[thedoc (OP)]

kanishwar asked the Naked Scientists:
   
Does weight lifting effect growth in height. Many young students like me in their teens are afraid of going to the gym since they don't want to stunt their growth and also I am curious as to what dose effect your height growth except from your DNA which is a common one.what percent of a growth is controlled by the DNA. Please answer as soon as possible we are eagerly waiting.

sincerely from a high school student

The Naked Scientist is a fantastic webpage full of interesting facts!
What do you think?

[chris]

I think that weightlifting is very unlikely to impact negatively on growth. In fact, the reverse is probably true. Bones and muscles respond positively to exercise and loading, meaning that development will be enhanced by this exercise - assuming it's intermittent rather than the gym-equivalent of foot-binding - rather than restricted.

[RD]

The Effects of Physical Activity on the Epiphyseal Growth Plates:
A Review of the Literature on Normal Physiology and Clinical Implications

The recommendation that children, especially adolescents should not ... engage in heavy weight lifting and should concentrate mainly on such activities that encourages high repetitions at a very low weight

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3194019/

[evan_au]

Astronauts increase in height be a couple of centimeters, as gravity is no longer compressing their spines. They return to normal after a period on Earth.

But stretching your spine causes astronauts nerve pain, so I can't recommend it to make you look taller.

A moderate amount of exercise in a gym is good for you - a cardio workout is good for you and won't stunt your growth.

[chris]

I agree. Extremes are very likely to be detrimental. A bit of recreational weight lifting is unlikely to be harmful. The impact of jumping out of bed in the morning is one form of weight lifting after all!

[kanishwar]

Dose it effect height ?
All i do is :

One hand pushup 10
Pistol squats 10
Handstand pushup 10
pull ups 15
Legraises 10
Bridges 10

Sprint and then 1k of long distance

Working out since 13 years of age did no weights.can this stunn my height growth?

Both my parents are aproximately 1.63M but im 1.70M already and my parents say they didnt stop growing till 19.Im 16 there for i hope to grow another 10 cm am i expecting too much ?

[alancalverd]

Intense compression can indeed shrink the intervertebral discs and/or damage the epipyhsial growth plates, but the object of weight training (or indeed any other athletic training) is to stress parts of the body so that they overcompensate in recovery before any permanent damage is done. Without stress, the bones demineralise and muscles atrophy, which is why astronauts exercise against springs and bungees.

I haven't heard of weight training making anyone grow taller (but how would you know? You'd have to carry out a very unethical experiment with twins!) but repetitions will certainly strengthen bones as well as muscles.

Do be careful! At the age of 19 I used to show off by picking up the rear of my car to park it. One day I lifted my friend's car, which had a very different weight distribution, and I've spent the last 50 years in pain.