with certain types of equipment, like a traction machine, the height increase may be able to reach 2 inches. However anything else would be not possible. Most people’s bodies can’t stretch and decompress that much. Even in space with zero gravity, the human height can only increase to a maximum of 2 (source, source). I would guess that the average human who is between 5′ 4″- 5’10” is would only see at most a 2 inch of increase in space, due to microgravity. The actual value is not actually 2 inches, but 3% of one’s earth bound height. So if you take 3% of say a 5′ 10″ human, you get (70 inches)x(.03) = 2.1 inches

I want to write one last post about the Grow Taller Guru, Lance Ward and finally put a nail in the coffin on the Grow Taller Guru (GTG) case, and finally explain everything away using common sense, and reasonable science why his claims are not achievable.

So in the last few months I have been getting more and more messages from people who claim that Lance Ward, the Grow Taller Guru is not a scam but is real. The claim is that there are videos of his students or people who go through with his program who get results, most specifically the example of Michael and another YouTube height increase seeker, SkinTightFlash. (You can see his YouTube uploaded videos by clicking on his name to the left.) I actually recently wrote a post about the progress and the information I collected from watching almost all of SkinTightFlash’s videos and compressing all the important facts and numbers he stated on one post entitled “Reviewing A Height Increase Success Story By SkinTightFlash From Youtube, A Lance Ward Supporter“. So I don’t feel like I need to explain anymore about his situation and his progress.

So let’s look at Michael’s case. If we watch the videos for Michael’s progress, “How To Grow Taller – Day 1 of Michael’s Transformation” who was measured at 161.6 cms in the 1st video and than in the video “How To Increase Height After 20 – Day 90 of Michael’s Transformation + SU” at around 163.7 cms in the 2nd video, we can say that he increased around 2 cms in 90 days. From a quick look at his posture, and his feet positioning close to the ground, let’s assume that he is not cheating or trying to scam us but that the measurements are real. His positioning and posture suggests that he is trying to extend out his height to make sure it is at the maximum possible at that moment.

In the 2nd video linked Michael comes on to read from not a script but notes about his main points. He tried other products before but this one worked for him. He had tried insoles, lotions, and ointments before. Later on Michael would go into his reasons and his story for his desire for height. In his story about his past and his upbringing, he mentioned that he rarely ever exercised, ate unhealthily, and never working his body to be healthy and fit. he talks about how his relatives made fun of his body in terms of being overweight and short. Only very recently did he decide to incorporate exercise into his daily lifestyle and the exercises began with using Lance’s program of exercise routine.

Michael continues on to explain that the main reason why he wants to increase height is because of his desire to have a career in the entertainment industry. He talks about the “Haters” and “Sceptics” who want him to stop this program since they think Lance is cheating Michael out of his money by promising him something that will not work. Let me give my own opinion, and my final opinion, on Lance Ward at the end of this post.

He notes, and many of the views also notice, that he is getting healthier, fitting, and more muscular as the days go by. He says that Lance has become his friend, mentor, and coach. He makes the point that he never used to do “all this training and dieting” until Lance came along and changed his lifestyle to be more active, and healthier. Later he would talk about the need to be persistence and persevere past the pain and the suffering and focus on the end result. From the tone of his voice, let me give this Michael guy the benefit ofthe doubt and say that he reall does believe in this stuff. He is being honest in his thoughts, showing genuine intent, and is trying not to scam other people (unlike some people). So, he’s not lying, and at least believes in the program himself.

From a 3rd video “How To Grow Taller in a Week – Day 125 of Michael’s Transformation” he went up to 164 cms. In the 4th video “How To Grow Taller After Puberty – Day 130 of Michael’s Transformation” his recorded height seems to go up to 164.2 cms. On the 5th video “How To Grow Taller – Day 160 of Michael’s Transformation” the recorded height is around 164.3 cms. The 5th video “How To Get Taller – Day 260 of Michael’s Transformation” shows his height to be 164.4 cms. The last video I would talk about is “How To Get Taller – Day 300 of Michael’s Transformation” – where his measured height is around 164.3 cms. Overall, there is another dozen videos showing his height throughout 300 days but I chose to take some random data points but focused on taking more of the beginning and ending data of the time span.

