Monthly Archives: August 2012

Increase Height And Grow Taller Riding A Stationary Bike With A Raised Seat

[UPDATE 2: One of the contributors to the website Sugata linked me to a page from the GrowTallerInfo.com website. I have already written up this post months ago about the possibility of increasing one’s height by riding a stationary bike with an elevated seat.]

[UPDATE: There is an added new edition to this post because I managed to find new information about the possibility of increasing height and grow taller from riding a stationary bike. It was found from Sky’s old website EasyHeight.Com using the Wayback Machine. The link for the actual information is HERE. Again, I will post what he had written years ago down below here.]

Another idea that has been talked a lot about in the height increase forums is through riding a stationary bike to increase height and grow taller. Apparently, there is actually a lot of information on this idea. I feel rather lazy today so I wanted to just give a few directions and not do any of the research. (Sorry about that).

If you wanted to try using the stationary bike to add to your height increase routine, the best option is to go to the Downloads section of this website and download the E-Product books and product for free and flip to the page or section where the use of a stationary bike is talked about. Nearly all of the Books in the Download section has a section dedicated to riding a stationary bike. Please refer to those pictures and exercise routines. 

The basic principle is to first ride the bike as intensely as possible. The main need there is to help release more growth hormone into your body from the sudden anaerobic exercise.  Another idea is claimed by some people to help create microfractures. Then as time progresses, the bicycles handles are supposed to be put further and further away from your hip or torso so that your leg will have to “stretch” out and farther to away from your main body which would give you longer legs and increase your height. To me, it just doesn’t seem even on a superficial level to make any scientifically valid sense. I would guess that if one did manage to gain any height increase, it was because one stretched out the cartilage, but not the bone structure.

Biking with raised saddle seat
 How it works:  It’s believed that by raising the saddle seat of a bicycle a quarter of an inch every 2 to 3 weeks, your hip and knee cartilage (NOT the shin bone) will lengthen in order to adapt to all the stretching and pulling forces.
Experimented by:  SkyStatistical Success Rate:  Medium (Athletes)
…….…………………………..Very Low (Others)
– Athletes, bodybuilders, or physically active individuals tend to achieve better results than others (physically inactive) when biking with raised saddle seat.Level of Difficulty:  Not Easy

Duration:  6 weeks (December 19, 2003 to early February 2004)

Result: Not conclusive.  I did not gain any centimeter.
– The result of this experiment is not available due to the fact that I only experimented biking with raised saddle seat for less than six weeks.
       Explanation: Although a few had success with raised seat biking; this method of height increase is difficult to perform. Your legs are unlikely balanced while biking and this may cause disproportional legs.  Sky and a few others tried biking with raised saddle seat but failed miserably because it’s not easy to balance their legs while sitting on the saddle seat.
Also, the saddle seat always shrinks or compresses down every week due to
the heavy weight of the body that exerts on it. Many believe that they’ve gained a quarter of an inch since they keep raising the saddle seat every week; when in fact, it’s actually the saddle seat shrinking down but NOT the growth in their shin bone or knee.
 Evidence:  There has NOT been any evidence or any credible success story about anyone who has grown taller by cycling with raised saddle seat. Frankly, if biking really helps to increase height, wouldn’t Lance Armstrong and his Discovery Team be the first to know?
Cycling also provides great benefits for osteoarthritis sufferers. The motion of your legs and hips can actually thicken cartilage in these areas, according to research. And unlike other exercises such as jogging, biking doesn’t wear down your joints. Aim to ride for 30 to 40 minutes three to five times a week at 60 to 90 revolutions per minute (RPMs), the ideal pace for building cartilage, says Theodosakis. (Most stationary bicycles give RPM readouts; you can also buy a counter at a sporting goods store.) If this pace is too challenging, start at a more comfortable pace and quit when you’re tired. You’ll gain speed and endurance over time [FindArticles.com].

Note:  There’s a success story being discussed on several height forums about by a guy named “Leo” who claimed that he grew 2.5 inches in 4 months of vigorous biking with raised saddle seat. Well, this story is bogus! 
How to bike with raised saddle seat?  Click here! 

