The Best Proof so far...Part III (Commentary and Analysis)

I've been performing my lateral synovial joint loading exercises with a 60lbs dumbell and it's been working well.  I hold a dumbell on both lateral sides of my elbow, wrist, ankles, and knees.  I have to bend the respective joints to get into a better strength position and I feel a little bit of stretch in my muscles to contort myself into positions to get my joints closer to my body so I have more leverage but it's been working well.  I use 60lbs dumbell mainly for convenience but eventually I should probably move to a heavier weight for my legs as I have two hands to hold the weight versus one(the joint of course does not help support the weight at all).

The bolt they use on the mouse in the study is pretty huge relative to the size of the mice joints in the study(I couldn't figure out a way to copy the pictures from the pdf if anyone knows let me know) so the weight putting a force on a larger part than just the direct synovial joint shouldn't really matter(again as long as the required force on the synovial joint is induced).

Now the main question is why does lateral joint loading increase height?  One possibility offered in the two articles is that joint loading "applies mechanical loads laterally and thereby stretches long bones longitudinally."  The reason why I believe joint loading is so effective is that there is more leverage at the ends of the bones than in the middle of the bones(like a see-saw).  So, it applies the same forces I've been espouting all along(microstrain and possibly microfractures) and results in a bone length increase.  I'm going to write to Dr. Yokota to see if he saw any signs of microcracks as a result of his limb loading experiment in mice.

Now it is possible that the synovial joints provide some sort of chemical signaling that stimulates the growth plates(remember the mice were eight weeks old).  This theory is of course bad for people who want height increase post-puberty(but good news for those who are not yet at that point).  However, I believe the first theory is more likely.

If you have any other theories please post them in the comments.