I don’t want to spend 20-30 minutes putting all this data into Excel and graphing out an x-y plot to show Michael’s height progression but if we did, we would see that Michael has effectly hit his maximum height possible.

Analysis:

I am going to dissect Michael’s situation to such a level that it would be relatively easy to explain away why Lance’s method is not as effective as he claims. Originally Lance Ward claims that he can help you grow between 3-6 inches in only 90 days. That is in metric units around 7 cm-15 cm in height difference. With Michael, we see around a 2.2 cm of height difference between his initial measured height on day 1 to the height measured at the end of 300 days. What is clear from looking at Michael’s physique is that he is definitely getter healthier and more fit. You can see that his body does change and become broader, more muscular, and better shaped. Since Lance did put him through an exercise trainign program, this was bound to happen.

Overall, Singapore like many other developed rich cities in Asia, most people are not very active due to the fact that the environment they live is rather cramped and has little room to exercise well. This might explain why Michael in the beginning looked skinny and was not very healthy. From what I’ve seen of people in the upscale and high class of developed asian countries like Seoul, Shanghai, etc. they don’t get out much but stay indoors. These days the cities of Beijing and Shanghai has such a bad air pollution problem that most people are strongly advised to stay indoors and not go outdoors. Am I supposed to assume that everyone in these cities has a weight set and treadmill in their apartments and homes?

There is no doubt that in terms of health, overall life quality, and maybe also mental health has greatly improved due to Lance’s help and his exercise program. Michael at the end of 300 days looks stronger and buffer than in the beginning. However, has he really grown? From the looks of it, I would say that Michael has grown, but not to the degree that Lance claims he could get for people.

Like always, this again goes back to this concept or idea I created, called “Hidden Height“. Again, Hidden Height is the idea that within many people, they have not truly maximixed their full height potential that their current bone and vertebrate structure allows them to have. In many of the developed world, because we live such sedentary lives, we don’t actually stand up completely straight, develop bad posture, and our bad eating habits cause us to grow wider, around the waistline. With Michael’s situation, he says very clearly that before Lance, he almost NEVER exercised. It seems that the first time he ever really decided to live healthily and work out, was when he took up Lance’s program.

I don’t want to sound condescending but every single trainer and fitness “guru” in the world can push, give orders, and coach a unhealthy living bad posture, slouching person to work out to a better body. Give me 2 months with a lazy person who is out of shape and I can turn him into healthy with a slimmer, more muscular body. But that is NOT the point. Lossing weight, gaining muscle, and becoming healthier was never the goal. Millions, if not billions of people around the world can get themselves to loose wight. What is clearly almost impossible is getting people to increase in height.

As I said before, many people, actually a good percentage of the population in society, can grow taller, but they will only grow up to a certain point, and completely plateau because they have gained their “Hidden Height“. That plateau for 99.9% of the people is around the 2-3 cm mark. Before they were a sloth, who leaned down a lot, slouched working in front of a computer most of the day, and that means that their lifestyle caused them to progressively over time loss a little bit of height every month. After 5 years, they would find themselves maybe 1-1.5 cm shorter if measured during the same time each day. Michael has hit his plateau, and used up all of his “Hidden Height“.

It may seem counter-intuitive at first but if you sit down and think over the common sense, it would make sense. Here is a rough outline on the height potential of people with different types of lifestyle.

• Person who has never exercises before, slouches a lot, and is overweight, obese –> They can gain upward of 3 cms, maybe even 4 cms if they really push and use traction devices.

• Person who has only occasionally exercise and slightly overweight –> They can gain upward of around 2 cm, 2.5 cms if they are lucky.

• Person who regularly exercises  –> The maximum they can gain is maybe 1-2 cm in real extra height.

• A person who does yoga, and stetches –> They can get only 0.5-0.1 cm of extra height since they have already been using up their “hidden height”.