1. December 19th – 26th, 2003: Biking was my very first method that I applied to grow taller. I remembered vividly that it was Christmas 2003 and the weather was so cold in Philly (USA). Everyday, I rode the bike alone with a raised saddle seat for 2-3 hours every night for 7 days straight.  Back then, I did not use ankle weights. Anyway, after the first week of biking, I caught a cold, got sick, and was coughing. And worst, I lost my voice and couldn’t speak for a week. As a result, I was forced to stop the biking routine.

 

2. January 2004: One week after recovering from that wicked cold, I was a little frustrated because I honestly believed in biking with raised saddle seat. I hated Christmas 2003 and thought it was one of the worst ever!  Somehow, I just kept on going. A few days later, I immediately went online to Wal-mart.com Sports & Fitness and purchased a stationary bicycle that cost $78 US.

Marcy Magnetic Bike

(from Wal-Mart)

Vertically biking…….Horizontally biking

Gradually, I discovered other methods with ankle weights. I’m wearing 10 pound ankle weight each leg while vertically stationary biking on a raised saddle seat. Also, horizontally biking is much easier than vertically biking because your legs are better balanced.

 

5. I customize the bicycle by pulling out the chain & removing the back tire. Then, I anchor the front tire with plastic containers, and put a chair behind the bike to transform it into a stationary bike.

6. Later on, I found out that the saddle seat of my stationary bike was not high enough. So I customized it. Click here for more info.

It has been suggested that cycling with raised saddle seat for 18 to 20 miles everyday would increase the shinbone length by 1/4 inch every 2 or 3 weeks. It’s very difficult but someone out there should experiment & report back their progress! Stationary bikes are preferred over traditional bikes because the convenience of cycling indoor regardless of weather conditions. Good stationary bikes can be found at any fitness clubs at the cost of membership subscription, or simply purchase a cheap stationary bike and then customize it as outlined below.


Equipments you need to raise the seat of your stationary bicycle

 
Tool #1: drill bit
Go to your local hardware store or Home-Depot and find some drill bits.. and choose the one that fits the hole of your stationary bicycle bar.The drill bit I’m using is 11/32” (0.86 cm). It costs about $4.49 @ Ace Hardware Store. The brand is High Speed Steel.		 Tool #2: bolts & nutsYou need 4 bolts. The bolts I’m using are 5/16” x 2”. It costs about 52 cents for each @ Home Depot.
Also, you need 4 nuts. The nuts I’m using are 5/16”. It costs about 96 cents for each @ Home Depot.

Tool #3: bolt hub-caps
You need some bolt hub-caps so you can tighten them up with the bolts.
Tool #4: bar
You need a copper, metal, or nylon bar so that you can insert inside the saddle seat bar to lengthen it. It’s very important that you must find a bar that must fit the saddle seat bar perfectly.. if it’s not perfect, the saddle seat will shake when you actually biking.		 Tool #5: Of course, you need a stationary bike.. above is the stationary bike that I purchased from Wal-mart. Click here to find out. Or, go to Yahoo.com search engine and find the one that you like.


How Sky customized his stationary bike which he bought online from Wal-mart

 
Before: This is what the stationary bike looks like before I customize it. After: This is what the bike looks like after I customize it. The saddle bar is now 5 inches longer than before.
Step 1: First, you need to remove the saddle seat from the stationary bike. Step 2: Cut the saddle seat in half.
Step 3: Insert the copper tube in between the 2 cut-ends of the saddle bar..Note: I’m using the copper bar because it fits perfectly into the saddle bar.. you may try copper, nylon, metal, or any other bar so that it will fit the size of the saddle bar. Step 4: Put the bicycle saddle bar on a platform and ready to drill some holes. 
Step 5: Then, I use the drill bit size 11/32” to drill 4 holes in between the saddle bar and the copper tube hidden inside. Step 6: Then, get some bolts, nuts, bolt hub-caps..and tighten up the 4 holes.
Step 7a: This is what the saddle bar looks like after it’s complete.. it’s now 5 inches longer than before.Note that the 4 holes that I drill go through both the saddle bar and the copper bar hidden inside. Next, I insert the bolts through both the saddle bar and the copper bar.. and I tighten them up. Step 7b: This is the close-up zoom of the saddle bar and how bolts & nuts are tightened.

Finished product: Mission accomplished!

