So by now for most of us height increase seekers, we know that the height we have in the morning, after we get up from sleep is different than the height we have after we have been standing and walking around for the entire day and when we go to sleep. The drop in height can be upwards of even 3 cm for some really tall people. For me, the drop seems to be around 2 cm.

Recently I was looking through one of the posts on the GrowTallerForum and one person mentioned that apparently the combination of the decrease in weight, and exercise focused on developing the core and abdominal muscles can allow one to develop a higher morning height. At first I didn’t think much of the comment, until I was in the shower (don’t all the great ideas come along when we are in the bathroom) and I realized that from a physical therapist point of view that actually makes sense.

When we are talking about height, and the increase in height, we are almost always talking about the transformation and lengthening of the long bones, since the bones are the limiting factor. However, we sometimes forget that there is more to the lengthening than just the bones. We forget about the muscles as well. The bones is the primary thing that gives us the form we have and provides most of the support. However, the muscles are also used to support the body and the internal organs.

I recently met a college graduate who was trying to get into medical school. He was only 22 and he was already suffering from acute pain from his lower back. For anyone who knows anything about orthopaedics of the back, the L4-L5 intervertebral disk is the one that is more likely to rupture or bulge out causing either a bulged or hernitated disk. However, herniated disks often lead to After learning more about his situation, it turns out he actually has at least 3, possibly 4 herniated or bulged disks. There was the L5-L4, the L4-L3, the L6-L5, etc. When he told me he was not taking any form of medication, I suggested NSAIDs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory pills. When it turns out he didn’t want to use medication, I suggested to him the Alexander method. After he learned about the alexander method, he asked me about it and I explained the concept of it to him. Then I put the two parts together.

The core muscles in our torso helps in the support of our body, but especially our vertebrate. When a person suffers a herniated disk, the suggestion given by most physical therapists is that one muscle exercise and develop the core abdominal muscles to be strong so they can support and hold up the upper body and head from compressing down on the disks any further causing more pain.

From using simple physics principles, we understand that lose of weight form the top means less work needed for the muscles to be done. So this is what I am suggesting.

1. Lose weight from upper body area, specifically fat.

2. Do exercises to help the core. Focus on the abdominals, delts, and pecs. I personally find swimming, in combination with yoga stretches, and crunches to be the most effective.

The stronger and more developed muscles around the core, not the top means the muscles around the middle should be able to support the upper body. In theory that would mean that the decrease of height because of the downward force of gravity over time during the day can be countered and minimized by the upperward work done by the cor muscles. That can be used to explain why the drop of height is decreased  and the overall height over through out the day has been increased.

In a horizontal direction, the core muscles which have grown bigger and thicker can be relaxed becoming wider, which can even pull the intervertebral disks farther in width when lying down. That can be used to explain why the morning height after we get up can be increased as well.

Personally, I can claim that I first noticed that I passed the 6 foot in height mark during the morning about 1 month after I started to get into my swimming obsession, which lasted for over 4 years. After just 2 weeks of swimming, I noticed that my body was transforming and that I felt lighter, taller, and more fit. 

Before I started swimming, I thought my maximum height was 5′ 11.75″ and my lowest was around 5′ 10.5″. After I started swimming, I found out that my maximum height was over 6 feet and the lowest height I could drop to was 5′ 11.25″