How to Grow Taller: The Ultimate Guide for ALL Ages

Height Essentials

Know That Genetics Is NOT Everything When It Comes to Your Height

You might be wondering:

Why does this guide even exist?

I mean, isn’t 60 to 80% of your height determined by your genetics?

While genetics do play their part, here is what you need to know:

If you do the right things, it’s possible to grow several inches taller than the rest of your family.

Here are some examples to prove my point:

NBA Players Who Outgrew Their Parents (By Up to 10 Inches)

Here’s a picture of a few NBA players who became much taller than their parents.

Let’s start off with the player you already know.

Here is Michael Jordan (6’6″), who grew 9 inches (23 cm) taller than his dad (5’9″), and 13 inches taller than his mom (5’5″):

Next, we have Jeremy Lin (6’3″), who also grew 9 inches (23 cm) taller than both of his parents (5’6″):

Let’s look at Gordon Hayward (6’8″), who became 10 inches (25.4 cm) taller than his parents (5’10”):

Think they got their genes from their grandparents?

Well, maybe they did.

So let’s look at some evidences that you CANNOT argue against.

How South Korea Became 3.1 Inches Taller Than Their Northern Siblings

Here’s a diagram that compares the height of North Koreans vs South Koreans:

As you can see, South Koreans are up to 3.1 inches taller than North Koreans on average [1].

Now let me ask you:

Do you think South Koreans have different genes than North Koreans?

Not at all.

In fact, the two countries were separated less than 100 years ago (right after World War II).

So as Professor Daniel Schwekendiek puts it:

It’s NOT genetics, but food shortages that likely caused North Koreans to become shorter than South Koreans over the years [1].

Let’s hammer the last nail in the coffin with our most extreme example:

How the Dutch Became 7.5 Inches Taller (WITHOUT Changing Their Genes)

Here’s a height vs income graph of Dutch males in the past few decades:

Now, we can’t verify that their increased income actually made them get taller.

But as Dr. Randal Olson predicts, the increase in their income gave them access to more and healthier foods, which meant they were better nourished to become taller [2].

So let me ask you once again:

Did the Dutch change their genes to become 7.5 inches taller as a nation?

Probably not.

And when you look at how:

NBA players outgrew their parents by up to 10 inches,

South Koreans outgrew their Northern siblings by 3.1 inches on average, and

The Dutch grew 7.5 inches in several decades…

…ALL without changing their genes…

It should convince you that you CAN become much taller by doing the right things (without changing a SINGLE gene).

And this guide is going to show you how to do just that.

Height Essentials

Know That It IS Possible to Grow Taller At Any Age

At this point, you may be thinking:

Can I increase my height by 7.5 inches if I’m 25 years old?

Unfortunately, you can’t.

BUT, it’s still possible for you to increase your height by a few cm or inches.

In fact, by implementing the strategies you’re about to learn in this guide, I was able to grow 3.0 cm when I was 23 years old.

And later in this guide, I’m going to reveal exactly what I did to grow taller when I was 23 years old.

Height Essentials

Know The Most Important Factors for Growing Taller

Now that you know how:

Non-genetic (environmental) factors can affect your final height by several inches, and

It IS possible to grow at least 1 to 2 inches taller at any age,

You’re ready to learn the most important factors that will maximize your height.

Now, depending on how old you are, some of these factors will matter much more to you than others.

(That’s why I’m not going to cover all of these factors in every single chapter)

With that, here is an overview of the most important height growth factors to be aware of:

A Quick Glance at Each Chapter

Now that you know the most important height growth factors, it’s time to preview the upcoming chapters.

Each chapter is going to contain 3 main components:

1. What to Expect

While it’s possible to grow taller at any age, you probably know that children can grow much taller than adults.

So at the start of each chapter, I’m going to give you an idea of how much you can expect to grow at your age.

2. Most Important Height Growth Factors

Depending on how old you are, certain height growth factors will be much more important than the others.

For example, if you’re a parent raising a kid, taking care of her diet is more important than anything else.

And if you’re a 29-year-old looking to stretch out your height to the last inch, you need to focus on your posture more than anything else.

Bottom line: In each chapter, you’re only going to learn the height growth factors that actually matter at your age.

3. Key Takeaways

After you learn about the height growth factors that are the most important to you, I’m going to give you a summary section for your chapter.

In these summary sections, you’ll get to review the most important points, and actionable tips you can start doing right away to get taller.

How to Manage Your Baby’s Growth Spurts

If your child is 0 to 2 years old, he’ll likely go through several growth spurts.

