Does exercise increase bone length?!


Question: Does exercise increase bone length?
Answers:

It’s not only the exercise (if it’s aerobics) but more like the eating ravenously while having a growth spurt (while exercising a lot)...provided that you’re younger than 21 and still have growth plates.

But you can get more bone density (less porous/fragile bones) with the gentle pressure on the bones during weight training (anaerobics) that is absolutely great for older women so they can create more bone mass and fight osteoporosis.

Doing aerobics is fine, if you’re still growing and happen to hit a growth spurt and eat a lot.

Weight training is trickier if you’re a teenage boy with fragile growth plates as you could stunt your growth or get a growth plate fracture that would also stunt your growth.

People say that lifting weights will stunt your growth for a couple of reasons.

One of those reasons could be that the best bodybuilders are short, so people will assume they’re short because they lifted weights instead of growing. A person needs a certain amount of calories just to be alive, breathing and digesting…the Metabolic Rate. Then you have to add all the calories needed for activities (walking, moving around and doing anything). Then if you’re a growing teenager, you need several hundred calories more just for growth. Weight lifting and building muscle mass require a massive amount of extra calories. It is understandable to think that a person could use his “growth calories” for energy for muscle mass building, and therefore stunt his growth. Even an inactive teenage boy would need between 2,200 and 3,000 calories. He would have to eat more than that if he’s active and even more than that if he’s lifting weights and building muscle mass. Eating thousands of calories every day requires a lot of know-how and discipline, especially if you’re not the one doing the cooking, you cannot just eat tons of high calorie fast food junk and clog your arteries. It could be said that taller men are not bodybuilders because they already require a lot of calories, because of their height, and it’s just too hard to eat more. Also, the body always adapts to your goals…if your goal is to lift weights, you will do that better if you’re short so you have a better center of gravity and the weight that you have to lift over your head will not have to be so far off the ground. It’s a strong possibility that your body could adapt and stunt your growth to make you a better lifter.

Another reason could have to do with the growth plates which are where your bones grow, near the end of each bone, when you’re still growing. Growth plates are very soft and fragile, more fragile than ligaments. Their purpose is not strength; their purpose is to grow more bones. They’re the weak link.

Adults over the age of 21 do not have growth plates. They’re done with their growth and their growth plates hardened and became as hard as the rest of the bone. When lifting weight, you put a lot of pressure on your bones and joints. If an adult puts too much stress on a joint, he will tear the ligament (that hurts!).
On the other hand, if a growing teenager puts too much stress on a joint, he will get a growth plate fracture instead (growth plate fractures used to be life threatening or left you crippled if you survived). Messing up with your growth plates will mess up with your growth. Teenage boys will most likely get growth plate fractures than tore a ligament when being injured in any sports.

In the end, I would say that gentle weight lifting should be harmless, providing that you eat a good healthy diet, with enough nutrients to meet your body’s needs and tons of calories to make sure you get enough to allow for growth too. Don’t go all Schwarzenegger mode before the age of 21 so your body will not adapt and stunt your growth to make you a better lifter. Arnold is at least 6ft tall (6’2 with shoes) so you can do it the right way.



No, exercise does not increase bone length.
Though, weight bearing exercise (e.g. running) will increase bone density.
Similar cardiovascular exercise (e.g. swimming) will not increase bone density as it is not a weight bearing exercise - your weight is supported by the water.

Myself!



It increases bone density, and can make you taller by stretching out your spine



You may look taller is it helps you to have straighter back bone.




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