Swimming

      How it works:  It is believed that by swimming daily for 6 months straight, it may be possible to grow half an inch in the spine.

      Experimented by:  Sky

      Statistical Success Rate:  Low (Athletes)
                                                  Very Low (Others)

- Athletes, bodybuilders, physically active and inactive tend to achieve bad results when swimming.

      Level of Difficulty:  Easy

      Duration:  4 weeks (April 2005)

      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 with swimming for less than four weeks.

Swimming may be a great aerobic exercise, but it's not effective for your bones because the force of water acts against the earth’s gravitational pull; therefore, your body does not have to bear any weight You can swim everyday for 2 years and possibly won’t see an inch increase in permanent height. From picture above, you can see swimming is a great way to strengthen the muscles in the arm, NOT the spine or legs.

Some of you may argue, how come Michael Phelps’ (Olympic swimmer) torso and spine are so long?  Yes, Michael Phelps is tall.  So is Michael Jordan... and of course Yao Ming, and other volleyball athletes. To compete in sports such as swimming, basketball, and volleyball, athletes are usually genetically tall before ever stepping foot into the game. Many "breeds" of people are genetically giants (Northern Europeans, East Africans, Oceanics).

Spine

Methods

Success Rate

Duration

Tested

Level of

Difficulty

Sky’s Lumbar Routine

Very High (Athletes)

Medium (Others)

1 month

Easy

Stationary Inversion

Low (Athletes)

Very Low (Others)

3 months
plus 2 weeks

Easy

Stretching journals, downloads, exercises

Medium (Athletes)

Very Low (Others)

3 weeks

Easy

Alexander Technique, Yoga, Pilates

Medium (Athletes)

Very Low (Others)

3 weeks

Easy

Swimming

Low (Athletes)

Very Low (Others)

4 weeks

Easy

Pull ups

High (Athletes)

Low (Others)

3 weeks

Easy