 

Cycling with raised seat success stories
Note: The following success stories are among the best out there. They sound quite credible.1) posted by: Leo
When I was 23 years old I used to cycle to college which was about 10 miles away – so there and back is 20 miles in total. I read somewhere about increasing saddle height so your legs are stretched when you cycle – so it gives a slight pull on the legs. It’s bloody sore to start off with but you get used to it after a week. I done this every day for 4 months (along with plenty of protein drinks) and increased the length of my legs by over 2.5 inches – increasing saddle height 1/4 inch every few weeks. I honestly believe that any one regardless of age can achieve this and more – the legs are literally forced to grow to accommodate all that pulling and stretching.But I never see anyone else singing the praises of cycling to increase height – am I the only one?
Source: http://www.gettaller.da.ru

2) posted by: Anonymous
“Cycling for height”
July 10 2002 at 5:31 AM
Anonymous: Well, I don’t know if this is true but I know I increased the length of my legs a few years ago by doing the cycling exercise whereby you have to make sure your legs are fully stretched. I used to cycle 15 miles a day and the growth was really rapid – and I was 27 years old. I’m surprised this sort of thing isn’t featured more on this forum as it really works.

Ann’s question for anonymous: Was the height you gained in your legs permanent? How much did you gain? So simply cycling should help or are there stretches/exercises for the legs specifically that would get the same results?

Anonymous’ response: Yes it was permanent. I just made sure I cycled every day and I ate a healthy diet supplemented with protein powder. I also got at least 8 hours sleep a night. I just can’t see why all you people find it so hard to increase your height – it’s easy. If you put the effort in and stay healthy then the growth will come. An interesting point is that when I cycled for just 6 to 7 miles a day not much happened but when I cycled 15 miles every day then I really noticed the increase. I used to increase the saddle height 1/4 almost every 2 weeks.

Anonymous’ other post:  “It was me who posted that”
Well I’m glad some people took some notice of my post –I haven’t visited this site for a while because nobody seemed interested in this method of height increase. Like I said you have to do a lot of miles almost every day to notice the effect… 5, 6, 7 miles isn’t enough. You must do at least 15 miles of hard cycling and make sure that your legs and feet are stretching every time. If you’re doing it properly – and eating correctly – it should only take a couple of weeks to gain ¼ inch.Obviously the younger you are the better the results you are going to get but you can still get good results no matter how old you are. This is the best method of height increase I know and more people should put the effort in and at least give it a try.

3) posted by: BG
I grew an inch from cycling.. I joined a serious cycling club and did about 40 kms a week. I have grown from under 5’11 to 6’0, my goal is 6’1. I was very pleased with this as I tried 100 other methods including hanging, stretching and basketball, and I never grew a cm. 1 km = 0.621 mile… 40 km = 24.8 miles

4) posted by: 5ft8guy
“Really?”
September 11, 2003, 1:10 AM
For real? you grew by raising the saddle? I used to ride my bike to work and I liked to make my saddle height really high. I was like 5’4.5 or 5’5 when I was 15 and I became 5’8 when I turned 16. then i got my driver’s license and never bike to work again and i never grew anymore. Let me know if you kept on growing by raising the saddle, I wanna know if it really helps! keep this thread updated!

Increase Height And Grow Taller Using Multivitamins And Supplements, Or Not

Let me state first that I have had a rather long day and I am tired so my writing may be more sharp than usual. I wanted to talk about the idea of using multivitamins, supplements, herbal extracts, special concoctions, protein compounds, steroids, growth hormones, and all the rest of those stuff to make you taller.

Let me explain something very clearly. Once you past puberty and your growth plates have ossified and fused with the bones, there is no oral intake compound or supplement that can make you taller. Let me list all of the hypothetical ideas or oral intake stuff that are claimed to allow you to grow taller on the internet.

1. Herbal Extract Formulas or supplement

2. Protein Formulas contained a mixture of Arginine, Orthonine, Glutamine, Lysine, etc.

3. Steroids like cortisol, any compound ending with a “anabol”, or “one”

4. Growth Hormones – like Genotropin, Somatopin, Humatrope,

5. Multivitamins , whether organic, all natural, 100% naturall, supplements, no side effects, and anything similar

6. Strange, Mythical, Magical, Ancient Buddhist Esoteric Shangri-la derived potions

7. Calcium & Vitamin D

8. Glucosamine & Chondroitin

9. Prescription or Non-Prescription Drug

10. Internet scam and quackery claims

None of them will work, at least not at the level you desired. If you ever see a claim or product on the internet that says that it will help you increase by 3-4 inches in 3-6 months, turn around and run as fast away as possible. I have personally looked at over dozens of these types of product and not one has any potential or real scientific data backing up their claims.