Here are some things to keep in mind about your child’s growth spurts:

Your baby will likely go through a growth spurt at these points in his toddler period [4]:

7~10 days,

2~3 weeks,

4~6 weeks,

3 months,

4 months,

6 months, and

9 months

Each growth spurt lasts about 2 days to a week [4]

Signs of growth spurts include [5]:

Wanting more food,

Napping or sleeping longer hours, or

Being crankier and clingier (even when she’s not sick)

When your baby shows these signs, pay attention to what he wants, and don’t change anything forcefully [5]

For example, if he wants more food, feed him more food, but don’t forcefully feed him more if he doesn’t want it first)

Growth Tracking

Track Your Baby’s Growth Using The Growth Chart

Now that you know what kind of growth patterns you can expect, let’s talk about how you can track her growth accurately.

By far, the best way to track your child’s growth is using the growth chart.

But before I show you how you can use Growth Charts, it’s important to pick the correct growth chart for your child’s gender.

Pick the Right Growth Chart for Your Child

Here are 2 growth charts for toddlers (one for boys and one for girls):

Boys Growth Chart (Ages 0 to 2 Years)

Girls Growth Chart (Ages 0 to 2 Years)

After you pick the right growth chart for your child, it’s time to use it to track your child’s growth.

How to Use the Growth Chart (3 Simple Steps)

For this example, we’re going to use Marie who is 9 months old, and measures to be 27.5 inches tall.

Here is Dr. Iannelli’s step-by-step process to using the chart accurately:

➊

At the bottom of the chart, find your child’s age, and draw a vertical line to the top of the graph.

➋

Find your child’s height on the left, and draw a horizontal line until you reach the vertical line.

➌

Find the curve that’s closest to this intersection, and follow the curve until you get to 2 numbers.

For Marie, you’ll find that she gets to the numbers: 50 and 34

After following these 3 steps, you’ll gather 2 pieces of information:

1. Marie’s Growth Percentile (which equals 50%), and

2. Marie’s Predicted Height by 2 Years of Age (which equals 34 Inches or 86.5 cm).

What is Your Child’s Growth Percentile?

Simply put:

Your child’s growth percentile is the percentage of children who are shorter than your child (who are the same age).

Since Marie’s Growth Percentile equals 50%, it means that she is taller than 50% of other toddler’s who are her age.

Now, the point of this procedure ISN’T to see how tall your child is compared to other children.

Rather, your child’s growth percentile will help you know if she’s growing properly or not.

Use The Growth Percentile to Gauge Your Child’s Rate of Growth

Here are 2 steps you can use your child’s growth percentile to ensure she’s growing at the right pace:

1. Go through all of your child’s existing measurements, and label them with a growth percentile (using the Growth Chart).

2. If her growth percentile stays relatively consistent, it’s an indication that she’s growing at a healthy pace.

For example, if your child’s growth percentile is 45% when she’s 6 months, 50% when she’s 9 months, and 50% when she’s 12 months old, it shows that your child is growing normally.

Be Assured: Your Child’s Height Can Fluctuate Quite a Bit

Remember what I said earlier in the chapter:

Your child will go through several episodes of growth spurts at random times.

In other words, there will likely be times when she outgrows or undergrows her predicted growth percentile on the chart.

So if you find that she is at 60% growth percentile at 18 months, but up to 75% growth percentile at 21 months, that is completely normal.

However, if you find that your child is way faster or slower than what’s expected of her, you should check with a pediatrician. immediately.

Nutrition

How to Feed Your Baby for Proper Growth

Although nutrition is the biggest factor when it comes to your child’s height, you DON’T need to stress over what foods to feed your child right now.

Instead, you want to focus on making his transition to solid foods as smooth as possible.

If you want to find out if he’s ready to eat solid foods, make sure to ask you doctor.

Along with your visit, here is a checklist you can use to know whether or not your child is ready to eat solid foods [6]:

Is your baby 4 to 6 months old?

Can your baby hold his head in a steady, upright position?

Can your baby sit with support?

Does your baby mouth his hands or toys?

Does your baby show interest to what you’re eating?

If you’ve answer yes to all of these questions, and you’ve gotten a confirmation from your doctor, he’s ready to eat solid foods.

For a more in-depth guide on how to get your baby started on solid foods, check out the following guide:

Mayo Clinic: How to Get Your Baby Started on Solid Foods

Sleep

How to Optimize Your Baby’s Sleep for Proper Growth

Optimizing your child’s sleep is super important if you want her to grow properly.

Why?

Your child needs enough hours of deep sleep every night to produce lots of HGH, which is essential for growing taller, and safeguarding her overall health and development.

(We’re going to tackle HGH more deeply in the next few chapters)

So how much sleep should she get every night?

As much as she needs!

Since every baby is different, I can’t tell you exactly how many hours she needs to sleep.

