CAN YOU INCREASE YOUR HEIGHT AFTER 18 ?

You’re not alone if you’ve looked in the mirror and wished you were a little bit taller (and wished you were a baller). But your height is an aspect of your body you don’t have much control over.

Despite any remedies or miracle tips you might have seen online (*ahem* bro science), you can’t actually increase your height once you’re done growing.

Before your height hits its limit, there are a few factors that might help you maximize growth. But after puberty, you can only influence how tall you look, not how tall you are (no promises on the baller part).

Why do you stop growing in your teens?

Scientists believe about 80 percent of your height is determined by your genes (thanks, Mom and Dad!), but they don’t fully understand the exact connection between genetics and height.

Height is determined by more than 700 gene variants (rather than just one gene), which makes it really tough to predict how tall someone will be. A 2017 study that looked at DNA samples of more than 700,000 people found that there are also less common genes that account for more than 1 centimeter of a person’s height.

Your genetics can also contribute to health conditions that affect your height, like Gigantism or Marfan syndrome.

Most people stop growing by age 18, but the exact time may vary depending on when you start puberty and whether you’re male or female.

Girls typically reach their full height by about age 14, or a few years after menstruation starts. Boys usually stop growing around age 16 but may grow a few inches after that.

Throughout puberty, your bones get longer thanks to the growth plates at the ends of your bones. As you near the end of puberty, your long bones undergo their final formation, and the cartilage in the growth plates turns to bone, or ossifies. Once that happens, your height is a done deal.

How to help your height before it’s too late

Nutrition

A balanced diet is essential when it comes to growth. Nutrients like calcium and vitamin D are very important, as research shows that both can significantly benefit bone health.

Eating fruits and veggies to hit your vitamin and mineral quota is important for everyone — but especially for those who are still growing.

Research also shows that protein is essential for bone health and can benefit the bone density of the spine. A 2016 study of 45 sets of twins found that nutrition is especially important in infancy, and a lack of protein may be the biggest environmental factor that can influence height.

Does the caffeine in coffee affect your bones?

Some people believe that drinking coffee, especially as a teen, can affect bone health, but there’s not much evidence to back this up.

A 1998 study looked at 81 white American women ages 12 to 18 and found no difference in bone mineral gain between those who had the highest daily caffeine intake and those who had the lowest.

Although this study was small, it suggests that caffeine intake doesn’t affect bone gain in the teen years.

Sleep

Research has shown that many of the functions affecting growth happen during sleep, which may mean proper sleep is necessary for proper growth.

A 2013 study found that children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) had lower growth hormone levels, height, and weight compared to children who didn’t have OSA. Since OSA can cause restless or interrupted sleep, these findings suggest poor sleep quality has a negative effect on growth.

Stay active

Exercise won’t make your bones grow longer, but research suggests physical activity can increase the mineral density of bones, especially during adolescence.

A diet rich in calcium combined with a healthy amount of physical activity can maximize bone mass and reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

Staying active is also important because it strengthens muscles and bones and likely promotes the release of the human growth hormone (HGH). Unsurprisingly, HGH plays a big role in physical development. It kick-starts growth in childhood and promotes cell repair (ya know, the process that keeps us youthful and healthy).

Do weightlifting and gymnastics make you short?

Plenty of myths suggest that shorter heights are linked to activities like weightlifting, gymnastics, ballet, distance running, and wrestling. There’s not enough research to support the claim that lifting makes people shorter.

With the other sports, it’s a little more complicated. Research suggests it’s not the sports themselves but the intensity of training involved. An athlete’s height may also be affected if they’re not getting proper nutrition.

No smoking (in or outside the womb)

It’s pretty widely known that smoking isn’t good for general health, but it might affect height too.

According to the CDC, smoking tobacco during pregnancy can hurt the development of the fetus. Research has shown that low bone mass and reduced bone density in childhood or adolescence may be linked to maternal smoking during pregnancy.

Marijuana use may have an impact on height too. While more research is needed, a 2015 study found that heavy marijuana use can cause boys to hit puberty earlier and may also stunt their growth.

