Can Calisthenics Make You Taller
Fancy a watch? Check out our video on how calisthenics affects your height:
Do you remember the rubber, flexible toys we played with as kids? The ones whose arms we would pull apart! It can be seen as this. We stretch, increase mobility, and bend; but, we always return to our original shape.
There’s a common misconception that calisthenics makes you taller, which isn’t the case. In reality, it improves your posture and decompresses your spine helping you to stand straighter. But this has no impact on your genetic coding – which is responsible for determining height.
While you may feel taller after a calisthenics workout, it will only be temporary. The reason for this is due to our muscle temperature. Immediately after our workout, our muscles are warm and elastic. Because of this, we feel like we can stretch further. But, the sensation only lasts a few minutes.
So, does this mean you shouldn’t bother training calisthenics? No. There is something you MUST consider (below).
How Calisthenics Changes Your Height
Calisthenics can’t change your genetics, but it can make you vertically higher. Does this make sense? No… Let us explain.
Your maximum height (the height your DNA intends you to be) is determined genetically; however, only a few individuals will ever reach this. This is due to environmental, dietary, and lifestyle factors.
Imagine two identical twins, with the same genetics:
- Twin A trains calisthenics 4 times a week and is active throughout the day.
- Twin B spends his days slouched on the sofa. He rarely moves; when he does, it’s to the fridge and back!
While they are both genetically coded to be the same height, twin A ends up being taller than B because his healthier habits gave him a straighter posture and better-developed bones.
As a result, Twin A reached his maximum natural height and Twin B didn’t.
It’s also worth mentioning, that individuals participating in calisthenics sustain their maximum height longer than inactive individuals. The functional strength developed through training in calisthenics makes their bodies bulletproof compared to stagnant people.
Key Takeaway: “Especially at an adolescent age you are giving your body the best chance to be as tall as you’re genetically designed to become.”
Embed from Getty ImagesHow Do Bar Exercises Affect Your Height
The two most frequent questions we get asked are:
- “Will hanging on a bar make me taller?”
- “Will pull-ups make me taller?”
The answer is the same for both, so let’s answer them once and for all.
Bar exercises (dead hangs or pull-ups) have no direct impact on your height. They rely on a solid back, core, and arms; so yes, it fixes imperfections in how you stand. But, it won’t biologically make you taller. Your height is determined genetically, and no type of exercise can alter your DNA.
A lot more is needed to grow than just stretching your body out. And, after puberty, the DNA responsible for coding this magic comes to a stop. Regardless of what you see on the internet, it just isn’t possible.
How Do Bar Exercises Affect Your Posture
Aha, now this is something calisthenics will do for you! Which may give you a few more inches…
Bar exercises require flexibility in the spine and surrounding muscles. For example, a dead hang requires a straight spine which can help improve imperfections within your back. Even a few seconds can decompress the spine and reduce tension to improve body posture.
It’s not just in the spine. As soon as you let your body weight rest, you’ll feel relieved in your shoulders, biceps, neck, and back. In fact, many physiotherapists recommend dead hanging to their clients to help ease upper body pain.
What’s more, naturally, a better posture makes you taller. In this sense, pull-ups or bar hanging can rectify your height, so you make the most out of your genes and are as tall as intended.
Calisthenics Exercises That Increase Height
We have spoken about how a better posture increases your height. You may be asking yourself, how do you go about improving your posture?
Bar Hanging
Hanging on a bar is the best starting place to improve posture, as it only requires a sound pull-up bar (or any elevated pole) to see results.
Dead hanging uses your weight to decompress the spine and helps loosen surrounding muscles. Gravity does the work for you, in terms of stretching your spine, so you’ll feel relief in your vertebrae and back muscles.
- To begin, grip the bar with both hands shoulder-width apart and let your body hang.
- Ensure the use of a pull-up bar tall enough so that your feet aren’t dragging the floor, for optimal results.
- We recommend bar hanging until failure twice a day. Just try not to fall like this kid!
Planking
When planking, your core is isolated to hold your body horizontally, building abdominal strength. Core strength is excellent for reducing pressure on the spine and keeping an upward posture.
- The plank is performed by holding your elbows directly beneath your shoulders and extending your legs.
- Rest your weight on your elbows and your toes.
- Keep your face down, pelvis, and butt in a straight line aiming to maintain a neutral position.
- We recommend planking until failure three times a day for optimal results.