That said, here are some general ranges that are recommended for your child [7]:

If she’s 4 to 12 months old: 12 ~ 16 hours

If she’s 1 to 2 years old: 11 ~ 14 hours

Steps to Help Your Baby Sleep at Night

With the durations out of the way, here are a few steps you can take to make sure she gets deep, quality sleep every night [8]:

Allow your baby to nap (an overtired baby has a harder time sleeping, ironically)

Avoid stimulation before bedtime (no loud noise or bright lights)

Keep a consistent bedtime routine. Remember the 3 Bs: bath, book, bed

Help your child sleep on her back

Make sure the room is at a comfortable temperature, and is free of any noise or lights

Growth Tracking

Track Your Kid’s Growth With 2 Simple Steps

In order to keep a more precise track of your child’s growth, we’re going to do 2 things:

Measure His Height Accurately (by Following 5 Simple Rules)

This may seem like an easy step (and it’s quite easy to be honest).

But most people either wing this process, or get it completely wrong.

So here are some rules to follow in order to measure your child’s height accurately:

Measure your child once every one to three months

Measure around the same time of day (preferably in the morning)

Make sure your child gets the enough sleep the day before

Measure using the same tool (preferably a tape ruler, NOT a ruler you stick on walls)

Keep your measurements consistent

Steps to Measuring His Height With Maximum Accuracy

To elaborate on the last rule, here are steps you can take to measure her height accurately:

1. Grab a light and hard book

2. Get your child to stand against the wall, with the back of her heels and head touching the wall

3. Place the book on top of her head, and keep the book parallel to the floor as much as possible

4. Get her to lower her chin, and adjust her head position until she is at her tallest height

5. Mark her height with a pencil

6. Grab your ruler (that you picked from the previous step), stick it to the bottom of the wall, and extend it up to the mark.

7. Right down her height, date, and time in a notebook (or Excel spreadsheet)

Use The Growth Chart to Track Your Child’s Growth

After you measure your child, it’s time to find out if he’s growing at the right pace.

In order to do this, you’ll need to know how to use the Growth Chart

Pick the Right Growth Chart for Your Kid

Here are 2 growth charts for kids over 2 years old (one for each gender):

Boys Growth Chart (Ages 2 Years or Older)

Girls Growth Chart (Ages 2 Years or Older)

How to Use the Growth Chart (3 Simple Steps)

After you’ve:

Measured your child at least once, and

Picked the right growth chart for your kid

You’re now ready to use the Growth Chart.

Now if you’ve read the last chapter, you probably already know how to use the Growth Chart.

But since your kid’s growth chart looks slightly different from a toddler’s, I’ll walk you through the chart reading process with a chart that’s made for your kid.

For this example, we’re going to use David who is 6 years old, and is 3′ 7″ tall.

Here is Dr. Iannelli’s step-by-step process to using the chart accurately:

➊

At the bottom of the chart, find your child’s age, and draw a vertical line to the top of the graph.

➋

Find your child’s height on the left, and draw a horizontal line until you reach the vertical line.

(David’s height in inches is: 3 feet x 12 + 7 inches = 43 inches)

➌

Find the curve that’s closest to this intersection, and follow the curve until you get to 2 numbers.

For David, you’ll find that he gets to the numbers: 10th, 167.5 cm, and 66 inches

So what are these two numbers?

10th = David’s Growth Percentile

167.5 cm or 66 inches = David’s Predicted Adult Height

To recap, your child’s growth percentile shows what percentage of children (his age) he is taller than.

And since David has a Growth Percentile of 10%, it means that he is taller than around 10% of children who are his age.

Your Child’s Growth Can Fluctuate (But Not Too Much)

Since these growth charts and curves are based on estimations, it’s normal for your child’s to grow out of his Growth Percentile throughout his years.

For example, if he’s growth percentile is 70% when he’s 7 years old, 75% when he’s 8, and 80% when he’s 9, it shows that your child is growing normally.

But since he’s likely not going to go through any major growth spurt, his height should stay relatively close to the line (compared to when he was a toddler or when he becomes a teenager) [9].

If you notice any weird patterns in your child’s growth, mare sure to see your doctor or pediatrician.

Now that you know how to track your child’s growth, let’s move onto the juicier topic:

HGH

The Ultimate Height Maximizing Factor

In the introductory chapter, we covered why HGH is essential for maximizing your child’s height.

Therefore, the strategies I’m about to teach you will help your child increase her HGH levels naturally.

But before we go any further, I want to answer a common objection people ask about HGH:

ISN’T HGH DANGEROUS?????

To answer this question, let’s look at 2 different types of HGH:

In other words: Natural HGH is completely safe, while synthetic HGH can be risky if not injected properly.

And the bulk of this guide will focus on increasing your child’s natural HGH levels.

5 Ways to Boost Your Kid’s HGH (for Maximum Growth)

There are 5 areas of your kid’s lifestyle you want to optimize to maximize his natural HGH levels:

Nutrition

Sleep

Exercises

Avoiding Bad Habits, and

Avoiding Certain Conditions

Let’s quickly dive into each area.

Nutrition

Optimize Your Child’s Diet to Maximize Her Height

Keep in mind: your child’s diet can make or break her height.