Let me tell you what could possibly have maybe a 0.1%-1% chance of working (but that only means 1 inch of extra height or less), if you took it because there has been some scientific research studies which did show some effects. The two that seem to work for a very small minority of test subjects were certain types of steroids and growth hormones. However, the amount one would need to take to see maybe just 0.25 of an inch increase would be at a level that would definitely be unhealthy for the person taking the drug. I do want to remind the person who decides at this point to go to their local GNC or online black market pharmacy to buy steroids or growth hormones that these types of “drugs” are very dangerous and expensive. Most bodybuilders who get asked the question by young teens who are still growing where they can get HGH or steroids to grow taller get very angry at them for even thinking of such a thing. I still don’t know enough about the effects of many steroids to be able to give that same type of judgement. However , I do agree with them that one should not consider such a path which can possibly ruining one’s endocrine or hormonal system so early in life and also suffer through the consequences later.

Note: It is very important to remember that if you are still young enough and still growing, most of the top message does not apply to you. Some of the supplements can possibly work, most specifically the growth hormone therapy where you get injections throughout a long range of time. However, even that therapy is very time consuming and expensive, and often allows one to only gain another 2-3 inches. If you don’t want to take that path, focus on getting all the necessary vitamins and minerals. Do a complete blood analysis check to see if you might be deficient in any vitamins or minerals. Vitamin A and Vitamin D are often the most cited vitamins Americans seem to be really low on.

One of my ideas and points of the website is to show that for certain types of people, they still grew even after their long bones closed, but they did it through another path, maybe from increasing the cartilage in their joint and then the outer edge cartilage ossifying which could cause added height. The best example are people who had suffered gigantism when they were young and still had their growth plates open. When their plates closed and they were in their late 20s, the gigantism turned into acromegaly but that condition meant they still kept growing, even thought they are not supposed to.

There are currently places on the internet where legitimate research is being done to see whether there are such a compound that could do what the scams claims. So far, there is no “magic potion” .

 

Theories And Ideas On How To Reopen The Fused Epiphyseal Growth Plates

One of the basic ideas that people have thought about on how to grow taller was to reopen the fused epiphyseal growth plates. We learned very early on that the growth plates get thinner and thinner until they disappear from endochondral ossification. The hyaline cartilage turns into bone and there is no elastic material to expand and lengthen the bone anymore. If we can figure out a way to recreate or reopen the growth plates, then we can start growing again.

The body will go through the process of cartilage to bone ossification naturally. There is no problem there. The problem is how to get the cartilage back. Here are a list of ideas that either I or other people have thought about on how to reinitiate the plates.

1. Create a small distraction in the long bones and place in an implantation of stem cells that can then differentiate into the chondrocytes needed to proliferate.

2. Create a small distraction in the long bones and place in an implant of chondrocytes

3. Create a small distraction in the long bones and place a piece of hyaline cartilage that the body is willing to accept

4. Create a small distraction in the long bones, add a fixator and use Low Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound (LIPUS) to speed up the healing process.

5. Create a small distraction in the long bones, add a fixator and use Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy to speed up the healing process.

6. Create a small distraction in the long bone and implant a mixture of chondrocytes and stem cells.

7. Inducing micro fractures and/or fractures and getting stem cells from the medullary cavity to reach the micro fractures and differentiate into chondrocytes.

8. Inducing micro fractures and/or fractures and implanting stem cells into the locations to differentiate into chondrocytes.

9. Inducing micro fractures and/or fractures and implanting chondrocytes in the fracture locations to proliferate.

I wanted to make a note to the reader that one can not medically reopen the epiphyseal growth plates per se since the growth plates have already transformed through ossification into bone. You can not reverse the process of going from cartilage to bone, at least not that I know of. What I meant by reopening the plates is how to we get the right materials back in the located of where the old growth plates used to be.

If you happened to think of some other way to get the right materials back in the right places again to reinitiate the lengthening of bone, please don’t hesitate to send me an email so I can edit and add to this list of theories and ideas. Thank you.