What can you do about your height right now?

Once puberty ends, it’s pretty much game over for your height. It’s impossible to get any taller from here on out, even if you do all the CrossFit or yoga in the world.

However, your height can change very slightly throughout the day (don’t get too excited — we’re talking no more than half an inch). This is due to light compression of the discs in your spine caused by daily activities that impact the cartilage and fluid in your spine. Plus, if you sit at a desk all day, it might not do your posture any favors.

The good news? There are a few things you can do to make yourself appear taller.

Pay attention to your posture

Your posture makes a huge difference in how tall you appear. If you’re always slumped over, you can look a few inches shorter than you are. Sitting up or standing tall instantly adds a few inches to your frame (it’s all an illusion, folks). So hold that head high!

Just can’t make yourself un-slouch? If you’re really invested in improving your posture, you can try out a posture correcting device.

Practice yoga

You may have heard the popular myth that yoga can make you taller. In reality, a regular yoga practice helps build muscular strength, which can support better posture.

Yoga can also teach you how to focus on your breathing, which can help with posture. In other words, yoga may make you appear taller, but it’s not actually making you grow.

Build and strengthen your muscles

A quick online search for exercises to make you taller may yield some seemingly promising results, but the truth is there are no exercises that will make you grow once you’ve reached your max height.

Gaining muscle mass and strengthening your muscles can support better posture. Building muscle might also make you feel more confident, which can affect the way you carry yourself.

Use fashion to your advantage

Real talk: We know it sounds painfully obvious, but heels and platform shoes will give you a boost. Changing up your clothing can also give you the illusion of longer legs and a longer torso.

Other fashion tricks to try:

high-waisted pants and skirts

fitted, tailored clothing

wearing just one color

shorter shorts or skirts

ankle boots instead of tall boots

Accept what your mama gave ya

This might not be what you were hoping to hear, but at a certain point, you just have to accept your height and rock what you’ve got.

Your height really doesn’t limit your life’s achievements. Some of history’s biggest game-changers were smaller in stature (heck, Napoleon Bonaparte led the French military at 5 foot 2 inches).

The bottom line

Genetics play the biggest role in your height, meaning there isn’t much you can do to change how tall you’ll be (except thank your parents). Environmental factors like nutrition and exercise also play a role in your growth and development.

Your height is pretty much set once you reach age 18. During puberty, you can maximize healthy growth by eating a balanced diet, staying active, and getting enough sleep each night.

If you’re way past your last growth spurt, you can make yourself look taller by practicing better posture and strengthening your muscles.

GYM DIET :- WHAT TO EAT AND WHAT TO AVOID

Bodybuilding is centered around building your body’s muscles through weightlifting and nutrition.

Whether recreational or competitive, bodybuilding is often referred to as a lifestyle, as it involves both the time you spend in and outside the gym.

In order to maximize your results from the gym, you must focus on your diet, as eating the wrong foods can be detrimental to your bodybuilding goals.

This article explains what to eat and avoid on a bodybuilding diet and provides a one-week sample menu.

Bodybuilding Basics

Bodybuilding differs from powerlifting or Olympic lifting in that it’s judged on a competitor’s physical appearance rather than physical strength.

As such, bodybuilders aspire to develop and maintain a well-balanced, lean and muscular physique.

To do this, many bodybuilders start with an off-season followed by an in-season way of eating — referred to as a bulking and cutting phase, respectively.

During the bulking phase, which can last months to years, bodybuilders eat a high-calorie, protein-rich diet and lift weights intensely with the goal of building as much muscle as possible.

The following cutting phase focuses on losing as much fat as possible while maintaining muscle mass developed during the bulking phase. This is achieved through specific changes in diet and exercise over a period of 12–26 weeks.

Bodybuilding training and dieting is typically divided into two phases: bulking and cutting. The goal of the bulking phase is to build muscle, whereas the cutting phase is dedicated to preserving muscle while losing body fat.

Benefits of Bodybuilding

There are several health benefits associated with bodybuilding.

In order to maintain and build muscles, bodybuilders exercise frequently, performing both resistance and aerobic training.