Just remember how South Koreans became 3.1 inches taller than their North Korean siblings from having access to more and healthier foods [1].

So the better foods your child eats, the more she’ll grow.

And in this section, I’ll show you the BEST foods your child can eat to maximize her height

5 Height Maximizing Nutrients (for Bone Growth)

For a food to help your child grow taller, it needs to contain at least one of the 5 Height Maximizing nutrients.

Here are the 5 Height Maximizing Nutrients, and a brief overview of their roles in making your child taller:

➊ Amino Acids – Increases HGH, which signals your bones to grow longer [10]

➋ Protein – Contains Amino Acids, and builds Collagen (1 of 2 main building blocks of your bones) [11, 12]

➌ Vitamin C – Also builds Collagen [11, 12]

➍ Calcium – The other building block of your bones (alongside Collagen) [11]

➎ Vitamin D3 – Helps your bones absorb Calcium [13]

Now you know which nutrients your child needs, I’m going to show you a COMPLETE list of foods that are high in all of these nutrients:

The BEST Height Maximizing Foods (Complete Chart)

Here is a complete chart of foods that are rich in each of the 5 nutrients.

(You’ll notice that many of these foods overlap)

Amino Acids	Protein	Vitamin C	Calcium	Vitamin D3
Grassfed Meats	Tuna	Strawberries	Seeds	Milk
Eggs	Chicken Breast	Pineapple	Cheese	Cereal
Flava Beans	Fish	Kiwi	Yogurt	Orange Juice
Golgi Berries	Steak	Mango	Salmon	Mushrooms
Pineapple	Tofu	Papaya	Beans	Eggs
Watermelon	Pumpkin Seeds	Red Pepper	Almonds	Salmon
Coconut Oil	Cottage Cheese	Kale	Leafy Greens	Tuna
Nuts	Yogurt	Broccoli	Cereal	Oysters
Raw Chocolate	Almonds	Cauliflower	Tofu	Shrimps
Yogurt	Quinoa	Brussel Sprouts	Milk	☀️ Sunlight ☀️

Amino Acids
Grassfed Meats
Eggs
Flava Beans
Golgi Berries
Pineapple
Watermelon
Coconut Oil
Nuts
Raw Chocolate
Yogurt

Protein
Tuna
Chicken Breast
Fish
Steak
Tofu
Pumpkin Seeds
Cottage Cheese
Yogurt
Almonds
Quinoa

Vitamin C
Strawberries
Pineapple
Kiwi
Mango
Papaya
Red Pepper
Kale
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Brussel Sprouts

Calcium
Seeds
Cheese
Yogurt
Salmon
Beans
Almonds
Leafy Greens
Cereal
Tofu
Milk

Vitamin D3
Milk
Cereal
Orange Juice
Mushrooms
Eggs
Salmon
Tuna
Oysters
Shrimps
☀️ Sunlight ☀️

Now, your child doesn’t need to eat all the foods in this chart.

Just ask her which foods he likes from each column, and make sure that she consumes each nutrient sufficiently.

Which brings us to the next part:

How Much of Each Nutrient Should Your Child Consume?

Here is an overview of the daily recommended intake for each nutrient.

Optimal Daily Intake of Amino Acids and Protein

Since many protein-rich foods contain lots of amino acids that will boost your child’s HGH, all your child needs to focus on is eating enough proteins each day [14].

Here is a calculator you can use to track how much Protein (and fats, carbs, and calories) your child needs every day.

Optimal Daily Intake of Vitamin C and Calcium

Here is how much Calcium and Vitamin C your child needs to consume each day [15, 16]:

Age	Vitamin C	Calcium
3 Years	15 mg	700 mg
4~8 Years	25 mg	1,000 mg
9 Years	45 mg	1,300 mg

Age	Vitamin C
3 Years	15 mg
4~8 Years	25 mg
9 Years	45 mg

Age	Calcium
3 Years	700 mg
4~8 Years	1,000 mg
9 Years	1,300 mg

Optimal Daily Intake of Vitamin D3

Your child needs to get at least 400 IU of Vitamin D3 per day [17].

Remember: A Balance Diet = Height Maximizing Diet

I gave you a complete list of all the Height Maximizing foods.

I even showed you how much your child needs to consume daily.

But remember, even if your child doesn’t nail the daily intake of each nutrition, her body will be conditioned for maximum growth as long as she consumes each nutrient every day.

And more importantly, this guide is NOT an invitation for you to ignore all the other nutrients that are important for helping your child become healthy (such as other vitamins, iron, zinc, and many more).

Bottom line: a balanced diet is key.

Sleep

Optimize Your Child’s Sleep for Maximum Growth

If you want to maximize your child’s HGH levels for maximum growth, getting a good night’s sleep is a must.