• A high level athletes who exercises regularly –> They will get maybe 0-0.5 cms

All that this correlation of height increase shows is that if you come from a lower level, in the beginning, you will see a greater difference in the change if you go through with the program. Duh, common sense. 

“Hidden Height” is potential height that they have never actualized.

Very few people have reached a fitness level where they really have pushed to their heigh potential. Bruce Lee measured himself at 5′ 7.5″ (171 cms). There is absolutely no way in hell Bruce Lee would ever gain any height no matter what exercise program he used. He already has exercised and trained his body to their maximum ability, which the bones allow. The same can be said for Olympic level gymnasts and people who do yoga. If you area already healthy and doing exercises, you will NOT gain height. If you have been living an unhealthy lifestyle devoid of any exercise, you WILL see height increase, and a substantial one too, possible up to 3 cms. But that is It. SkinTightFlash gained around 3 cm of height. However his overweight body and slouching torso suggest that he might be able to gain 1 -2more cm but I don’t think he will get any more unless he does something dramatic. With Michael, his skinny frame shows that his body is not compressing much vertebrate. All that Lance has done was get michael to develop enough fitness in his torso to give him better posture and have a stronger core. I once wrote a post suggesting that is might be possible to reduce the height loss throughout the day if a person had a stronger core of muscles holding up the top torso.

At some level, I think Lance knows that what I say is absolutely true. You can not get an average person with no slough or scoliosis in their back to increase their height by 3 inches.

What Michael has done is grow taller, but his height was always there. He has been able to get it to be realized through an exercise program. If we wanted to get technically, Lance Ward can claim that his protege and friend Michael from Singapore using his Grow Taller program did grow maybe 2 cms taller, but I would be able to get Michael the same results if I worked with him for the same amount of time and developed a reasonable exercise program with a lot of stretching and vertebrate decompression.

Note #1: Something else to note is his hair. Michael’s hair style changes a lot throughout the year of 300 days. In some videos I notice that he is not completely pressing the height measuring machine fully down, but only lightly putting the device on the top of his hair, but not his real head. Years ago, when I was doing my routines, I was obsessed enough to shave my head bald to remove that barrier which would cause measurement error. What I would guess is that in some videos, Michael is either intentionally or unintentionally not completely pushing the device fully down to his head. This can account for even upward of 0.5-1 cm of height gain we see in the measuring device.

Note #2: Certain asian males have stronger, thicker hair than their caucasian male counterparts. This means that if they cut their hair really short, their short hair will stick up completely and not fall to the side. The device would not be effective in showing their real height since the flat horizontal measuring “ruler’ will only touch the hair ends as the flat surface drops down, not the actual head. This leads to an inaccurate height measurement. From the Wikipedia article on human hair…”Asian hair typically has a round fiber and is quite straight.” From ScienceMag.com …”The cross-sectional area of East Asian hair fibers averages about 30% larger than that of Africans and 50% larger than that of Europeans”

From more sources, “Asian hair has twice the diameter and a much thicker cuticle than Caucasian hair. Most hair types have around five  layers of cuticles while Asian hair has closer to ten….Asian’s have anywhere between 80,000 and 140,000 scalp hairs but, typically, they have fewer hairs per square centimetre than Caucasians. (They also tend to have less body and facial hair.) However, because the individual hair shafts are thicker, it gives the impression of greater hair density.”

For the pictures I found from the internet, Note that Yao Ming’s hair when cute really short causes his hair to stand completely up. It does not fall down due to how thick and sturdy certain asian male hair are. This may be why Yao Ming looks even TALLER than he already is. His hair makes him look a possible 1-2 inches taller. On the left we see a natural real blonde, a swedish female which light blue/green/hazel eyes. From looking at the roots, her eyebrows, and even the micro hairs on her face, we note that she is not like so many bottle bleach blondes we find in say Hollywood but has natural fair blonde hair color. Note how her hair is rather thin and falls on the side. If her hair was cut to be short, her hair would not stand up.