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Should I concentrate on leg lengthiness exercises first or leg thickening exercises first?

I am a guy age 30. Height : 5 feet 6 inches (1.67m). I have short and thin legs as compared to my upper body.

I want to add at least 1-2 inches to my lower body and make it muscular as well.

I am confused what to do first?

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welcome to Physcical Fitness! Read the FAQ and don't forget to vote & accept the answer(s). – FredrikD Nov 21 '12 at 8:43
Only posture correction (if out) can make you taller. Gaining more muscle will actually make you look shorter. – jontyc Nov 21 '12 at 9:26
Informaficker's right, there's no way to get taller. You can, however, use weightlifting to add muscle mass, and make yourself more physically impressive that way. And any lifting program that included heavy lifting for your lower body (i.e., squats and deadlifts) would give you thicker, more powerful legs. – DavidR Nov 21 '12 at 15:02
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A leg lengthening exercise? What exercise does that? – Kate Nov 21 '12 at 16:32

4 Answers

up vote 4 down vote

The only way to truly gain height (Assuming that you have stopped growing. An x-ray of your growth plates is the only way to determine that, although at age 30 it is extremely likely.) is for very expensive, painful and long recovery surgery.

Basically they saw your bone in half, use a frame to suspend the bones a bit apart from each other and let the bone "fill in" the gap. This costs anywhere from $25-100,000 US, requires a 6-9 month rehab process and might get you an inch. Maybe.

My advice would be to make peace with yourself, realize that your height is not abnormal and concentrate on making everything that you have look good.

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yeah, the Original Poster isn't abnormally short, there are plenty of 5'6" guys out there, and a lot of them are actually quite good at some sports. – DavidR Nov 21 '12 at 18:51
up vote 3 down vote

Sorry to crush your idea here, but there is no such thing as lengthening exercises.

The only way to get a bit more height, is to sleep. After sleep your spine is relaxed and you will be around 1cm taller, this effect wears off over the day and does not affect the legs, only the upper body.

I am no aesthetics expert so my advice would simply be to train your legs in general and maybe work on your posture to optically lengthen your legs. Wearing other pants might work as well.

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Thank you. However, in this case assume there is effective leg lengthening exercises. Now, which one to do first? – anilkumble789 Nov 21 '12 at 8:10
@anilkumble789 I don't see the point in answering such a theoretical question. – Informaficker Nov 21 '12 at 10:33
@anilkumble789 You should tell us what the specific leg lengthening exercise is. Then we can tell you if it's better to do that or strength training. – Kate Nov 21 '12 at 17:43
To be specific, you don't GAIN any height. You are your normal height in the morning. As the day goes by, you compress slightly and lose a bit of height. That's what comes back, you don't gain extra. I only state this considering the OP's insistence on lengthening. – JohnP Nov 21 '12 at 18:42
up vote 2 down vote

I'd work on making myself physically fit if i were you. After about the age of 25 people's bone are pretty well done growing. If you are younger there are some things you can do, such as exercise and eat healthy, that can help make you taller to an extent.

As an adult, the only real options you have are to have surgery. Barring that, I would do a beginners wieght lifting program, either Starting Strength or Strong lifts, to pack on muscle.

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up vote -1 down vote

You should work exclusively on leg lengthening exercises until they are close to the length that you want your legs.

Then switch to a hybrid approach that combines leg lengthening exercises with leg thickening exercises. You don't want to stop the leg lengthening exercises too suddenly.

Eventually, you can gradually switch entirely to leg thickening exercises.

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-1 Please provide an example of a leg lengthening exercise. – Informaficker Nov 30 '12 at 23:23
Why? The guy believes he has access to one, so I think he should do that for as long as necessary. If you want to know about leg lengthening exercises, it should be a separate question. – powerpack Nov 30 '12 at 23:52

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