Can you grow taller after 20 or 21 years old? That’s the key question that we’ll be answering today because many young adults out there really want to increase their height.
Related Grow Taller Guides:
- How to grow taller
- How to get taller at 17
- How to get taller at 18
- How to get taller after 25
- How to get taller after 30
- How to get taller after 40
Is it possible to increase your height after 20 or 21?
Is it possible to increase height after 20 or 21? In the vast majority of cases, it’s simply not possible for males or females to increase their height by any noticeable amount after the age of 20 or 21 years old.
The simple reason for this is that most males and females achieve their full adult height well before they turn 20. So, while there are undoubtedly exceptions (more on those later), most people in their 20s aren’t capable of growing taller naturally.
Research from the USA shows that most boys are done growing in height at around age 17, whereas most girls achieve their adult height at age 14.
So, statistically, unless you have the genetics to somehow grow taller in your 20s, you won’t experience a height increase of any kind at the age of 20 or 21.
How to grow taller after 20 or 21 years old
The only way to grow taller after turning 20 or 21 is to have genetics that allow you to continue increasing in height into your 20s.
However, there might be some hope for those intent on getting taller in their 20s.
One study showed that 54% of boys were the same height at 27 as they were at 19. [1]
This means that some of the participants likely got taller in their 20s.
The catch is that the men could have been measured differently at the two ages, leading to a false “increase” in height.
Of course, there’s also a chance that some of them did get marginally taller. But it’s likely that they grew millimeters rather than centimeters or inches.
So, ultimately, besides sleeping well, exercising daily, and eating a nutritious diet, there’s no other way that you can prime your body to grow taller. This isn’t surprising since height is largely genetic.
What are some good exercises to increase your height after 20?
Next, we’ll go through a few popular exercises that are commonly believed to increase a person’s height after the age of 20 and 21. We’ll explain why specific workouts won’t do anything (directly) to increase your height.
Still, to promote growth hormone production, you should aim for at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day. Some of this activity should be aerobic to improve your cardiovascular fitness, and some of it should be resistance-based, to improve your muscle strength and bone density.
Should you do yoga to increase your height after 21?
While you can benefit in many ways by doing yoga—less stress, better posture, more breathing control—it won’t directly increase your height after 21.
If you believe that you or someone else got taller as a result of doing yoga, then it’s almost certainly because practicing yoga enables them to stand taller than usual and thus display their maximum height.
So, by all means, do yoga if you enjoy it. But don’t just do yoga in a futile bid to increase your height because, as I explained, the activity won’t lengthen your bones in any way.
Does playing basketball increase your height after 20 or 21?
No, playing basketball doesn’t increase your height in any way after the age of 20 or 21. Even if you really work up a sweat, shooting hoops won’t directly make you taller.
But you can certainly understand why people think basketball makes you taller.
Most basketball players are tall; therefore, playing basketball must make you taller, right?
Not quite. You see, basketball players play and succeed at the sport of basketball because they’re tall. If they were short, then they probably wouldn’t be playing basketball, at least not at a competitive level.
Does skipping increase your height after the age of 20 or 21?
Although skipping is great exercise, there’s absolutely no evidence that skipping can make a male or female any taller after they reach the age of 20 or 21.
Still, if you want to get the growth hormone boost that exercise naturally provides, skipping is the ideal choice because you can do it anywhere (like out in the sun to get your vitamin D).
Will stretching increase your height after 20 or 21 years old?
While many people believe that stretching will make them taller, this is not true.
Stretching can also improve your posture, which can make you appear slightly taller, but it can’t directly increase your height because stretching doesn’t lengthen your bones.
That said, if you want to make the most of your current height, then I absolutely recommend stretching because you might be able to gain a small amount of extra stature by enabling your skeleton to display its maximum height.
Can you have a growth spurt at 20 or 21?
Although it’s possible to have a growth spurt at the age of 20 or 21, such an occurrence is rare because most people’s growth plates close well before their 20s. [2]
Of course, there are cases where a person—usually a male because men tend to grow later than women—continues to get taller into their early 20s.
This may be the case if someone is catching up in height to their tall parents or if they simply have the genetics to achieve a second growth spurt in their 20s.
What supplements will increase your height after 20 or 21?
Some individuals who greatly desire to grow taller after 20 or 21 will look for shortcuts or extreme techniques in a desperate bid to increase their height.
But the truth of the matter is that even quality supplements are unlikely to provide a height boost in your 20s.
While research does show that zinc supplementation, for example, can increase height, this has only been shown in children or adolescents. [3]
So while supplements can be useful for those who have nutrient deficiencies, they’re certainly not going to magically increase your height after the age of 20 or 21.
Still, since many people are deficient in vitamin D, zinc, and other trace minerals, it’s worth looking into nutritional supplements if your doctor recommends them.
Can you grow taller after 20 or not?
A lot of people have really specific questions when it comes to growing taller in their 20s.
So to clear up the matter once and for all, we’re going to go through a few more ages at which people commonly want to get taller and explain why a natural height increase at these ages is virtually impossible.
Can you grow taller after 22 years old?
Although there may be a few exceptions, the vast majority of males and females will not be able to get taller at the age of 22 or afterwards.
This is because the growth plates that are responsible for your stature, such as those at the end of your fibula, tibia, and femur, close a good few years before you turn 22.
Anyway, even if you were to grow taller at 22, the height increase would likely be very small and perhaps not even noticeable.
Can you get taller after 23 years old?
Unfortunately, for those who would like to grow taller, it’s not possible for the vast majority of people to get taller at 23 or after.
As mentioned above, this is because, by this age, your growth plates will very likely have closed, meaning that additional height growth is no longer possible.
Again, you might see a few examples of where someone genuinely did get taller at 23, but these examples are few and far between and only serve to reinforce the rule: Almost nobody will grow significantly taller at 23.
Can you increase your height after 24 years old?
At the age of 24, it’s almost impossible to increase your height naturally and get taller because, by this time, the growth plates at the ends of your long bones will have closed.
Now, you can make yourself look taller—at any age—by standing tall and improving your posture.
But as far as adding inches to your stature goes, this simply isn’t possible for most men and women at the age of 24.
Conclusion: How likely are you to experience a height increase after 20 or 21?
Honestly? Very unlikely. Growing a few millimeters is one thing, which might be possible for some people. But growing by inches in your 20s is not realistic for the vast majority of males and females.
As far as how to get taller after 20 or 21, there are no specific strategies that you can follow other than taking care of the basics (diet, sleep, exercise) and hoping that you have the genetics to get taller after 21.
References
- Hulanicka, B., & Kotlarz, K. (1983). The final phase of growth in height. Annals of human biology, 10(5), 429–433. https://doi.org/10.1080/03014468300006621
- Growth Plates. (n.d.). Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. Retrieved from https://www.hopkinsallchildrens.org/Patients-Families/Health-Library/HealthDocNew/Growth-Plates
- Rerksuppaphol, S., & Rerksuppaphol, L. (2016). Effect of zinc plus multivitamin supplementation on growth in school children. Pediatrics international : official journal of the Japan Pediatric Society, 58(11), 1193–1199. https://doi.org/10.1111/ped.13011