This is NOT a troll thread, I’m genuinely interested.
Some bodybuilders and powerlifters have said that they’ve lost noticeable height through the spinal compression experienced through years of doing heavy squats and deadlifts. Sure, it’s natural for you to lose height during the day (whether squatting or not) as your spinal discs compress, and you regain it back during the night when sleeping, but I’m wondering if really heavy squats and deadlifts can, over time, cause the spinal discs to plastically deform to an extent that can’t be corrected by simply ‘sleeping it off’…?
If you’ve done heavy squats and deadlifts - it would be interesting to see if you’ve shrunk any? When you’re measuring, try and correct for morning/evening fluctuations in height - you’re taller in the morning than you are in the evening which could give false positives if not taken into account, so if you knew your morning height before you even started training, measure yourself in the morning again… It would also help to state your age, so we can rule out shrinking simply due to aging…
Seriously yes
I was 6’ at the end of highschool
Now at 23 I stand closer to 5’10
I also have Ankylosing Spondylitis which greatly contributes to loss of height through fusion of the vertebrae and postural issues @21 I went to jail and measured over 5’11
@ 22 after lifting more seriously I went back to jail and stood under 5’11
Now I’ve been into powerlifting and strongman seriously since Jan 2012 and stand at about 5’20 on any given day
I certainly feel shorter and look it in comparison to my dad and friends which I used to measure up to in height.
Fair trade off to me
I’d rather b strong and short than tall and weakthough an inversion rack would b greatly appreciated
Especially after squatting
[quote]tonypluto wrote:
Seriously yes
I was 6’ at the end of highschool
Now at 23 I stand closer to 5’10
I also have Ankylosing Spondylitis which greatly contributes to loss of height through fusion of the vertebrae and postural issues @21 I went to jail and measured over 5’11
@ 22 after lifting more seriously I went back to jail and stood under 5’11
Now I’ve been into powerlifting and strongman seriously since Jan 2012 and stand at about 5’20 on any given day
I certainly feel shorter and look it in comparison to my dad and friends which I used to measure up to in height.
Fair trade off to me
I’d rather b strong and short than tall and weakthough an inversion rack would b greatly appreciated
Especially after squatting[/quote]
So you gained 9 inches since you started powerlifting? Nice!
On a side note
The bigger my legs and muscles get
The smaller my penis looks by comparison
True story
I’ve got these humongous wheels
Which make my cock look ridiculously small when soft
Lol No
But I trybto make the best if each situation
Got some sweet mugshots and accurate measurements
I only mention it bc it was tge first time I noticed I was losing height
I kept arguing with them
Was a little inebriated
Telling them I was 6’
But they showed me I obviously was not
So between 2007 and 2013 I’ve lost about 2 inches in height
The AS certainly had something to do with it
But I believe tge heavy lifting sped it up quite a bit
Starting 531 at 5’11 a little over a year agoand now at 5’10
Seems an obvious correlation to me
I never said I thought the heavy lifting was solely responsible
I do believe it contributed tho
With my condition it is very common to lose a couple inches over decades
An inch in a year
With that year full of heavy deads, squats, oh presses, farmers walks, tire flips , log presses, shoulder carries, yoke, etc
My posture has actually improved from all of work I’ve done
The loss if height us due mostly to compression.
So no I wouldn’t say that it is 99.99% from the AS
Ice had tge condition my entire life
And only after starting powerlifting/strongman did I rapidly begin to lose height
I don’t see y you’re challenging thisi agree the AS causes loss of heightbut I believe tge heavy lifting greatly sped up the process and has caused a lot of compression in my spine.
Not every powerlufter will lose height
Some ppl are genetically blessed with both height and strength
Ie Brandon Lily is a tower of a man and lifts an enormous amount of weight
Tho I do see many bodybuilders who seem to shrnk over the years
Mark Ritter was once about 6’ and is now a little shorter than I
If course phqrmacueticals may or may not effect individuals height over time
But to me it seems like common sense
If someone loads their spine with immense compressive force repeatedly over time
Then some compression of tge spine would not b too far fetched
Some, like I, may be more sensitive to it than others
And yhere will be some resistant to it as well
I do what I can to maintain good posture and practice yoga and sitting meditation to help manage it.
