Heavy Squats makes you SHORTER...

CADreaming09
CADreaming09 Posts: 269 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
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
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Replies

  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    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
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
    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
    Determinednoob Posts: 2,001 Member
    But they mess up your knees right?
  • itsuki
    itsuki Posts: 520 Member
    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
    MariaMariaM Posts: 1,322 Member
    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
    Tilran Posts: 627 Member
    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
    Rays_Wife Posts: 1,173 Member
    I'll take my chances.
  • fraser112
    fraser112 Posts: 405
    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
    ilovedeadlifts Posts: 2,923 Member
    heavy squats can cause some spinal compression.

    thats why you did the reverse hyper after squats..........
  • fit4lifeUcan2
    fit4lifeUcan2 Posts: 1,458 Member
    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
    guapogringo Posts: 201
    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
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
    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
    NanoBear Posts: 67
    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
    NatsukoG Posts: 104
    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 :smile:
  • Determinednoob
    Determinednoob Posts: 2,001 Member
    But they mess up your knees right?
  • ilovedeadlifts
    ilovedeadlifts Posts: 2,923 Member
    But they mess up your knees right?

    only if you break parallel :P
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
    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
    Yanicka1 Posts: 4,564 Member
    Shoot.......I am doomed
  • JustJennie1
    JustJennie1 Posts: 3,749 Member
    But they mess up your knees right?

    If done improperly yes.
  • phillieschic
    phillieschic Posts: 615
    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
    macdiver Posts: 145 Member
    Buy the hang upside down board thingy advertised late at night to counter the squats. It is suppose to make you taller.:laugh:
  • KittieLea
    KittieLea Posts: 1,156 Member
    Don't do it. I was almost 6 feet before I started squatting, now I'm only 5'2". It's just crazy.
  • BeautyFromPain
    BeautyFromPain Posts: 4,952 Member
    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
    mfkn_Titanium Posts: 131
    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
    ilovedeadlifts Posts: 2,923 Member
    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
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,228 Member
    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
    bigaris911 Posts: 18
    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
    BeautyFromPain Posts: 4,952 Member
    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
    76tech Posts: 1,455 Member
    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.

    lyra__dude_wut__by_aku641-d4nxigd.png

    Spinal compression is temporary.
  • onedayillbeamilf
    onedayillbeamilf Posts: 966 Member
    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.

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