But it’s not enough for your kid to sleep 8 hours every night…

Your child needs to sleep deeply and peacefully every night.

And in this short section, we’re going to look at a few strategies to optimize your child’s sleep.

Sleep Tip #1: Take Care of Her Daily Activities Before Bed

If you want your child to sleep well, it’s important to optimize her activities when she’s awake.

Here are some things your child can do during the day to sleep better:

Get enough sunlight

Get active (to make her more tired at night)

Here are some things she can AVOID near bedtime:

Avoid sodas that contain caffeine

Heavy meals

Drinking too much water

Stimulations such as bright lights from phone or loud noises from listening to music

Stressful activities

Sleep Tip #2: Optimize Her Sleeping Environment

If your child wants to sleep deeply, her environment must promote deep sleep.

Here’s how you can create a sleep-optimized bedroom:

Keep your child’s room at optimal temperature. 60 to 70 °F (16 to 21 °C) is a good rule of thumb, but make sure your child feels comfortable

Keep her room completely free from lights and background noise. You can do this by: getting rid of all night lights and closing her room door

Unplug all electrical wires from the wall

Get your child to sleep with her socks on (warm feet improves sleep quality)

Encourage your child to keep her phone on airplane mode before going to bed (wifi & phone signals can lower the quality of her sleep)

Sleep Tip #3: Sleep Before 10pm

By implementing the 2 previous tips, your child should be well on her way to sleeping for maximum HGH production.

But if she wants to maximize HGH she produces during sleep, you’ll want to put her in bed before 10pm.

Studies have shown that HGH peaks between 10pm and 2am [18, 19].

Now that you know when your child should sleep, let’s talk about when your child should wake up:

Sleep Tip #4: Turn Off All Alarm Clocks

As I mentioned in the beginning of this section, it’s far more important for your child to get deep and restful sleep, than simply getting lots of sleep.

That said, you’re going to want your child to get enough sleep every night.

So how can you make sure that she gets enough sleep?

By letting her wake up naturally (without any alarms).

Since every child is different, she will likely need more or less sleep than other children.

And the best way to know how much sleep she needs is to let her wake up without any external stimulus.

How Much Sleep Does Your Child Need?

If you’re still curious about how much sleep she needs, here’s a general guideline to follow [7]:

If she’s 3 to 5 years old: 10 ~ 13 hours

If she’s 6 to 9 years old: 9 ~ 12 hours

But remember at the end of the day: let your child sleep as much as she wants!

Exercises

Stay Active to Maximize Your Child’s Height

Optimizing your child’s nutrition and sleep is by far the most important ways you can increase his natural HGH levels.

That said, getting your child to be active on a regular basis will help him boost his HGH even further.

Now, if your child is 3 to 9 years old, I have some good news:

ANY exercise or sport will elevate your child’s natural HGH levels.

So instead of focusing too much on doing the BEST exercise, your child just needs to stay active on a regular basis to keep his HGH levels high.

In the next chapter for teenagers, I’ll show you a specific type of exercise your child can do further boost his HGH.

But if your child is 9 years or younger, just being active alone is enough.

Bad Habits

Avoid Habits that Can Decrease Your Child’s Height

The first 3 tips in this chapter were all about strategies that an increase your child’s height.

But in this section, we’re going to look at 2 habits your child needs to avoid.

These habits all have one thing in common: they can lower your child’s HGH.

With that, here is the first habit your child should avoid:

Height Hindering Habit #1: Caffeine

You’ve probably heard that coffee or soda can stunt your growth.

And while that’s not true, caffeinated drinks can decrease your HGH [20].

How?

By disrupting your sleep.

As you know, caffeine can disrupt your sleep, EVEN if you drink it early in the morning.

So make sure that your kid minimizes soda intake.

Which brings us to the next habit:

Height Hindering Habit #2: Too Much Sugar

You’ve probably also heard that junk foods can stunt your growth.

And same as caffeine, it can’t stunt your growth, but it can also lowers your HGH.

Junk foods contain lots of sugar, and too much sugar can lower your HGH, since the insulin spike that sugar causes can disrupt proper HGH production [21].

So make sure that your child controls his sugar intake.

Conditions

Watch Out for Conditions that Can Disrupt Your Child’s Growth

In this section, we’re also going to touch up on something that your child needs to avoid:

Conditions and diseases

But unlike simple habits, these conditions are much more severe, and may be harder to avoid.

6 Types of Conditions That Can Hinder Your Child’s Growth

Conditions can disrupt your child’s growth in several different ways.

Specifically, height hindering conditions fall under one 1 of 6 categories:

➊ Lower HGH levels: Growth Hormone Deficiency, Hypothyroidism, Cushing’s Syndrome

➋ Hinder bones from absorbing proper nutrients: Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Celiac Disease, Congenital Heart Disease, Anemia, Chronic Kidney Disease

➌ Damage growth plates: Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

➍ Weaken bones: Osteoporosis, Osteopenia, Osteomalacia

➎ Cause bone misalignment: Spine curvature (Kyphosis, Lordosis, Scoliosis), Bowlegs, Knock Knees

➏ Genetic conditions that hinder growth: Down Syndrome, Noonan Syndrome, Turner Syndrome

Now, if you want your child to avoid these conditions, you DON’T need to memorize these!