Resistance training increases muscle strength and size. Muscle strength is highly correlated with a lower risk of dying from cancer, heart and kidney disease, as well as several other critical illnesses.

Aerobic exercise, which bodybuilders regularly implement to reduce body fat, improves heart health and significantly lowers your risk of developing or dying from heart disease — the number one killer in America.

In addition to exercise, bodybuilders also focus on their nutrition.

With careful planning, bodybuilders can eat in a way that not only supports their efforts in the gym but keeps them healthy too.

Following a healthy eating pattern, including nutrient-dense foods from all food groups in appropriate amounts, can significantly lower your risk of chronic diseases.

Bodybuilders exercise regularly and may eat well-planned and nutrient-dense diets, both of which offer many health benefits.

Calorie Needs and Macronutrients

The goal for competitive bodybuilders is to increase muscle mass in the bulking phase and reduce body fat in the cutting phase. Hence, you consume more calories in the bulking phase than in the cutting phase.

How Many Calories Do You Need?

The easiest way to determine how many calories you need is to weigh yourself at least three times a week and record what you eat using a calorie tracking app.

If your weight stays the same, the daily number of calories you eat is your maintenance calories — in other words, you’re not losing or gaining weight, but maintaining it.

During your bulking phase, it’s recommended to increase your calorie intake by 15%. For example, if your maintenance calories are 3,000 per day, you should eat 3,450 calories per day (3,000 x 0.15 = 450) during your bulking phase.

When transitioning from a bulking to a cutting phase, you would instead decrease your maintenance calories by 15%, meaning you would eat 2,550 calories per day instead of 3,450.

As you gain weight in the bulking phase or lose weight in the cutting phase, you will need to adjust your calorie intake at least monthly to account for changes in your weight.

Increase your calories as you gain weight in the bulking phase and decrease your calories as you lose weight in the cutting phase for continued progression.

During either phase, it’s recommended not to lose or gain more than 0.5–1% of your body weight per week. This ensures that you don’t lose too much muscle during the cutting phase or gain too much body fat during the bulking phase.

Macronutrient Ratio

Once you establish the number of calories you need, you can determine your macronutrient ratio, which is the ratio between your protein, carbohydrate and fat intake.

Unlike the difference in your calorie needs between the bulking and cutting phase, your macronutrient ratio does not change.

Protein and carbs contain four calories per gram, and fat contains nine.

It’s recommended that you get:- 

30–35% of your calories from protein

55–60% of your calories from carbs

15–20% of your calories from fat

Here’s an example of the ratio for both a bulking and cutting phase:

                    Bulking phase         Cutting phase

Calories                3,450.                    2,550

Protein (grams)   259–302.             191–223

Carbs (grams).    474–518.              351–383

Fat (grams)          58–77.                   43–57

These are general guidelines, so its best to consult with a registered dietitian to determine your individual needs based on your goals to make sure your diet is nutritionally adequate.

Bodybuilding Nutrition: Foods to Eat and Avoid

Like training, diet is a vital part of bodybuilding.

Eating the right foods in the appropriate amounts provides your muscles with the nutrients they need to recover from workouts and grow bigger and stronger.

Conversely, consuming the wrong foods or not consuming enough of the right ones will leave you with subpar results.

Here are foods you should focus on and foods to limit or avoid:

Foods to Focus On

The foods you eat don’t need to differ between the bulking and cutting phase — usually, it’s the amounts that do.

Foods to eat include:- 

Meats, poultry and fish: Sirloin steak, ground beef, pork tenderloin, venison, chicken breast, salmon, tilapia and cod.

Dairy: Yogurt, cottage cheese, low-fat milk and cheese.

Grains: Bread, cereal, crackers, oatmeal, quinoa, popcorn and rice.

Fruits: Oranges, apples, bananas, grapes, pears, peaches, watermelon and berries.

Starchy vegetables: Potatoes, corn, green peas, green lima beans and cassava.

Vegetables: Broccoli, spinach, leafy salad greens, tomatoes, green beans, cucumber, zucchini, asparagus, peppers and mushrooms.

