In all seriousness - does running cause you to shrink in height? I ask as I always remember being measured at 5'11 and a bit (the bit is important!), and it was noticed by my mother last weekend that I had in fact shrunk in comparison to my dad and my brother. I was always taller than them. (sulks) I am aware that with age, apparently we shrink, but given that dad is older than me, he'd further shrink and I'd remain taller than him - relatively speaking. My mum then said, in an 'I told you' sort of way - "it's all because of that running you do. You've compressed your bones". I'd like to know if there could be any truth to this - Oh! and no jokes about it stunting my growth!.
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It doesn't stunt your growth.
It make you blind.
I've never heard of it.
Non runners believe all sorts of nonsense about what running is supposed to do to you.
The only thing I believe now is it knackers your knee up.
Loss of height with age is usually due to loss of intevertebral space from disc compression or compression fractures resulting in kyphosis. Both are usually pretty painfully and you'd know about it. I agree it's like to be a posture issue or you were never actually taller in the first place
(And 'the bit' is much more important when, like me, you are 5' 1" and a bit )
You can lose as much as an inch quite quickly from a heavy weight lifting session. Then if you hang from a pull-up bar for a while you can stretch your spine out again and get your inch back.
Try it, its fun! Shorter, taller, shorter, taller!
Actually being serious, hanging from a bar and stretching your spine is very good for the health of your back.
Apparently from 30, you start shrinking. I'm short enough without having to worry about losing more height!
People who don't 'understand' running will also pick fault with it. I heard the other day on TV, some woman at a cosmetic surgery company blame running for causing someone's face to drop/effect the collagen or something?!
With regards to the scientific nature behind it, I have no idea but as long as you're enjoying it & don't mind the apparent height-loss (wtf), then ignore the negative comments.
Non-runners (non-exercisers) do like try and put runners/exercisers off.
It makes them feel better about not doing any exercise themselves if they can find a good reason why THEY don't do anything.
I doubt if running is really making you shorter - we do just shrink a bit during the day, then get it back overnight.
Get someone to measure you properly, then you can decide if you really have lost any height.
My wife can change height literally by 2-3 inches on a day by day basis, its quite strange. She had compression fractures from a horse riding accident and it caused a slight scoliosis so her posture and height vary upon the health of her spine that day, depending on what she has been doing. So it is definitely possible to be shorter after exercise / running but its never permanent.
Yeah it's a combination of posture and disc compression. Everyone is always taller when they wake up - we lose height throughout the day as the discs compress and then they uncompress again when we lay down to sleep. Hydration also plays a factor. Running (and weight lifting, especially if you're doing miltiary presses or anything with a heavy bar on your shouders) will cause more compression than just sitting around.
It's probably worth doing some yoga or pilates to address any posture issues you might have. Other than that, I wouldn't worry too much.
If you're concerned check with your GP.