How to build an effective height increase stretching routine

There are 4 different types of movements you need to do for a complete stretching session:

1. Extension; such movement includes backbends like Cobra Pose and Camel Pose.
2. Flexion; this movement includes forward bends: Plow Pose, Seated Forward Bend 
3. Side Bend; when you arch your spine to the sides.
4. Twist; you got it, when you twist your spine.

To avoid the risk of injuries you should perform all of the above in a balanced manner and do restorative poses between each set. Restorative poses bring the spine to its initial form. This is important because mixing those 4 movements without an intermediate movement between could potentially damage the discs. 

Best Restorative Pose - Child's Pose

If we follow these principles correctly, an ideal yoga session for height increase should look like this:

1. Back bend > restorative pose
2. Forward Bend > restorative pose
3. Back bend #2 > restorative pose
4. Forward Bend #2 > restorative pose
5. Side Bend > restorative pose
6. Twist > restorative pose

This system pretty balanced. It has two different back bends, two different forward bends, also a side bend and a twist.

Another example:

1.  Touch Toes (Forward Bend) followed by Child's pose 30 seconds (restorative pose)
2.  Cobra Pose (Back bend) followed by Child's pose 30 seconds (restorative pose)
3.  Lying twist (Twist) followed by Child's pose 30 seconds (restorative pose)
4.  Side Bend followed by Child's pose 30 seconds (restorative pose)

The dead hang could also be used as restorative method. 

I advise you to see a doctor before starting any stretching routine and make sure your back and spine are healthy. If you're a beginner, please don't engage in advanced poses. Start with beginner poses and gradually build up the intensity.

For more workout examples check my stretching logs: day 1, day 2, day3, day 4, day 5,  day 1 again

Stretching Journal (7/7/16)

Stretching Journal (Day 5) , July 08 2016

1. Touch Toes - 20 seconds / 20 reps
   Knees to Chest - 60 seconds
2. Cobra Pose - 15 seconds / 10 reps
   Child's Pose - 60 seconds
3. Bridge Pose - 30 seconds / 4 reps
   Knees to Chest - 60 seconds
4. Lying twist - 30 seconds / 6 reps (3 for each side)
   Knees to Chest - 60 seconds 

Stretching Journal (5/7/16 - 6/7/16)

Day 3, July 5th 2016

1. Touch Toes - 20 sec / 20 reps
2. Bow Pose - 20 sec / 8 reps
3. Half Twist - 10 sec / 10 reps x2
4. Side Bend - 3 sec / 10 reps x2

Day 4, July 6th 2016

1. Cat&Cow Stretch - 10 sec / 10 reps x2
2. Plow Pose - 30 sec / 4 reps
3. Fish Pose - 25 sec / 4 reps
4. Locust pose - 20 sec / 6 reps 

In those two sessions I reduced the number of exercises and increased the number of reps for some of them to compensate. My body reacted well and today I felt a slight soreness in my back again, after a long time. This proves once again that changing variables in your routine doesn't let the body to adapt to the movements, which is good. 

Stretching Journal (2/7/16)

July 2nd 2016, Saturday

1. Touch Toes - 20 seconds / 10 reps
   Knees to Chest - 30 seconds
2. Camel Pose - 20 seconds / 6 reps
   Child's pose - 40 seconds 
3. Cat and Cow Pose - 10 seconds / 6 reps each (12 reps in total)
   Child's Pose - 30 seconds
4. Side bend with hand raised up - 3 seconds / 10 reps each side (20 reps in total)
   Child's Pose - 30 seconds
5. Lying twist - 30 seconds / 3 reps per each side (6 reps in total)
   Knees to Chest - 30 seconds 

It took me about 30 minutes to finish this session. It was a good session overall. Felt my back stretching like it should.

Stretching Journal Clean Slate (1/7/16)

Because I've been lazy as hell for the past month and I didn't exercise as much as I should have, I decided to start over again from today, July 1st. Wish me luck.