The Reasons You Should And Should Not Go Through With Limb Or Leg Lengthening Surgery

Of all the methods and techniques that are proposed to increase one’s height, the only one that will clearly work is the surgery where one get their legs cut open, separated, and slowly using metal screws increased in length while everything is held together. When it come to trying to manipulate and mold the human bone, anything beside blunt force and knife incisions will have little effect. There are many height increase ideas being developed currently like using low frequency ossilating pulses, implants, stem cells, and DNA manipulation, but the limb surgery is still the one method that has worked and will continue to work as long as it is allowed.

So we know that it does work. However, the complications involved with the surgery, the pain, the expense, and the emotional and mental effort one has to put in makes the surgery a very controversial subject and decision. If you have ever considered the idea of going through with the surgery and told your family or friends, the most likely reactions are confusion, anger, shame, and fear.

Your mother might start crying and say something like “You are perfect the way you are. Why would you want to put yourself through such a painful and horrifying experience jus tot gain a few inches?”

Your father might get angry and start shouting and try to argue with you to change your mind with “Are you crazy? Or stupid?! Do you realize that you will have to give up your schooling or work for at least 6 months-1 year to go through with this cockamaney idea! Who put this in your mind?”

Your brother might be confused and state “You are crazy for going through with this…Is it because you are worried you can’t find a girlfriend/boyfriend because you are short? I am only slightly taller than you and I am fine with my own height”

Your friends would try to understand but also concerned about you and go with something like “Wow, I can’t imagine ever putting myself through that type of pain and hell. It is your life and body and you will ultimately have to choose what you want to do. I wouldn’t recommend it. Can I help in some way?”

All of them have their own reasons to act and react the way they do. All of their concerns and fear are well founded. If they try to convince you to reconsider or get out of the idea of limb and leg surgery they are doing it out of real caring for you.

So the main question is…

“What are the main real reasons you have for why you have decided to go through with limb lengthening surgery?”

right after this question is answered, the logical next question is

“Is the reasons you gave on your desire really valid and good enough to justify going through such a painful process which will affect all the rest part of your life?”

So let’s look at this issue really deeply. I personally wanted to go into my own psyche to figure out the real WHY? and the other question sS IS IT REALLY WORTH IT?

Here is my own list of reasons that would be good enough to justify why I decided to purposely cut my own leg in half to only reattach it slowly back together in what can only bedescribed by most people as a most painful manner.

1. I want to be taller so I can have a better chance at meeting someone who can like me without worrying about the size difference.

2. I want to be taller so I don’t have to suffer through the emotional and mental pain of feeling like I am not worthy.

3. I want to look at myself in the mirror and be happy with what I see

4. I want to get other people to stop teasing about my short stature

5. I want to be taller so that people will stop rejecting me as a potential and immediately citing my height as the main reason they won’t even give me a chance.

Now, here are my own list of reasons that would not be worth it. At least for me. (For men mostly)

1. I want to be tall enough to be able to play in professional basketball

2. I want to be taller so that my coworkers would start respecting me instead of making fun of me.

3. I want to be taller so that the girl who had rejected me can look at my changes and regret not going out with me

4. I want to prove to other people that I am just as good as them.

5. I want to be tall enough so that my girlfriend can now wear high heels.

6. I want to be taller so that I can get all the girls to find me attractive

7. I want to be tall so that other men can find me more intimidating

If we look at the reasons which make sense, and the reasons which don’t make sense, we can kind of guess what what really makes a reason valid. If the reason you want to go through the surgery is from an intrinsic internal source of desire to make yourself feel happier about yourself, go do it. However if you want it so that you can satisfy the desires and expectations of other people and the rest of the world, you shouldn’t. You can never be able to make everyone happy, keep everyone satisfied.

If your reason is so the external world will stop judging you on your height and to remove the constant teasing and ridicule you get for this state, go do it. If however your reason to ge the surgery is to show off your new body and invalidate the beliefs and opinions of others, don’t. There is no way you can truly change the thoughts and feelings of other people. In conclusion, please understand that you are ultimately going to do or not do this surgery for yourself, so that you can find peace and acceptance and remove the suffering in your life, but definitely not for others because you can never appease other people’s expectations.

Increase Height Using The Shinbone Method Or Shinbone Technique

This method or technique called the Shinbone was a really interesting and unique case because of the people associated with it development. There was a guy named Sky which came along around the 2006-2009 period (I am not sure about the real dates since I haven’t done all the research) who wanted to form some type of group or organization to find the solution to our height increase problem. His answer to the issue was a very radical and original method.