Instead, here are steps you can take to prevent these conditions from making your child shorter:

Now, if you’re interested in learning more about these conditions, check out my comprehensive guide on these conditions in my other guide:

The Ultimate Guide to Helping Your Child Grow Taller (Chapter 9)

Crazy Growth Spurt Stories

Let’s go back to the tall NBA players who outgrew their parents.

But this time, we’re going to look at their crazy growth spurts instead [23, 24]:

Anthony Davis: At age 15 to 19, grew 8 inches (6’2″ to 6’10”)

Russell Westbrook: At age 17 to 18, grew 5 inches (5’10” to 6’3″)

Tim Duncan: At age 17 to 18, grew 8 inches (6’3″ to 6’11”)

Scottie Pippen: After high school, grew 7 inches (6’1″ to 6’8″)

David Robinson: At age 22 to 24, grew 5 inches (6’8″ to 7’1″)

Now, I’m not saying that your child can grow 8 inches when he turns 17 (although it’s possible).

The main point of me showing you these numbers is to show you that your child can grow rapidly at a very late age.

Growth Chart: To Use or Not to Use?

In short, Growth Charts help you make sure that your child is growing at a normal rate.

All you do is plot your child’s height and age, and the chart will help you predict how tall he’s going to become at each upcoming age.

Now, this is a good tool to use when your child is in his toddler and kid phase…

…but NOT when he’s approaching his teenage years.

Why?

Because your child is likely to fall out of his predicted patterns of growth during this time [22].

I mean, just imagine if these NBA players used these growth charts!

They would’ve spent all of their early teenage years panicking for no reason.

And even though these players ended up spurting their growth very late, they’re healthy after all.

Bottom line: If your child is approaching (or already is in) his teenage years, I’d throw out the growth chart altogether.

How to Maximize Your Child’s Growth Spurts

By default, your child will become much taller after she goes through a growth spurt.

However, there are certain things she can do to make herself even taller during this phase.

On the flipside, if there is something off about her body or overall health, her growth spurt won’t help her grow as tall as she’s capable of becoming.

So in this section, I’m going to show you exactly how your child can condition her body for maximum growth during her growth spurt.

6 Ways to Maximize Your Child’s Growth During a Growth Spurt

Here are 6 different ways you can prepare your child for a crazy growth spurt:

HIITs (a.k.a. High-Intensity Interval Training)

Protecting against growth plate injuries

Nutrition

Sleep

Avoiding bad habits

Watching out for height stunting conditions

So without further ado, let’s get into the first height maximizing strategy:

Exercises

Do HIITs to Maximize HGH for Growth

WTF are HIITs??

HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) is a specific type of exercise that boost your HGH levels by up to 450% [25].

As we went over in the intro chapter, HGH is the hormone that is at the heart of lengthening your bones.

So the more high-intensity exercises your child does, the more he’ll grow.

With that, here is what a HIIT looks like [26, 27, 28]:

Here’s the best part about HIITs:

They can be done with ANY exercise, sport, or activity.

So get your child to pick his favorite sport or exercise, and follow the above guidelines to turn it into a HIIT.

Here are some exercises your child can consider for doing HIITs [27, 29]:

Best Exercises for HIIT (for Maximum Growth)

100 m sprints

Stationary bikes (pedal as hard as possible)

Rapid squat jumps

Burpees

Pushups

Jumping ropes

Rope exercises

Can Your Child Lift Weights?

If you’re worried that lifting weights will stunt your child’s growth, you don’t have to.

Studies have proven that weight-lifting has NO negative impact on your child’s growth [30, 31, 32, 33].

So instead of being concerned about lifting heavy weights, make sure that your child protects himself from growth plate injuries.

Which brings us to the next section:

Bone Protection

Protect Your Child Against Growth Plate Injuries

In short: your growth plate is the part of your bone that makes itself longer [34].

So if your child injuries this part of her bones, it can interfere with her growth [35].

On top of that: your child is more likely to injure her growth plates during a growth spurt, since her bones are less dense when they grow rapidly [35, 36].