1. Cat&Cow Stretch - 10 sec / 5 reps x2
2. Cobra Pose - 15 seconds / 5 reps 
3. Plow Pose - 30 seconds / 4 reps 
4. Bridge Pose - 10 sec / 5 reps
5. Half Twist - 10 sec / 5 reps x2
6. Side Bend - 3 sec / 10 reps x2  

As you can see I experiment a lot with poses, number of reps, holding seconds and sequences. I don't like to have a rigid routine, it bores me. I don't think those details matter anyway. As long as you follow the scheme presented here you should be fine, aka an equal amount of forward and back bends in every session, and don't forget about twists and side bends. Remember to breath and stretch yourself to the maximum, in the limit of safety of course. The most important thing is to maintain intensity within your sessions, don't let your body adapt, constantly push forward.

Stretching Journal (29/6/16) and examples of restorative poses

After a 5 days break caused by health issues I'm back at it again. Here's how today's session looks like:

• Exercise 1 (forward bend): Touch Toes - 15 sec / 10 reps
• Exercise 2 (backbend): Cobra - 15 sec / 5 reps 
• Exercise 3 (backbend): Locust Pose 3 variations - 10 sec / 2 reps x3 
• Exercise 3 (side bend): Side bend - 3 sec / 9 reps x2
• Exercise 4 (Twist): Marichi's Pose - 10 sec / 5 reps x2 
• Exercise 5 (backbend): Bird-Dog Pose - 10 sec / 3 reps x2
• Exercise 6 (forward bend): Cat Pose - 10 sec / 5 reps

And of course restorative poses between each exercise.

Locust pose variations 

Dog-Bird pose, alternate left and right

Cat pose 

Child's Pose and Knees to Chest. Hold one of those poses for 30-60 seconds between each exercise so your spine can realign.  

Success story from a Law Of Attraction forum. "5-6 inches in 3 months", too good to be true?

Hey lovely people :)

I grew around 5 to 6 inches tall in 3 months, all thanks to the lovely Universe who responded so quickly to my desire. I am getting quite some PMs asking me how I did it. So I thought I will share it in a post here as it will be helpful to anyone who needs it, and anyone can access this even when I am not online and hence not able to respond to PMs immediately. I am copy pasting my story, which I just shared with one of our members in a PM.

Before telling you what and how I manifested my desire, I'll share a small incident with you. It makes me smile every time I think of it. A couple of days back, my boyfriend's mother came home. After talking casually for a while she suddenly exclaimed 'Hey you look really tall. Is it because of your dress?' I said 'No I have grown tall really'. She kinda made fun of me and said 'Oh ya right! How can you grow at this age (I am 21 years old)?' I just smiled and said 'Its possible'

The reason I am telling you this is, most people have preconceived notions about everything, EVERYTHING! Can you believe that?? They tend to believe that there is a limitation in everything which includes our physical growth. They also believe that physical growth, especially height, is by large beyond our control. When living in the midst of such people, we also tend to absorb those beliefs subconsciously. Has this happened to you? It definitely happened to me. So once upon a time, I truly believed that after puberty girls' growth becomes slow. And guess what, I actually stopped growing pretty much after puberty! I was 5' 2" and the tallest in class when I was 11 years old (that's when I attained puberty) and by 18 years I was just 5' 3"!! I hadn't grown more than an inch in 7 years because I believed that was not possible.

Then I learnt about LOA a couple of years ago and started manifesting many things. Only a few months back I decided to increase my height with this knowledge. Here is what I did:

I got clear with how tall I wanted to grow. I wanted to be 5' 9". I decided NEVER to think that I am short. If someone commented that I am short I would just ignore it. I decided not to 'try' to grow tall because then I would just keep attracting 'trying'! So I started acting 'as if' I am tall. I would just close my eyes and feel nice, proud and confident because of my new height I was about to get into. I am not very good at visualization so I instead focused on 'feeling' taller rather than 'imagining' myself taller.

Then I did some stretching exercises (which was a part of my dance warm-up sessions anyways) just to convince my mind that I am taking rational steps. I didn't spend much time exercising though.

That's it. After a while I totally forgot about growing tall. I got busy with other work and stuff. Suddenly people started telling me that I look taller. So I checked my height and I was 5'8"!! Just one inch lesser than what I wanted. But now I feel this height is good. 5'9" could have looked a little manly for me. That's my story. Feel free to ask me anything more!