If I was to summarize how his method worked, it would be a combination of 1. Microfractures and 2. Ankle Weights. The personal will have to first do some really high intensity anareobic exercises like jumping up and down with weights, and than doing some sprints. The idea is that the high intensity exercise will allow certain areas on the lower leg bones, the tibia and fibula to develop microfractures, at least in the vertical direction. After the microfractures occur, one must put on heavy ankle weights, and use the force of gravity with the weights to push downward on the shine bone to expand and stretch the bones which now have the fractures.

There was a group formed, a lot of testing was done with home made equipment, and plans to expand the method to other cities. The guy named Sky kept on making a lot of claims and in the end he never revealed what the resutls showed. The forums were left wondering what happend and they never got their answer. In my opinion, the guy tried to get this specific method to work, and the result was not what he wanted. The shinbone method didn’t seem to work .

This is my conclusion on this most unique of ideas, at least at this current time. If you are still interested in finding some routine to do with ankle weights hoping to increase your height, refer to my post on Ankle Weights, Part I (link below) which does give at least 3 ideas and routines on how to use the ankle weights to gain extra height.

If you wanted more information about the technique, please go to another post I wrote about Ankle Weights, Part I and Part II. You can also refer to the article on microfractures located HERE.

Lateral Synovial Joint Loading Explained In Simple English

Lateral Synovial Joint Loading Explained In Simple English

Update Dec 30,2013: I wanted to bring this post back up for people who are thinking about trying the method out for the first time. Some of the directions given on the first website is hard to follow. This post was originally written back in Aug of 2012 and I wanted to see if this post would still be of high value even more than a year later. 

I knew one day I would have to do a review, or summary on this method/technique because I know that no real or legitimate height increase website would be complete without this technique. Now, this idea is very well substantiated with the science behind the physiology and anatomy of at least mouse bodies. When it comes to humans, it is still very iffy. Tyler from HeightQuest.Com is the person who has been promoting this method for at least 2 years and the results seem to be that he grew from 5’9′ to 5’10” (Note: Jimmy, a reader of this site from the US has informed me that Tyler’s actual height increase was from 5′ 8.5″ – 5′ 10″. Edit made). If I was to play devil’s advocate, I would say that Tyler could have gotten that kind of height increase through some basic stretching and maybe yoga. Now that is not a lot but it is substantial enough to show that the technique can work.

This method would be the most simple, and cost effective way to gain real extra height. I would probably endorse and promote this method along with one other possible method, the Qigong one, which I have talked about extensively before and you can read about HERE (Part I) and HERE (Part II). The blog and website seems to be created from a person who is truly sincere and not trying to sell anything or trick anyone. However, even the qigong method goes into the area of pseudoscience and mysticism which some people would not consider or don’t believe in. If that is the case, this may be the only reasonable option.

It has taken me 2 entire days and at least 12 hours of reading, learning, and researching mostly unknown medical terms to figure out what Tyler is talking about. The biggest help was reading up on Yokota’s Joint Loading Modality which I had written a very short review and analysis on HERE.  The main article and link I read were these on his site and I managed to piece everything together into a very user friendly method. It will be explained as simple as possible.

Note: This article due to the nature of the method will most likely be altered and changed over time to fit with new information and scientific studies. If Tyler sees any point or place I have made an error in logic or methodology, please tell me so I can fix it. If you have read this and still don’t understand what to do, email me and I will either try to answer your question or edit this article/ post to make it easier to understand for people.

Note 2: I have never fully understood why the fibula is never mentioned. I haven’t figured out the growth or ossification process of the fibula, and whether if you just stretch the tibia, the fibula will stretch along with it. 

So the height increase method or technique is called Lateral Synovial Joint Loading. In laymen’s term that just means you find ways to compress or push a certain area of your leg with enough force and maybe also at the right speed or rate (aka frequency).

I will break up this method into 5 parts, Location, Equipment, Amount of Force And Freqency, Supplements, Theory .

1. Location

I am just going to talk about the most common synovial joint right now. That is the one for the lower leg, the tibia.

