SPINE STRETCHING EXERCISES TO GET YOU A LONGER TORSO
Studies that evaluated the biochemical effect of torso stretches or stretching exercises showed that muscle length does increase during stretch application due to the viscoelastic properties of muscle [1].
To make your torso longer, three muscle stretching techniques are frequently described in the literature: Static, Dynamic, and Pre-Contraction stretches.
The traditional and most common type is static stretching, where a specific stretch position is held for a specified time and then repeated [2]
But no increase in muscle elongation occurs after 2 to 4 repetitions.
If you intend to use spine stretches to get a longer torso, we will focus our attention on the static stretches.
Static stretching generally focuses on elongating the musculotendinous unit (muscular and tendinous tissue) thereby increasing the distance between a muscle’s origin and insertion.
Below are the stretching exercises to increase height with pictures.
The following stretches will be effective enough to increase your torso height.
1. Cobra Stretch
This yoga exercise targets mainly the muscles in the middle of the back. It is very effective because it goes beyond targeting the muscles in the back.
According to the anatomy of Hath Yoga, three muscle groups are involved when performing the cobra stretch that is; the neck muscles, shoulder muscles and the back muscles.
The deep back muscles are the main actors targeting the chest as well as the abdominal muscles.
While performing this exercise, initially you will feel sore in the spine area but with time, you will feel less pain and resistance as your torso lengthens.
Starting Position:
With your stomach on the floor or an exercise mat and your hands positioned directly under your shoulders and fingers facing forward, begin the upward phase. Legs should be straight and toes pointed.
Upward Phase:
Gently exhale. Engage your abdominal/ core muscles to support the spine.
Press your hips into the mat or floor. Lengthen the torso and curl your chest away from the ground while keeping your hips stable.
Keep the shoulders rolling down and back.
Hold this position for 10 – 20 seconds.
Downward Phase:
Gently lower your upper body back to the mat or floor, lengthening the spine as you descend.
If you experience any pain in the lower back with this movement, don’t fret, it’s normal.
According to B.K.S Lyengar founder of Lyengar yoga, the pain experienced while performing cobra stretch is due to a weak area in the spine and back muscles.
The pinching feeling, implies that part of the spine is contracted as the intervertebral discs rub against each other.
If you experience such a feeling, Just flex your back a bit with a cat stretch which is described later in the article.
Since the length of your arms may differ, you may end up lifting your hips off the mat or floor as you fully extend your arms.
If that’s the case, limit the extension in your arms to keep the hips on the mat.
2. Hanging
Of course you will need a Stand alone pull-up bar to perform this exercise.
With the help of gravitational force, hanging from a bar decompresses the intervertebral discs
and it helps to stretch your back muscles as you hang freely.
This will also enable more nutrients to be supplied to the discs, and as they become thicker, it will contribute to your torso height.
Hanging from a bar also helps to undo the effects of poor posture especially poor sitting posture for long hours thus improving your over all well being.
Hanging is effective because with it, almost all the muscle groups for upper body right from the back of the shoulders are involved.
Hang to the count of twenty or 15 to 20 seconds if possible.
In the beginning, you may struggle to make 20 seconds but with time it will be much easier and you will be able to hang on to even 30 seconds or even longer which will make your torso long.
Repeat the exercise 1-3 times.
Hang at least once every day if possible.
3. Dry Swimming
Just a yoga mat or any other mat may be enough to perform this exercise especially if you are on a slippery surface.
This is one of the most effective upper body stretching exercises since it directly targets all the muscles of the upper body, the hip muscles inclusive.
With other exercises, you will stop experiencing strain sooner but with this one you will continue feeling sore because of the way it directly targets all the muscles. It’s also very effective when it comes to stretching the lower back to relieve back pain there by increasing your upper body height.
Lie down facing the floor with legs straight and arms straight and pointed forward. Be in a straight line.
Raise your right hand off the floor and diagonally from the body in sync with your left leg as shown in the picture and hold position for 5 to 10 seconds.
Relax for a couple of seconds and switch to the right leg and left hand.
Do 1-3 repetitions then stand up and relax the back bone by performing the cat stretch.
4. Cat Stretch
This exercise is effective in many ways but the reason I like it is the way it targets the spinal discs in between the back bones.
Flexing and relaxing the spine every time you perform it.
I particularly use it to relax my back bone immediately after performing the cobra as well as dry swimming exercise thus helping me to make my torso even longer.
However, you can as well utilize the cat stretch exercise to relieve mild back aches which are common when you perform the stretches.