All the best

Lots of love

Angel

Read all the replies here

How to perform Cobra Pose the right way and increase your height

As I explain in this post, Cobra pose (Bhujangasana) is a backbend. Backbends are important in a stretching routine for height increase. They are also the most demanding type of stretches, and if you don't perform them correctly you might injure yourself.

This is the right way of doing Cobra: 

• Lie on your stomach with your body completely stretched 
• Firmly press the legs (thighs and tops of the feet) and the pubis into the floor.
• As you inhale start lifting your chest by straightening the arms. Always keep the shoulders away from the neck (don't shrug). 
• Lift from the lower abdomen, and never stretch the arms fully, that will only hurt your lower back.
• Hips, thighs and knees should stay on the ground.
• Keep the back of the neck long and your legs active as you continue to broaden your collar bones and roll your shoulders back and down.
• Hold the pose 10 seconds if you're a beginner. In time you should work your way up to 30 seconds. 
• Breath easily. On an exhalation release your torso down to the starting position. 

Yoga pose performed correctly, shoulders down and pelvis on the floor 

Here we have celebrity Kate Hudson performing Cobra pose the wrong way. She's shrugging her shoulders and lifting her pelvis up.

How Often You Should Stretch if You Want to Grow Taller, How Much and When

How often

Most height increase success stories out there show that consistency and perseverance are key factors for success.

A lot of succes stories indicate that the sweet spot is 6 days of stretching a week. Some people even do it every day, but you shouldn't do that. There should be at least a day a week reserved for recovery.

How much

Start with 20 minutes sessions if you're a beginner, then gradually work your way up to 1 hour. This is of relative importance though. Some people like to exercise faster some slower. My advice is to take your time and don't obsess over how much time you've spent on the yoga mattress. It is more important to exercise correctly, focus on the breathing and finish your stretches.

Also always listen to your body. That is the best indicator of a good workout or a lazy one. Don't focus too much on counting the seconds or the reps. In the end it's all about intensity and aiming for a satisfying workout. Soreness the next day is a sign that you are on the right track.

When

Mornings, after you wake up. This is not a golden rule though, but I have a theory that stretching in the morning will have a stronger impact on your spine than stretching in the evening for example. In the morning the spinal discs are loosen up and filled with liquid, raw, more responsive. Whereas later in the day your spine is already flexible and compressed from the gravity and all the movements you've made during the day. So logically mornings are ideal for an effective back workout.

You will probably notice this by yourself, stretching in the morning feels a lot more intense and painful.

Stretching Journal (23/6/16) & Observations

1. Head-to-Knee Forward Bend - 15 sec / 5 reps each leg (10 reps in total)
2. Cobra Pose - 20 sec / 9 reps (3 sets of 3 reps, short restorative break between) 
3. Cat stretch - 10 sec / 6 reps x2 
4. Plow Pose - 30 sec / 4 reps 
5. Locust Pose - 25-15-10 sec x2 (6 reps in total) 
6. Side Bend - 3 sec / 18 sec (9 reps per each side) 

At this point you're probably familiarized with all those exercises except nr. 1 and 5. I haven't performed Head to Knee and Locust Pose in the previous sessions.

1. Head to Knee Forward Bend

5. Locust Pose

This was a good session overall. I really felt a good workout in my back. But I still feel like it could have been more intense. I was a bit lazy. It is important to push your limits all the time and flex those muscles to the point that you will have a sore back the next day. 

This session focuses more on forward/backward movements rather than twisting movements. There are two backbends (cobra and locust pose) and two forward bends (head to knee and plow pose), also cat stretch, which is a complete excises having both forward and backward movements.

At this point I'm still experimenting with exercises. I don't have a steady routine, and I'm not sure I'm interested in that. I believe in diversity and I don't like doing the same exercises every day. (I get bored easily :p) 

Grew 1 inch in 1 month (20 year old) - succes story from Grow Tall Forum

Hey everyone, I just had to tell you about my success story ... even though I'm not at my 5'11 goal I'm still so excited!!

I was 5'8; 1 month ago (in the morning). And I had read many different things about stretches and I put together a schedule that I felt suited my goals and followed it for the past 4 weeks, which was 1 week before my 20th birthday and I have already grown a full inch. (I didn't do the hanging ankle weights the first three weeks because the weights had not arrived off ebay yet).