The exact location on your body you are supposed to compress/push is the area in the upper part of your lower leg, right below the knee area. If you just read the name of the method Lateral Synovial Joint Loading, you can guess that the method involves putting some load (aka compressing down on) on the synovial joint of the lower leg bone in a lateral (aka side) direction. The picture on the right shows where the synovial joints are. The exact location is actually two places. You want to compress the bone with some form of clamp (or flat stiff surface and weight) so one part of the clamp goes on one side of the upper tibia and the other side of the clamp goes on the other side. The exact location or spot is on the location for the picture of the right just maybe 0.75-1.25 inches under where your patella (aka knee cap) is located, assuming you are a normal sized person (5 ft- 6 ft). Note the arrows that say “lateral meniscus” and medial meniscus”. The clamps must go just below (maybe .25-0.5 inches) the regions labeled lateral meniscus and medial meniscus. The area of the leg to apply the clamp should be from the side, not front and back.

One of the things you have to learn and understand is the terms of the parts of the long bones, specifically the femur, tibia, humerus, and maybe the ulna. The epiphysis is the protruding ends of the long bone while the diaphysis is the middle part that is more cylindrical and thinner. The epiphysis is what must be compressed, from the sides, both left and right. Remember that the real location of the places to clamp or compress is usually where you can feel on your leg or arm that is protruding out, which is not surrounded by too much muscle or ligaments. That means that you can push down on it without hurting your ligaments or muscles that much.

2. Equipment

You have to clamp down on the bone. Since bone is a very hard material, your hands and arm strength will not be sufficient to cause real bone deformation (unless you are either extremely strong with your hand or you suffer from weak bones). The equipment talked about by Tyler is a C- clamp. From Home Depot or any hardware store, it could cost you around $15-20. If you have ever worked in a chemistry lab or any type of lab where you need to hold something in place ,you know what a clamp is. If you don’t, refer to the picture on your right. Using a clamp is probably the cheapest option you have, which probably would do the work. For the experiment done on the mice, the equipment to subject limb size ratio was far bigger, but I don’t know where we could find some other bigger clamp at a reasonable price.

There is really at least 10 places where there are synovial joints you can compress at, the wrist area, right below the elbow area, the location right above your your knee cap, the location right below your knee cap, and your ankle area, and the thickness and morphology of the joints require that you will need more than just one type of clamp. For the wrists and ankles, you can use a smaller clamp, like a mini clamp. The cost to buy a mini clamp from Lowe’s or Home Depot can be as cheap as $10-15

3. Amount of Force and Frequency

There is two types of equipment I had talked about, clamps and dumbbells/weights.

With clamps, you have to find out where the location you should compress on. Once you find it, you put the clamp ends on the right location and turn the lever until you feel the bone underneath the skin deform a little. There is no quantified I can give at this moment. The only thing is that if you found the right place, the clamps compressing down should not hurt that much since you are only hitting bone (there will be some pain because you are pushing also against some skin). So, turn the lever of the clamp until you feel that the epiphysis has reached some level of deformation. For the experiments done of mice forearm ulna, it took very little force and a small frequency only a show time to see results. Clamp down for at least 30 seconds up to 75 seconds, 1-2 times everyday. Repeat the step for 3-5 consecutive days. It is okay to not do the exercise 1-2 (non consecutive) days of the week to let the  bones heal themselves.

With weights, on Tyler’s blog he uses weight or dumbbells up to 60 lb to 75 lb as the compressing force. You are supposed to take the head of the dumbbell and weights and push them down on your synovial joint epiphysis (whether it is knee, wrist, ankle, elbow) while the long bone is layer down flat on the hard firm ground or another firm surface that won’t move. With your knees, you can that only by sitting down in a lotus position with the leg you want to compress the one actually laying on the ground (with your other leg you can put on top of the other one or something else). Hold the dumbbell handle and lay it on the right place (the synovial joint) and push down for at least 30 seconds up to 75 seconds, 1-2 times everyday. Repeat the step for 3-5 consecutive days. It is okay to not do the exercise 1-2 (non consecutive) days of the week to let the  bones heal themselves. Then repeat the process.

4. Supplements

The only two supplements that have been consistently talked about in height increase forums and discussions are Calcium with Vitamin D and Glucosamine with Chondroitin. The Calcium with Vitamin D is used to make the matrix of the bone cell (osteon) within the cortical bone part stronger. The Glucosamine with Chondroitin is to somehow help with preventing cartilage degeneration. I still haven’t figure out how the glucosamine with chondroitin exactly prevents cartilage degeneration but for the cost of say $30 for the Calcium with Vitamin D and $30 for the Glucosamine with Chondroition, I would say it is worth it for you to buy and take in your endeavor to increase your height. The supplements are safe so “why not?” I say.