It’s also an effective way to stretch the back muscles.
How to perform it
Get on your hands and knees with your arms extended slightly to shoulder width and knees slightly apart.
Inhale as you flex your spine down and raise your head.
Exhale as you bring your spine up into an arched position while lowering your head.
5. Toe touching
To execute this exercise, bend over and aim to touch your toes for 10 to 20 seconds as illustrated in the picture.
If you are not fit or you are struggling to reach your toes, repeat the exercise as many times as you can every day throughout the day until you become fit.
By the time you are able to touch your toes, your lower back or lumbar spine will be slightly lengthened.
The toe touch stretch will mainly target your lower back as well as the torso though even the popliteal fossa (region behind your knees) will be targeted.
Researchers have also linked tight hamstrings (the large muscles in the back of the thigh) to low back pain.
Hamstring tightness limits motion in the pelvis and can place it in a position that increases stress across the lower back.
Hamstring stretches often help ease the intensity of low back pain and the frequency of recurrences. Thus, performing this exercise will have a double impact on your back or spine.
In the beginning, the back of your legs will feel sore and you may fail to hang on for more than 10 seconds.
This will partly be due the fact that while executing this exercise, popliteal fossa region will be stretched. Hence you will be stretching your legs as well as your back bone.
Ensure that you don’t bend your knees and keep the legs straight to completely stretch your body from the legs to your back.
However, with time you will be able to hang on to up to a minute or so.
What You should do to Increase the Efficiency of the Stretches
1. You will need a daily stretching exercise routine to incorporate all or most of the exercises everyday and to know when to stretch to grow taller.
Don’t do any exercise any day and any time you feel like.
You will lose focus and become inconsistent yet consistency is very key .
2. You will need to increase growth hormones release while performing these exercises.
More on that may be found on the how to increase H.G.H in the body page.
3. You will also realize that the gains are sometimes not permanent and your height will be fluctuating throughout the day when doing these exercises.
This will be due to many factors like forces of gravity, muscles shrinking back to their original position after stretching, the cartilage between your back bone compressing back to it’s original position, poor sitting or sleeping posture and many other factors.
The different ways to mitigate such factors are discussed in the exercise routine handbook.
4. You should also watch your posture especially sitting posture otherwise poor posture will greatly affect your height as discussed on the how does posture affect height page.
5. keep your body hydrated throughout the day. Take at least 1 – 2 liters of water everyday .
6. Keep your body active when doing the stretches.
Don’t spend all day sitting or lying on your bed then just do the stretches.
Take a walk, go jogging, keep the body active to increase your chances of success.
7. The neck is part of your upper body, you will want to add some height to that part of the body too.
Visit the how to make your neck longer page to learn how to add some height to the neck.
8. Consult your physician or health care professional before performing the stretches especially if you have back bone complications or anomalies.
Never disregard or ignore professional medical advice because of something you have read on this site!
9. The spinal discs can as well be thickened which contributes to aggregate height.
FAQ
I’m busy with work and school.. I can’t possibly stretch in the morning because I’m so tied up with getting on-time to work. What should I do?
It doesn’t have to be morning though that’s the ideal time for the stretches. Utilize any free time you get through out the day then do at least 2- 3 stretches for 10 or so minutes.
Alternatively, do one stretching exercise for a minute in the morning then others when you have free time.
I feel back pain during the day when I do these stretching exercises.
Mild back pain is normal. It’s partly because the discs are relocating to their original positions before the stretches.
If the pain is severe, please consult a qualified physician otherwise dry swimming or cat stretch will relieve the mild pain while contributing to your height at the same time since it will be another opportunity for you to stretch and you will be decompressing the spine or preventing the discs from falling back.
For the different ways to make your height gains from stretching relatively permanent, download and read..
The Grow Taller After Puberty Exercise Routine Handbook here »»»
Hi Dennis!
This article about stretching/natural height increase has really improved my posture and given me a little bit of height as well. Thank you!!
~ Cate
AUTHOR BIO
As a short guy who was psychologically distressed almost everyday due to the challenges he faced in life accountable to his height, Dennis Raney (Bsc.) finally somehow found a way to overcome this adversity by naturally increasing his height with lifestyle and healthy changes.
He has been researching this topic for over a decade and practically applying the knowledge so he decided to share his wealth of information about the topic of increasing height both during and after puberty in the book and on this blog.
Feel free to connect with him for a conversation:
Email: Dennis »»
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