(That’s why I saved this section for teenagers)

Steps to Prevent Growth Plate Injuries

Here are ways your child can prevent growth plate injuries [30, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40]:

Most Important: Get proper supervision from a qualified adult trainer

Wear equipment and gears that fit properly (footwear, protective gears, etc)

Warm up joints and muscles before the activity (by stretching and moving the body in the required range of motion)

Get your child to focus on whatever she is doing

Prioritize skill development (over competition)

Train muscle groups evenly

Get enough rest in-between sets, training sessions, games, and competitions

Avoid burnouts

Don’t EVER force your child to get active when she doesn’t feel like it

Don’t EVER preach “no pain, no gain” (if your child feels pain, she should stop the activity altogether)

How to Check If Your Child Has a Growth Plate Injury

Here are the most common signs of growth plate injuries [39]:

Tenderness near the area

Swelling and warm around the joint

Limited range of motion

Pain when lifting or applying pressure

To learn more about how your child can prevent growth plate injuries, check out the following resources:

Healthline: Salter-Harris Fracture

Pubmed: Fracture, Salter-Harris

Nutrition

Optimize Your Child’s Diet for Maximum Bone Growth

When your child goes through a growth spurt, her body needs more nutrients to support that growth.

That’s why it’s important to feed her with not only the right nutrients, but enough nutrients every single day.

And in this section, I’ll show you how your child can do both.

5 Height Maximizing Nutrients for Your Child

There are 5 key nutrients your child needs in order to maximize her bone growth:

➊ Amino Acids – Increases HGH, which signals your bones to grow longer [10]

➋ Protein – Contains Amino Acids, and builds Collagen (1 of 2 main building blocks of your bones) [11, 12]

➌ Vitamin C – Also builds Collagen [11, 12]

➍ Calcium – The other building block of your bones (alongside Collagen) [11]

➎ Vitamin D3 – Helps your bones absorb Calcium [13]

With that, here’s a COMPLETE list of foods that are high in all of these nutrients:

The BEST Height Maximizing Foods (Complete Chart)

(You’ll notice that many of these foods overlap)

Amino Acids	Protein	Vitamin C	Calcium	Vitamin D3
Grassfed Meats	Tuna	Strawberries	Seeds	Milk
Eggs	Chicken Breast	Pineapple	Cheese	Cereal
Flava Beans	Fish	Kiwi	Yogurt	Orange Juice
Golgi Berries	Steak	Mango	Salmon	Mushrooms
Pineapple	Tofu	Papaya	Beans	Eggs
Watermelon	Pumpkin Seeds	Red Pepper	Almonds	Salmon
Coconut Oil	Cottage Cheese	Kale	Leafy Greens	Tuna
Nuts	Yogurt	Broccoli	Cereal	Oysters
Raw Chocolate	Almonds	Cauliflower	Tofu	Shrimps
Yogurt	Quinoa	Brussel Sprouts	Milk	☀️ Sunlight ☀️

Amino Acids
Grassfed Meats
Eggs
Flava Beans
Golgi Berries
Pineapple
Watermelon
Coconut Oil
Nuts
Raw Chocolate
Yogurt

Protein
Tuna
Chicken Breast
Fish
Steak
Tofu
Pumpkin Seeds
Cottage Cheese
Yogurt
Almonds
Quinoa

Vitamin C
Strawberries
Pineapple
Kiwi
Mango
Papaya
Red Pepper
Kale
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Brussel Sprouts

Calcium
Seeds
Cheese
Yogurt
Salmon
Beans
Almonds
Leafy Greens
Cereal
Tofu
Milk

Vitamin D3
Milk
Cereal
Orange Juice
Mushrooms
Eggs
Salmon
Tuna
Oysters
Shrimps
☀️ Sunlight ☀️

Remember: your child doesn’t need to eat all the foods in this chart.

Just ask her to pick her favorite foods from each column, and make sure she eats them sufficiently.

Which brings us to the next part:

How Much of Each Nutrient Should Your Child Consume?

Now that we went over what your child needs to eat, let’s talk about how much of each nutrient she needs.

In the last chapter, I said that your child doesn’t need to stress over her daily intake.

However, if your child is approaching her growth spurt, she needs to pay more attention to her daily intake, since her bones will require more nutrients to support their rapid growth.

So here are some daily requirements your child should be aware of:

Optimal Daily Intake of Amino Acids and Protein

Since many protein-rich foods contain lots of amino acids that will boost your child’s HGH, all your child needs to focus on is eating enough proteins each day [14].

Here is a calculator you can use to track how much Protein (and fats, carbs, and calories) your child needs every day.

Optimal Daily Intake of Vitamin C and Calcium

Here is how much Calcium and Vitamin C your child needs to consume each day [15, 16]:

Age	Vitamin C	Calcium
10~13 Years	45 mg	1,300 mg
14~17 Years	65 mg for girls 75 mg for boys	1,300 mg

Age	Vitamin C
10~13 Years	45 mg
14~17 Years	65 mg for girls 75 mg for boys

Age	Calcium
10~13 Years	1,300 mg
14~17 Years	1,300 mg

Optimal Daily Intake of Vitamin D3

Your child needs to get at least 400 IU of Vitamin D3 per day [17].