Handstands
Turn the dead-hang upside down and handstand! They help to strengthen your core, and build relative strength in your whole body. Both of which result in a better posture. And therefore, standing taller.
It’s better to start off doing a handstand against a wall! Here’s how
- Place your wrists a few inches away from the wall and kick your legs against the surface, engaging your core muscles to maintain balance.
- Keep your toes pointed but against the wall.
- Hold for as long as possible.
Ab-Roller
For this exercise, you’ll need a piece of equipment called an ab-roller. But it’s definitely worth it! You fully stretch your upper torso, engaging your core throughout the whole movement. The combination of core engagement and a full extension stretch makes it excellent for posture; therefore, increasing height.
For support, use the ab roller on your knees, and then extend forward, rather than starting off by standing. The demonstration can be seen below.
Tricep Dips
To stay balanced during tricep dips, you must keep your core tight which is great for posture and height. Furthermore, you must keep your body in a neutral position which helps counteract any minor imperfections you have.
- Using a pair of parallel bars, or similar, stand in between them and raise your legs so your arms hold your body weight.
- Keeping your spine and neck inline, slowly bend your elbows to lower yourself.
- Once your chest is level with the bar, ring yourself back up and repeat.
Pistol Squats
An inactive butt forces the spine to be predominantly responsible for day-to-day movement, which causes poor posture and back pain. Pistol squats aim to resolve this by utilizing your glutes within a single action.
By reminding your body to use your hips for movement instead of the lumbar spine you minimize the stress on your back. This results in a stronger posture and can make you taller.
- Place your left leg directly in front of you.
- Squat using your right leg, using your arms and core as balance.
- Get as low as a seating position, then return to your original position.
- Swap legs and repeat.
Side Plank
Bored of the traditional plank? Try going on your side. This alternative focuses heavily on your obliques and flexes the spine at different points compared to the traditional plank. What’s better, the engagement in the core helps to stabilize your upper body weight and improve posture. Hence, making you taller.
- Lie on the floor and place your elbow directly underneath your shoulder.
- Fully extend your legs and raise your hips.
- Hold until failure.
Front Lever
For the final exercises, we have the most difficult out of the bunch: the front lever. It’s a full-body exercise but enormous core strength and endurance are needed to hold it. In addition, you must push through your hips to form a neutral spine and neck. It’s safe to say, if you have the strength to hold one, your posture will be superb!
- Begin at a dead hang and raise your legs above your head.
- Thrust your hips forward and slowly angle your legs away from you.
- Once your body is horizontal, hold as long as possible.
Does Height Benefit Calisthenics Performance
Height is relevant in calisthenics for two main reasons:
- Balance
- Weight
Height has exponential effects on weight, affecting the strength-to-weight ratio. The taller you are, the more mass you carry, and as a result, relative strength decreases, making you less explosive and increasing the difficulty of exercises. Therefore athletes prefer to be shorter.
The second reason is balance; the shorter you are, the lower the center of gravity, making you stable and difficult to fall over. This provides a calisthenics advantage when attempting challenging holds on the ground, rings, or bars, as you feel much more secure.
| Height Range | Impact on Calisthenic Ability | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 5’6” and below. | The best calisthenic advantage. | Training calisthenics in this height range can become frustrating if you use bars and rings if you can’t reach them. Otherwise, this height gives a great technical advantage, and many athletes are found within this range. However, you can become short of breath quickly. |
| 5’7”-5’11” | Suits the majority of individuals. | The optimal height to train calisthenics is within this range; you aren’t short enough where day-to-day tasks are difficult but also not too tall you see a negative decline in calisthenics performance. There are a fair number of professional athletes within this height range too. |
| 6’0”+ | Height poses a challenge to calisthenics. | The increase in mass acts as a disadvantage for your balance, flexibility, and weight from a calisthenics perspective. Though few calisthenic athletes are in this range, it shouldn’t stop anyone from trying. |
Summary
As a result, calisthenics, can’t genetically modify your DNA and increase your height. Instead, calisthenics will provide your body with the tools to get taller, such as improved flexibility, straighter posture, and an active gluteus. However, it isn’t the main focus of the activity.
The core of calisthenics focuses on improving fitness components rather than vertical height. In saying this, calisthenics is one of the few that incorporate stretches and holds into workouts. Both of these will help you reach your potential height by offering spinal support, developing muscle strength, and improving posture.
If you want to focus solely on gaining height, you’re better off limiting your workout to the holds and stretches but you restrict the strength gained with it. It’s all about getting what you want out of the workout.
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