But like I said previously
I would rather be short and strong than tall and weak
So I will continue to train heavy for as long as ny body allows
[quote]yolo84 wrote:
it would be pretty funny if you keep losing an inch a year until you are the size of a little kid[/quote]
I could see that being funny happening to someone else
I do what I can to take care if myself
But I will continue lifting, against my drs wishes, for as long as I enjoy it.
But if I do continue to lose height I will have to reconsider my goals and dreams
I have accomplished a lot despite having AS
I could go back to being extremely obese or underweight
I could b in a wheel chair like some with the condition
I could claim disability and sit around doped up on painkillers
I choose to improve myself everyday and not let the condition control my life anymore than it has to
I am currently training for my first strongman competition in July
And I’m glad its a big joke to you andbtgat you were blessed with great health
Ill always havevto work harder and b more disciplined than anyone else to even just keep up
I understand and accept that I am at a huge disadvantage physically competing with anyone
But I want you to consider how funny it would b if you or one of your friends was paralyzed and in a wheelchair
I want u to imagine what its like to work 7 days a week for something you love while your friends are partying and having fun and then still b just mediocre at it
I seriously doubt you’d laugh in someone’s face if you found out they had an incurable disease that would cause them enormous amounts of painfor the rest if their shortened lives.
OP
I justvwanted to share my eexperience with becomibg shorter from powerlifting
Its only my experience tho and if course does not happen to everyone
OP
I have noticed that my live handles appear more prominant despite maintaining relatively low body fat
And with my condition I have difficulty bending or twisting my spine at all anyways
But I have noticed my torso shrinking a bit bringin my ribs closer to my pelvis
I am exrenely flexible from years of yoga
Yet arching my lower back or bending side to side is very limited in range of notion
Again the loss of nobility is probably mostly due to tge AS
But since powerlidting my torso has become much more solid especially in the lower spine
Visually it is obvious that my torso is slightly disproprtionate tomy leg length
Tho this helps with deadlifting and makes my chest look huge lol
you mean you have love handles, despite being at a low bodyfat percentage?
And when you do bend to the side (even a little bit) can you feel ‘crinkles’ in your skin when they weren’t there before? That’s sort of what I’m getting at…
What inseam are you at 5ft 10in?
And you’re saying the loss of motion in side-bending is more due to the pain from AS than your ribs actually bumping into your pelvis?
[quote]yolo84 wrote:
tony pluto sorry if ive upset you
i hope there are no hard feelings[/quote]
Thank u for that
No hard feelings
I have had ppl laugh in my face before
I was discharged from tgevarmy for it and had a tough time explaining y to some ppl
Its bot a good feeling and don’t tell many ppl about it
On the outside I look healthy and pretty strong
Very few ppl have seen how hard it is just getting out of my bed in the morning
I don’t talk about it much bc it is a very snsitive subject for me
Thought it would b nice to share it on this particular thread however
Thanks forbthe apology
I try bot to take the interwebs too seriously lol
Tge love handles yes absolutely.
I have very little motion In that area so the skin kinda just sags lol.
Bending to tge side does cause sort if an overlap from the shortened distance but is something that would clear up after cutting some bodyfat. About 15% right now while training for strongman
Inseam meaning waist size? About 34
Have to wear larger pants with a belt tho bc of my legs being so big
The loss of motion is from fusion and scaring of joints causing stiffness, painand from the shortened distance from ribs to pelvis.
Measuring now standing straight up there is about three inches from bottom rib to top of hip.
So its a combination of things hut there is definitely less room for move.ent compared to a few years ago when I did mma
Tho they don’t actually touch
tonypluto, so does your condition actually cause pain in your back? If so, how much pain on a scale 1-10?
So there’s no way for you to have AS and not actually know about it because there’s no pain?
What is your inseam as in leg length inseam on pants?
And another question - do you notice that nowadays because some of your discs have fused, that there is less variance between your morning height and your evening height?