Heavy Squats makes you SHORTER...

CADreaming09

Hello everyone,

I was recently introduced to heavy squats because I like squats and I thought adding weight might be kind of good, but I came across Lots of sites that say heavy squats and squats in general make you shorter?!?! WTF!!!

I really don't see how it would, but I haven't really researched it and this is my first attempt to get some opinions on it.

Does anyone believe this? Why does it make you shorter? And how?

Thanks:flowerforyou:

Frankie

WendyTerry420

That makes no sense at all. How can strengthening your muscles cause a decrease in the size of your bones?

Any squat I do is "heavy," since my body is so heavy! :laugh:

wellbert

I can see you being slightly shorter after doing them, for the same reason you're slightly taller in the morning.

It's just compression in your back.

Determinednoob

But they mess up your knees right?

itsuki

Oh, the internet. You never cease to amaze me.

Squats can TEMPORARILY compress the spine. Causing a tiny, hardly noticeable difference in some people that lasts all of half a day.

That is all.

MariaMariaM

This doesn't make sense to me at all. I am not sure how it can make you shorter. All I know is that it has given me legs of steel. There is no giggle and no cellulite.

Tilran

It cant make you physically shorter, it doesnt do anything to your bone size.....Only way you would be shorter is if you ruined your posture by doing them and you seemed shorter....but not actually shorter.

Rays_Wife

I'll take my chances.

fraser112

hey guys my mum told me saturated fat causes heart attacks? she says i just need to eat grapes on a fool moon and i will loose 10 pounds to.

i threw out my protein shakes aswell since they are steroids.

ilovedeadlifts

heavy squats can cause some spinal compression.

thats why you did the reverse hyper after squats..........

fit4lifeUcan2

You would have to herniate a lot of discs in your spine to lose height. I've lost 2 inches due to 5 herniated discs and 3 bulging discs but it took years upon years for this to happen. As we all age we do get shorter due to things like poor posture and disc problems. i wouldn't worry about heavy squats making me shorter.

guapogringo

heavy squats can cause some spinal compression.

thats why you did the reverse hyper after squats..........

I have always felt this and i do believe it is possible.

chivalryder

Spinal compression.

Think about it. Your spine was designed to hold up your body weight. Without strengthening your back, and throwing heavy weights onto your shoulders, your spine will be taking most of the load.

It was never designed to regularly hold such weight on your shoulders.

NanoBear

You lose about 1cm (about 2 fifths of an inch) every day due to gravity compressing your spine, and then you gain it back again at night while you're lying down. I can see squats possibly adding to that, but you still regain it at night.

NatsukoG

I've been doing squats regularly now since February this year. I was 171cm tall when I started and I'm still 171cm tall so I wouldn't worry too much

Determinednoob

But they mess up your knees right?

ilovedeadlifts

But they mess up your knees right?

only if you break parallel :P

wellbert

Spinal compression.

Think about it. Your spine was designed to hold up your body weight. Without strengthening your back, and throwing heavy weights onto your shoulders, your spine will be taking most of the load.

It was never designed to regularly hold such weight on your shoulders.

The weight is actually held by a system of sinew, muscle, and bone. Not just "your spine." When properly conditioned, the back can be loaded very regularly- as many people throughout history have known. Luo women, for example, carry nearly as much as their own bodyweight on their heads regularly.

Yanicka1

Shoot.......I am doomed

JustJennie1

But they mess up your knees right?

If done improperly yes.

phillieschic

Well, considering that I do up to 175 squats a day, based on this theory, I figure I'll basically be non-existent at some point...

Sometimes, the BS is just laughable! :drinker:

macdiver

Buy the hang upside down board thingy advertised late at night to counter the squats. It is suppose to make you taller.:laugh:

KittieLea

Don't do it. I was almost 6 feet before I started squatting, now I'm only 5'2". It's just crazy.

BeautyFromPain

I did end up shorter because of a direct result of my scoliosis.
My GP never told me that it can actually make the curve worse :noway: .. Well, apparently it can. :sad:

mfkn_Titanium

hmm....that's funny. I've been doing heavy squats since March. Last time I was at the doctor's office she measured me at 5'5" - I was 5'4.5" the last time I went (and all growing up I was closer to 5'4 3/4". My thought is the extra weight I've lost and the new confidence I have - I'm standing up with better posture now. So for me, nope, didn't get shorter, but am standing taller! (And my squats are currently at 160# which is heavier than my bodyweight...they're not crushing me!)

ilovedeadlifts

Well, considering that I do up to 175 squats a day, based on this theory, I figure I'll basically be non-existent at some point...

Sometimes, the BS is just laughable! :drinker:

why on earth are you doing so many reps?

UsedToBeHusky

Cartilage is kind of like a sponge. When you compress the cartilage, the fluid is expelled from it. When pressure is released from the cartilage, the fluid is sucked back in and fills it back up. Unlike a sponge, however, cartilage is a little more dense and it takes a little longer for the fluid to suck back in. This might cause a slight difference in height temporarily, but nothing that I would think would be significant.

Generally, it is accepted that strength training prevents the loss of calcium in the bones which is really the only clinical way to cause a significant reduction in height.

bigaris911

When playing football in HS I used to do squats all the time.


I'm 6'6.... and if I was taller I must have been sasquatch!

BeautyFromPain

Well, considering that I do up to 175 squats a day, based on this theory, I figure I'll basically be non-existent at some point...

Sometimes, the BS is just laughable! :drinker:

why on earth are you doing so many reps?

76tech

Spinal compression.

Think about it. Your spine was designed to hold up your body weight. Without strengthening your back, and throwing heavy weights onto your shoulders, your spine will be taking most of the load.

It was never designed to regularly hold such weight on your shoulders.

Spinal compression is temporary.

onedayillbeamilf

I think if that were true, then half the people in mfp would be "little people". Except the ones who were already short before they started. They would be dwarfs.