Update: After finding another article on HeightQuest.Com entitled “Lateral Synovial Joint Loading Supplement Guide” I realize that the list of supplements I had put up previously (only talking about Calcium w/ Vitamin D & Glucosamine w/ Chondroitin)  is severely lacking and a much better and more complete listing of supplements can be found from Tyler’s site if you click on the link above. Sorry about that.

5. Theory

Note: You do have to learn some medical (specifically orthopedic) terminology to understand the theory behind the method.

I am going to try to make the theory as simple as possible. First let’s define the name “Lateral Synovial Joint Loading”.

“Lateral” means side. “Loading” means a pushing on, or applying force to. So “lateral loading” is means putting a force on from the side direction. If you take the palm of your hand and push the side of a  tower of jenga blocks to make it fall down, you applied a “lateral loading” or “pushed it on from the side”. “synovial joint” is the most common form of joint in  your body. There are 7 types of synovial cavity but the what makes a synovial joint a synovial joint is that all synovial joints have 3 main things (1. Synovial cavity, 2. Articular Capsule, 3. Articular Cartilage). The components and functions are not important to know at this time. You just have to know which joint in our human body are synovial joints. The elbow, knee, wrist, and ankle are all synovial joints. Thus, the term “lateral synovial joint loading” means to apply a force from the side on to either the elbow, knee, wrist, or ankle at a very specific position.

The specific position or location you have to apply a load (push upon) to is the epiphysis of the long bone. The Epiphysis is the protruding ends of the long bone, while the thinner middle part is called the Diaphysis. If you need a picture of what they look like look to the picture on the right (I know the picture is Copyrighted but until someone contacts me and tells me I can’t use it anymore, I’ll keep it up). The line that separates the epiphysis from the diaphysis is roughly where the growth plates used to be and fused at are. Inside the diaphysis and running into the epiphysis is this hollow area called the Medullary Cavity. This cavity is where the bone marrow lies and also where adult stem cells can be found. It is also also filled with interstitial fluid. The interstitial fluid is held inside the bone and that creates hydrostatic pressure pushing against the inner wall of the bone. (If you have ever taken a college class in fluid mechanic you understand what I am talking about).

The other thing you should understand is what the growth plates are made out of. The growth plates or epiphyseal plates were a type of cartilage called hyaline and made of mostly of collagen. The hyaline cartilage matrix is mostly made up of type II collagen and Chondroitin sulfate. If the cartilage is examined under the microscope, it will be found to consist of cells of a rounded or bluntly angular form, lying in groups of two or more in a granular or almost homogeneous matrix. The cells are called chondrocytes. It is the chondrocytes that really causes bone lengthen (thus height increase) and are what multiply through process called mitosis. The chondrocytes still alive go through mitosis and a part of the resulting chondrocytes change in form and function (aka differentiate) by ossification and degeneration into bone material by osteoblasts (bone cell units) and a part of the chondrocytes available keep on going through mitosis. The old chondrocytes develop on the diaphysis side to increase the length of the long bone while the new chondrocytes on the epiphysis side keep on going through mitosis to create more.

What the method of Lateral Synovial Joint Loading does is that by applying a certain amount of compressive force from the side on the ends of the long bone (aka the epiphysis), this forces 2 main reactions or processes to occur.

1. The compression causes the interstitial fluid inside to increase in flow downwards into the diaphysis and also causing the hydrostatic pressure in the hollow cavity in the bone to increase. Since we are pushing on the bone, the cavity should get smaller so the pressure inside should increase. This increase to hydrostatic pressure is theorized to increase or assist the stem cells to turn into chondrocytes (aka differentiation).

2. This causes the stem cells in the bone marrow in the medullary cavity to turn themselves into chondrocytes. The newly formed chondrocytes can then more readily go through the process of mitosis and endochondral ossification, which would lead to long bone lengthen, leading to height increase.

Note: I still can’t figure out just how the already existing stiff and strong cortical bones of in the diaphysis or epiphysis will fracture (aka go through distraction) to even allow the newly formed condrocytes to go through their natural processes. I would guess that a compressed epiphysis that leads to newly formed chondrocytes would only build on the inner wall of the medullary cavity and thicken the layer of cancellous bone inside the outer cortical bone shell.