One basic tactic that many height increase seekers seem to try out when they put themselves in these programs of height increase routines is to extend the amount of sleep they get and shift the sleeping times to be earlier than before. I have previously written an article talking about the possibility of getting a longer amount of deep sleep HERE .

However, the issue of shifting the sleeping times was something not discussed before. The arguement that I personally can make on why shifting sleeping schedules may increase height is that in general, humans from an evolutionary perspective were not supposed to ever get in control of fire or anything that can create light when the sun sets and night falls along. During the night time humans are supposed to go to sleep in groups for protection. Humans are not nighttime creatures since our primary form of sense is vision. At night, our sense of vision is severely diminished making us more vulnerable to predators, accidents, and injuries. Before humans ever found light, our sleep schedule controlled by the melatonin in our pineal gland told us to start yawning and feeling tired right around the exact time the sun sets, which is also determined by the shifting of the seasons. That time is around 7-8 pm for mos  of the year, 9 pm during the summer and around 6 pm during the winter. As mammals, we must remember that other mammals go through a long sleeping term called hibernation during the winter, which is mainly an evolutionary mechanism created to conserve energy from a lack of finding sufficient food in the barren snow of winter.

When humans got a hold of fire and found ways to create candles and light for the nighttime, our sleeping schedules changed, mainly either for the desire to have nighttime fighting from raids, or for social gatherings and self education. It is important to note that in ancient times, when two armies came to battle, when it got dark the official thing for the armies to do was to stop fighting for the day and resume fighting the next day. People even during battles and wartime still would not fight in the nighttime, since there was no way to light the battlefield and make sure one’s enemy was not one’s kinsmen.

As time went along and human society became more complex and advanced, our sleeping schedule turned further and further back, until in the modern age there are many computer scientists and programmers who live nocturnal existences and pull all nighters regularly.

Now we can assume that sleeping in odd schedules and trying stuff like polyphasic sleep may be harmful, but what is the effect of having a still growing child be implemented to a non-traditional sleeping schedule? Does their natural growth and ultimate height really diminish from this lifestyle change?

From the previous post, there is sufficient evidence to show that the human body grows most during the sleeping process. Deep sleep is associated with the most HGH release in the body. If we can as an individual and maybe a society figure out how to shift our sleep schedule back to what it should be as evolution expects from us, it makes sense that we will have an easier time in falling sleep and reaching those deep sleep period than from our modern abnormal sleep schedules, which are filled with stressful airplane flights, cars, meetings, and school studies.

A thing to note is that the growth rate of people decreases as they progress through life and grow older. Around the 1-2 year range, babies grow like 6-8 inches/year which only goes through a gradual rate decrease as they grow older. In correlation, people’s sleep rate also decreases from around 20 hours when they are a baby to around 5 hours when they are in their 60s. When people reach old age, their ability to reach the deep sleep period drops and their sleep becomes lighter.

From the website Medical News Today located HERE

Naps: Babies’ Growth Rate And Sleep Time Related

Main Category: Pediatrics / Children’s Health
Also Included In: Sleep / Sleep Disorders / Insomnia
Article Date: 03 May 2011 – 10:00 PDT

Naptime! A new study released this week has identified growth spurts in babies are related to more frequent bursts of sleep. Peaks in total daily sleep duration and number of sleep episodes were significantly associated with measurable growth spurts in body length, which tended to occur within 48 hours of the recorded bursts of sleep. Further analysis found that the probability of a growth spurt increased by a median of 43% for each additional sleep episode and 20 percent for each additional hour of sleep.

For a duration ranging from four to 17 continuous months, growth in total body length was assessed using the maximum stretch technique, which was performed semi-weekly for 18 infants, daily for three infants and weekly for two infants.

Researchers at Emory University in Atlanta stated:

“The results demonstrate empirically that growth spurts not only occur during sleep but are significantly influenced by sleep. Longer sleep corresponds with greater growth in body length. On a practical, everyday level, it helps parents understand their infant’s behavior and patterns. It opens another door to understanding why we sleep. We now know that sleep is a contributing factor to growth spurts at the biological level.”

The exact nature of the relationship between sleep biology and bone growth is unclear. However, researchers noted that the secretion of growth hormone is known to increase after sleep onset and during the stage of slow wave sleep. This change in hormonal signals during sleep could stimulate bone growth, which would support anecdotal reports of “growing pains,” the aching limbs that can wake children at night.

The report speculates that in some cases growth may have occurred in other parts of the body. For example, another new study they are publishing this month found that infant head circumference grows in intermittent, episodic spurts. They also suggest that sleep may be only one component of an integrated, physiological system that underlies growth timing.

Over a typical lifespan, the amount of time we spend each day sleeping declines. Newborns spend from 16 to 20 hours asleep each day. Between the ages of one and four, total daily sleep time decreases to about 11 or 12 hours. This gradual decline continues through childhood, such that an adolescent will need – though not necessarily get – about nine hours of sleep to function at his or her best. Adults through middle age need at least eight hours, and although the elderly may still require up to eight hours, they may struggle to obtain those hours in one block.

Our bodies require sleep in order to maintain proper function and health. In fact, we are programmed to sleep each night as a means of restoring our bodies and minds. Two interacting system, the internal biological clock and the sleep-wake homeostat, largely determine the timing of our transitions from wakefulness to sleep and vice versa. These two factors also explain why, under normal conditions, we typically stay awake during the day and sleep at night.

Afternoon naps for most people typically last between 30 and 60 minutes. Any longer and there is a risk of falling into deep sleep and having a difficult time waking. Following a nap, having dissipated some of the accumulated sleep drive, many people report feeling better able to stay awake and alert in the late afternoon and evening. This increased alertness typically causes people to go to bed later and generally to sleep less at night than people who do not take naps.

Sources: The Journal of Sleep and Harvard University

Conclusion: The whole point is that if we try the experiment of increasing the number of hours slept and shift the hours when we get the primary amount of sleep, we can align our bodies to the natural circadian rythym putting them to sleep earlier. This natural syncing with the light of the sun means that their sleep will be organic, leading to less stress, which has been linked to decreased stature. In general, that means the person can put themselves in more of the state to allow for more HGH release and growth possibilities leading to a higher final height.

I know for a fact that whenever I got sick and had to lie in bed for an extended amount of time in middle and high school, I noticed that I was taller by over 1 inch after I got out of bed after lying on the bed for so long.