When it comes to the world’s beloved sport, soccer is often the first thing that comes to mind. Not only is it a competitive sport, but soccer also brings numerous health benefits and can contribute to height improvement. In today’s article, let’s delve deeper into the techniques and exercises that can effectively enhance your physique.
Why does playing soccer help physical development?
As a full-body sport, soccer has been extensively studied by experts for its potential to develop physical fitness and improve height. Soccer combines various movements such as running, jumping, dribbling, and stretching. The integration of these actions rapidly stimulates the production of growth hormone (HGH) in the body. This process accelerates the growth of the cartilage at the ends of bones, joints, and limbs.
High-intensity training combined with quick sprints and interval runs enhances the blood circulation process. As a result, the body develops holistically, improving the efficiency of transportation and metabolic processes within the body. This includes the absorption of bone-beneficial substances like calcium, vitamin D3, vitamin K2, and minerals.
Moreover, regular soccer training activates and continuously stimulates the muscles surrounding the thighs, calves, knees, and feet. The joint and cushioning systems not only become more flexible but also gain strength, endurance, and resilience. Additionally, studies have shown that exercise causes micro-fractures in bones. During the recovery phase, proper nutrition aids in rapid bone lengthening.
Similar to many other sports, to optimize and expedite height growth and improve overall health, it is recommended to combine soccer training with other activities. These may include jump rope, push-ups, swimming, basketball, volleyball, and badminton.
You can let children play soccer from the age of 5.
How many centimeters can playing soccer increase height in a year?
No study has provided accurate data on how many centimeters playing soccer can increase height within a year. It is difficult to measure because individuals’ physical conditions, genetic factors, nutrient absorption abilities, lifestyle habits, etc., vary greatly.
However, if you only focus on playing soccer without considering factors such as nutrition, lifestyle, sleep, etc., it will be challenging to unlock your full height potential.
Suitable individuals for playing soccer
Playing soccer is suitable for people of all ages and genders. You can start playing soccer as early as 2-3 years old. However, to achieve remarkable height growth, it is recommended to start playing between the ages of 5 and 20. These are the pre-puberty and puberty stages when bone growth occurs rapidly. Missing this critical period, playing soccer after the age of 20 can mainly help enhance endurance, flexibility, and toxin elimination from the body. By that time, the growth plates have ossified, and height growth is nearly halted.
Training intensity should range from 45 to 60 minutes.
Playing soccer effectively contributes to height development
To optimize the effectiveness of playing soccer for height development and minimize unwanted injuries, you should pay attention to the following points:
Playing time
Playing soccer allows for flexibility in choosing suitable time frames for yourself and your teammates. However, the best time frames for playing soccer are typically in the early morning, late afternoon, or evening. These are cooler hours that limit the harmful impact of UV rays on the skin and prevent rapid dehydration and exhaustion of the body.
Not only should you pay attention to the time of participation, but you should also set appropriate game and rest times according to professional tournaments, which typically last around 45 minutes with a 15-minute break. Depending on the team’s fitness level, you can adjust the duration of each half to as short as 20-30 minutes.
Training intensity
Training intensity is also a factor that stimulates the production of growth hormone (HGH), which aids in proper bone development. To match your training fitness level, you should dedicate 3-4 soccer training sessions lasting between 45-60 minutes. It’s important not to exceed 90 minutes of training as it can lead to muscle fatigue, strain, and an increased risk of injuries, resulting in overall exhaustion.
During the training process, you should focus on playing soccer at a moderate intensity that suits your fitness level. Once your body is accustomed to the speed, you can gradually increase the training intensity to achieve the best height development results.
Warm-up exercises
Before entering a soccer match, it is advisable to warm up and prepare your body with a few warm-up exercises such as:
- Slow jogging while keeping your head and torso upright, relaxing especially the shoulder muscles, and running at a slow pace. Make contact with the ground with both feet, then lift the heel and toes up, keeping your eyes looking forward.
- Jumping in place and lifting the thighs, with the hands moving in the opposite direction of the lifted thigh. Alternate sides and aim to lift higher. Start slowly to let your body get used to it, then increase the speed to match your body’s fitness level.
- Straightening both legs by stepping forward, keeping the body low and perpendicular to the right leg. Extend the left leg as straight as possible, support both hands on the right knee, and repeatedly push the body weight up and down. Repeat the movement with the other leg.
- Rotating the body combines movements of rotating the wrists, shoulders, knees, and ankles clockwise and counterclockwise. It’s important to stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart and place your hands at hip height. Move your body alternately to the right and left.
- Stretching exercises involve using the right hand to grasp the Achilles tendon and pulling it as much as possible. Then, switch sides and repeat the same movement.
Perform warm-up exercises.
Are there other benefits to playing soccer besides increasing height?
Alongside the benefits of achieving a well-proportioned and toned physique, soccer offers numerous incredible advantages for height development, such as:
- Supporting cardiovascular health, reducing the risk of high blood pressure, stroke, obesity, and maintaining a stable and balanced state for the body.
- Strengthening the immune system, providing resilience and durability for bones and joints.
- Maintaining a stable weight, burning excess fat and calories in the body. Assisting in developing firm muscles, a slim figure, and reducing flabbiness and sagging.
- Improving emotional stability, minimizing stress, tension, and fatigue, creating a sense of relaxation and happiness. Soccer is also a discipline that supports emotional treatment, limiting negative thinking, and assisting in the treatment of depression and prolonged insomnia.
- Cultivating a sense of self-discipline, accountability, teamwork spirit within a collective. Providing opportunities for social interaction, thereby developing communication skills.
- Enhancing confidence, joy, and self-esteem for young individuals with autism spectrum disorder when engaging in activities with a group.
Nutrition is essential when playing soccer.
Playing soccer to increase height combined with nutrition
Like many other sports, to optimize the effectiveness of height increase and enhance immune strength and body flexibility, you should pay attention to combining it with a proper diet, such as:
- Divide meals scientifically throughout the day, with 3 main meals and 2 snacks. Note that you should consume a moderate amount of food, avoiding overeating or excessive hunger.
- Ensure sufficient intake of food groups such as carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, and vitamins. Specifically, pay attention to supplementing calcium, vitamin D, and K from foods such as milk, cheese, fruits, dark green vegetables, seafood, and grains.
- With outdoor physical activities, the body quickly loses water, so you should consume 2 – 3 liters of water per day. Besides drinking filtered water, you can also flexibly supplement water intake from smoothies, juices made from vegetables, fruits, and other sources.
- Limit the consumption of fast food, oily and greasy foods, spices, fried chicken, pizza, carbonated drinks, cakes, alcoholic beverages, and stimulants.
- Supplement healthy carbohydrate sources such as whole grains, low-starch vegetables, fruits, milk, and legumes.
- Control the amount of fat consumed in a day, prioritize the use of unsaturated fats (olive oil, sunflower seeds, avocado) and omega-3 fatty acids (salmon, tuna, walnuts, chia seeds).
- In addition to daily meals, pay attention to supplementing functional foods that provide complete nutrients and vitamins, and improve body shape for children.
Engaging in sports, especially soccer, brings numerous benefits to health, physical fitness, and mental well-being. It is important to dedicate time to training and improving your overall health every day. If you are still in the growth stage of adolescence, seize the opportunity to enhance your height alongside this king of sports. Let’s get started!
Hi everyone, I’m Tony Scotti, an expert in the field of height increase with many years of experience researching and applying height increase methods, and have achieved promising results. I have created increase height blog as a personal blog to share knowledge and experience about what I have learned during the process of improving my own height.