Seeds and nuts: Almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, chia seeds and flax seeds.

Beans and legumes: Chickpeas, lentils, kidney beans, black beans and pinto beans.

Oils: Olive oil, flaxseed oil and avocado oil.

Foods to Limit

While you should include a variety of foods in your diet, there are some you should limit.

These include:

Alcohol: Alcohol can negatively affect your ability to build muscle and lose fat, especially if you consume it in excess.

Added sugars: These offer plenty of calories but few nutrients. Foods high in added sugars include candy, cookies, doughnuts, ice cream, cake and sugar-sweetened beverages, such as soda and sports drinks.

Deep-fried foods: These may promote inflammation and — when consumed in excess — disease. Examples include fried fish, french fries, onion rings, chicken strips and cheese curds.

In addition to limiting these, you may also want to avoid certain foods before going to the gym that can slow digestion and cause stomach upset during your workout.

These include:

High-fat foods: High-fat meats, buttery foods and heavy sauces or creams.

High-fiber foods: Beans and cruciferous vegetables like broccoli or cauliflower.

Carbonated beverages: Sparkling water or diet soda.

Bodybuilding Supplements

Many bodybuilders take dietary supplements, some of which are useful while others are not.S
Trust

The best bodybuilding supplements include:

• Whey protein: Consuming whey protein powder is an easy and convenient way to increase your protein intake.
• Creatine: Creatine provides your muscles with the energy needed to perform an additional rep or two. While there are many brands of creatine, look for creatine monohydrate as it’s the most effective Trusted So
  
• Caffeine: Caffeine decreases fatigue and allows you to work harder. It’s found in pre-workout supplements, coffee or tea.Source
  

A multi-vitamin and mineral supplement may be helpful if you’re limiting your calorie intake in an effort to reduce body fat during your cutting phase.

One-Week Sample Menu

Monday

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with mushrooms and oatmeal.

Snack: Low-fat cottage cheese with blueberries.

Lunch: Venison burger, white rice and broccoli.

Snack: Protein shake and a banana.

Dinner: Salmon, quinoa and asparagus.

Tuesday

Breakfast: Protein pancakes with light-syrup, peanut butter and raspberries.

Snack: Hard-boiled eggs and an apple.

Lunch: Sirloin steak, sweet potato and spinach salad with vinaigrette.

Snack: Protein shake and walnuts.

Dinner: Ground turkey and marinara sauce over pasta.

Wednesday

Breakfast: Chicken sausage with egg and roasted potatoes.

Snack: Greek yogurt and almonds.

Lunch: Turkey breast, basmati rice and mushrooms.

Snack: Protein shake and grapes.

Dinner: Mackerel, brown rice and salad leaves with vinaigrette

Thursday

Breakfast: Ground turkey, egg, cheese and salsa in a whole-grain tortilla.

Snack: Yogurt with granola.

Lunch: Chicken breast, baked potato, sour cream and broccoli.

Snack: Protein shake and mixed berries.

Dinner: Stir-fry with chicken, egg, brown rice, broccoli, peas and carrots.

Friday

Breakfast: Blueberries, strawberries and vanilla Greek yogurt on overnight oats.

Snack: Jerky and mixed nuts.

Lunch: Tilapia fillets with lime juice, black and pinto beans and seasonal veggies.

Snack: Protein shake and watermelon.

Dinner: Ground beef with corn, brown rice, green peas and green beans.

Saturday

Breakfast: Ground turkey and egg with corn, bell peppers, cheese and salsa.

Snack: Can of tuna with crackers.

Lunch: Tilapia fillet, potato wedges and bell peppers.

Snack: Protein shake and pear.

Dinner: Diced beef with rice, black beans, bell peppers, cheese and pico de gallo.

Sunday

Breakfast: Eggs sunny-side up and avocado toast.

Snack: Protein balls and almond butter.

Lunch: Pork tenderloin slices with roasted garlic potatoes and green beans.

Snack: Protein shake and strawberries.

Dinner: Turkey meatballs, marinara sauce and parmesan cheese over pasta.

Thanks for reading .

Stay healthy and stay fit.