When most of us think of exercise, we think of strength training, or heart pumping cardiovascular workouts, and often use stretching techniques simply as a way of warming up for those other exercises. When it comes to naturally gaining height though, those stretching exercises will show their true value and importance, not just by increasing height, but by improving flexibility as well.

There are plenty of different exercises, of varying effectiveness and difficulty, that can be used to target these key areas, and we’ll examine three of them below.

Stretching Exercise ~ Trunk Twist - This stretching exercise is great for working on your spine, and is very much like the standard sit-ups you’ve probably done many times in your life. This will help strengthen your spine and abs at the same time.

Sit on the floor and keep your feet anchored beneath something to help prevent movement while performing this. For safety’s sake, ensure the object your anchoring your feet with can bear the amount of force you’ll be exerting on it and won’t topple over onto you.
You may think this routine is like sit-ups, but it’s slightly different. You’ll be holding the same position, halfway between a lying and erect sitting position, and once there, you’ll be swiveling slowly to each side, with your hands clasped behind your head to help hold you in place. Do turns to each side 5 times per sitting.

Stretching Exercise ~ Roll Over Stretch - This exercise targets your lower back specifically, and is also great for increasing flexibility in your back and legs. To perform this exercise, lie down flat on your back, and then roll backwards, letting your feet touch the ground behind your head. Keep your shoulders flat on the ground, and use them to help balance you. Hold this position for 20-30 seconds and you’re done.

Stretching Exercise ~ Wall Bridge - Find a position approximately two feet from a wall and stand with your back to it. You’ll need to test this out once or twice to get a good feel for the necessary distance. Now reach your hands up into the air and behind your head, all the way back until theyre touching the wall, with your back still to the wall. Now slowly use this leverage with the wall to walk down the wall with your hands, as far as you can go. Once you’ve reached your limit, climb slowly back up the wall with your hands, and then push off near the top to get back to a standing position. This is a tremendous workout for flexibility of the back.

These three back exercises will put your flexibility and willpower to the test, with outstanding results. The workout on the lower back you’ll get with these routines can be felt and appreciated immediately after doing them, which makes them infectious to perform.