In addition to genetics, nutrition, and exercise, posture is also a critical factor that influences height growth. Therefore, it is essential to be mindful of certain bad postures if you wish to enhance your physique and increase your height.
Individuals aspiring to achieve a taller height often dedicate considerable time to researching and investing in a nutritious diet and regular exercise. However, many people unknowingly neglect the importance of maintaining proper sitting and lying postures. This oversight can significantly impact height growth and development, especially in young children. Below is a list of 12 bad postures that should be immediately avoided to ensure optimal height improvement.
W sitting posture
The W-shaped sitting posture is a common position often seen in young children. However, this posture can have negative effects on their height development. Researchers suggest that when a child sits with their legs bent in a W shape, it directly affects their leg muscles.
Additionally, young children’s bones are relatively soft, making them susceptible to increased pressure on the cartilage when sitting in this position. This pressure can hinder proper bone development and may contribute to misalignment or curvature of the leg bones.
Prolonged sitting in the W-shaped position can lead to deformed skeletal muscles, compromised walking posture, and a potential impact on height. If you notice that your child frequently sits in the W-shaped position, it is important to remind and guide them to adopt a correct and more suitable sitting posture.
The posture of sitting on the ground, leaning back with straight arms on the floor:
Sitting flat on the ground while leaning back with straight arms on the floor can disrupt the natural curve of your spine by pulling your pelvis back. This position is not conducive to improving your height. Instead, consider adopting a different sitting posture that promotes height increase.
One alternative is kneeling with your feet on the ground while keeping your back straight and toes touching the ground. This sitting position helps elongate the lower body, effectively stretching the leg muscles and potentially stimulating height growth.
By adopting this posture, you encourage proper alignment of the spine and promote the elongation of leg muscles, which may contribute to height improvement. Say “goodbye” to the flat sitting position and embrace the kneeling posture if you desire to enhance your current height.
Hunched forward posture:
Sitting hunched forward causes the pelvis to tilt back in an attempt to balance the body and avoid leaning forward. This results in the spine being bent into a C shape, leading to pain and tension in the spine and potentially limiting height growth even during puberty.
Reclined posture:
Sitting back and leaning back is suitable for certain situations like cars and airplanes, where it helps the body resist forward push without back support. However, in other cases, reclining means your body is sitting on an unsuitable surface, putting a lot of pressure on the spine and causing discomfort and pain.
Cross-legged sitting position:
Sitting cross-legged is also an incorrect posture that can affect height increase. It tilts your hips upwards, straining the spine. If you sit cross-legged, adjust your sitting position to increase height by keeping your knees perpendicular to your hips to avoid affecting other parts of the body.
Sitting in a chair too low compared to the table:
When the chair is too low, the body becomes lower than the table, leading to a shortened pelvis and a crooked spine. To prevent adverse effects on the spine and height development, keep your body at a 90-degree angle to the thighs.
Sitting in a chair too high for your current height:
Using chairs that are too high causes gravity to bear down on your feet. As a result, the pelvis tilts back to balance the body, leading to discomfort and pain.
Sitting on a soft chair, pillow, or mattress:
Sitting on soft surfaces like a chair, pillow, or mattress causes your buttocks to sink and your pelvis to tilt back, making it harder for the body to maintain balance. To stay focused and avoid these issues, sit on flat surfaces like hard chairs or benches.
Swinging or curling legs up on a chair:
Sitting with swinging or curled legs on a chair is also a wrong posture that can limit height development in children. To promote height, get used to sitting with your thighs parallel to the ground and place your feet on a footrest.
Sitting with hands on the armrest of a chair:
Avoid sitting with your hands on the armrests of a chair as it can lead to contraction of the hands, shrinking of the shoulders, and affecting body height. Armrests are often not compatible with the length of human arms.
Prone position (sleeping on the stomach):
Sleeping on your stomach puts significant pressure on the spine, lower back, and other joints and muscles, restricting height growth. It can also strain the neck and hinder breathing and blood circulation.
Curved back position (fetal position while sleeping):
Sleeping curled up in the fetal position puts direct stress on the neck and back, and it can be a cause of sciatic nerve pain and hinder height growth, especially in children during puberty.
With this list of 12 bad postures that affect height growth, you can identify and adjust your posture to support better height development and avoid pain related to bones and joints, especially the spine, caused by sitting and lying in improper positions.
- Related post: What are the advantages of owning the ideal height?