After the first three weeks I had grown 0.65 of an inches [all in spine, and possibly a lot from posture, because I use the Spine-worx (which isn't in the routine below)]. This past week I incorporated the hanging weights exercise and I am now 5'9 (morning height) which is 1 inch taller than I was 4 weeks ago. I am 20 years + 3 weeks old.

Here's my schedule/routine:
(By the way the column that says "time" is in seconds unless the number has an "m" or "mins" beside it. Also these stretches are off a website, here's one that has these stretches explained:)

These stretches are from an ebook and they are the ones that I felt gave the best stretch out of the ebook... They didn't have names. So I named them myself. (if you'd like pictures of what I are, because you like my routine, I can scan them and send them to you). Just e-mail me.

I used the Lynx back stretcher a little more than I scheduled myself for. I used the Spine-worx a few times per week which isn't in my schedule.

And here's the supplements I have been taking during the past 4 weeks:

What I eat:

I eat a lot, I eat and relatively healthy (I always have). A lot of meats such as roast beef, turkey, ham, steak, breaded fish, non-breaded fish, salmon. I eat the veggies my mom makes when she cooks my meals. I love fruit (especially in the morning) such as strawberries, apples, oranges, cantaloupe, bananas and sometimes pears. The only pasta and bread I eat is whole wheat. I drink lots of milk, I guzzle orange juice (when we have it) and drink a fair bit of water.

Now and during the past 4 weeks I eat 2500-3000 cals a day (I'm just not taking weight gainer like I used to when weightlifting intensely, which added another 1300 cals).

Sleep:

I sleep about 8 hours per night, but with University mid-terms and projects some nights I sleep a bit less. I sleep without a pillow.

This is all so you get an idea of what I've been doing.

**UPDATE (Oct 24th) -- I just started to take Vitamin D and Calcium Magnesium daily, I also take Vitamin C a couple times a week. And I'm now doing the most stretches about 3 seconds or more longer than what it says on the routine.

Stretching Journal (21/6/16)

June 21, 2016 - Tuesday 

1. Touch Toes - 15 seconds / 10 repetitions
2. Pelvic Shift (Bridge Pose) - 25 seconds / 4 repetitions
3. Half Twist - 10 seconds / 6 reps x2 (6 reps on each side, 12 in total) 
4. Bow Pose - 25 seconds / 4 repetitions 
5. Side Arch  - 3 seconds / 9 repetitions x2 (9 reps on each side, 18 in total) 

I did the exercises in this exact same order, and of course, between each set of different poses I performed a restorative pose

As you can see, pose no.5 is a variation of "side arch" performed in the first day. It's important to have a large variety of exercises to chose from, otherwise the body will get used to it. Always push your limits, but of course stay safe and listen to your body, otherwise you might risk injuries. 

Stretching Journal (19/6/16) & Observations

This is what I did today:





I am slightly disappointed with today's session. I didn't push myself hard enough. I need to work on my breathing and intensity.

Whether I will be taller or not 6 months from now, I'm sure as hell I don't want to have any regrets about the way I performed the daily sessions. It's easy to slip into laziness and shortcuts when you exercise almost every day, but consistency could make the difference between success and failure. You can't afford to be shallow.

Stretching Journal (17/6/16) & Important Notes

Today's session looks like this:

1. Touch toes - 15 seconds / 10 reps
   
   
2. Camel pose - 20 seconds / 4 reps
   
   
3. Half Twist (Marichi's Pose) 12 seconds / 6x2 reps (for each side 6 reps, total of 12 reps)
   
   
4. Plow Pose - 30 seconds / 4 reps
   
5. Fish Pose - 20 seconds / 4 reps
   
   
   
   
6. Side Arch - 3 seconds / 9 reps (9 reps for each side, 18 in total) 

     

Between each pose I perform a restorative pose like Knees to Chest Pose or Child's Pose. This aspect is very important. The discs need to be restored to their original shape and position before proceeding to the next advanced pose, otherwise strain and over compression may occur.


Important Note: Do not attempt to perform any of the advances poses you see here if you have no previous experience with them. Start with beginner exercises until you are ready to perform more advanced stretches.