Should Your Child Do Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent fasting has shown to significantly boost your HGH levels [41].

Having said that, it may not be safe for children or teenagers to fast [42, 43].

Remember: a teenager will need to eat sufficiently every day to fuel her bones for maximum growth, especially during her growth spurts.

On the flipside, there is no need to force your child to eat when she doesn’t want to.

Just make sure that she doesn’t skip any meals when she is actually hungry.

Bonus Nutrition Tip: Take Supplements

There is a lot of misconception about height growth pills and supplements.

But in reality: height supplements are no different than bodybuilding supplements.

While taking protein supplements can help a bodybuilding gain more muscles, they won’t help him if he doesn’t have a good diet to begin with.

Same goes for your child: if your child doesn’t eat the foods I showed you in this section, supplements won’t make her grow much taller.

But once she has a good diet in place, she can use supplements to grow even taller.

Which Height Growth Pills Will Actually Work?

To put simply: supplements that are rich in any of the 5 Height Maximizing Nutrients will help your child grow taller.

One supplement that contains many of these nutrients is Peak Height pills.

If you check the ingredients, you’ll notice that it contains 5 Height Maximizing Nutrients:

So if you want to help your child boost her height, I recommend you give this supplement a try.

But remember: a good diet is more important than ANY supplement in the world.

Sleep

Optimize Your Child’s Sleep for Maximum Growth

Up to 75% of your HGH is produced during deep sleep [45].

So if your want your child to maximize her HGH levels for maximum growth, she needs to optimize her sleep.

Here are 4 things he can do to optimize her sleep:

How Can You Convince Your Teenage Child to Go to Bed Early?!

This might be one of the hardest part of your child’s life that he can optimize.

As you probably know, teenagers like to stay up later at night, go partying, and take part in all sorts of entertaining activities.

So how can you convince your child to follow all of these tips to the tee?

Simple: explain to him that by sleeping well every night, he can grow taller.

And if he doesn’t, he won’t.

But if that isn’t enough to convince him, just make sure that he gets enough sleep every night, and that should be good enough to produce enough HGH at night.

Bad Habits

Height Hindering Habits to Watch Out For

Now that you know how important HGH can be for your child’s growth, let’s go over activities that can decrease your child’s HGH levels.

We already went over 2 of these habits in the last chapter, but here, I’ll introduce 2 more habits to watch out for.

Here are 4 height hindering habits your child should minimize (to maximize her height):

Once again, a teenager is a teenager, and there’s a good chance your child will take part in all of these 4 activities some time in her teenage years.

However, as a wise man once said: “You are your habits.”

So as long as your child doesn’t take part in these activities too often, her HGH levels will stay elevated for proper growth.

Just remind her that all of these activities can make her grow less tall, and that will be a big enough nudge if she truly cares about growing taller.

Conditions

Conditions That Can Hinder Your Child’s Growth

There is one more enemy to your child’s growth:

Conditions and diseases

Unfortunately, conditions are much harder (if not impossible) to avoid compared to simple habits we just discussed.

But often times, your child can still reach his desired height with the proper treatment, as long as he spots them early on.

So it’s important that you know how to spot this kind of condition if your child has one, and get treated as fast as possible.

6 Types of Conditions That Can Hinder Your Child’s Growth

Conditions can do 1 of the 6 following things to disrupt your child’s growth:

➊ Lower HGH levels: Growth Hormone Deficiency, Hypothyroidism, Cushing’s Syndrome

➋ Hinder bones from absorbing proper nutrients: Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Celiac Disease, Congenital Heart Disease, Anemia, Chronic Kidney Disease

➌ Damage growth plates: Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

➍ Weaken bones: Osteoporosis, Osteopenia, Osteomalacia

➎ Cause bone misalignment: Spine curvature (Kyphosis, Lordosis, Scoliosis), Bowlegs, Knock Knees

➏ Genetic conditions that hinder growth: Down Syndrome, Noonan Syndrome, Turner Syndrome

If you want to help your child prevent these conditions as much as possible, here are concrete steps you can take:

If you’re interested in learning more about these conditions, check out my comprehensive guide on these conditions in my other guide:

The Ultimate Guide to Helping Your Child Grow Taller (Chapter 9)

3 Steps to Increasing Your Height As An Adult

Here are 3 simple steps you can take to grow taller as an adult:

➊ Becoming taller

➋ Staying taller, and

➌ Growing taller

So what the heck’s the difference between these 3 steps?

Here’s a brief overview of what the differences are:

1. Becoming taller = This step helps you appear taller, but not actually grow physically taller

2. Staying taller = This step helps you maintain the taller look you achieved from the previous step

3. Growing taller = This step helps you actually grow physically taller

In this chapter, we’re going to focus on the step you’re most interested in: growing taller

But for step #3 to work, you need to first master steps 1 and 2.

So without further ado, let’s dive into step 1.

Step #1

Become Taller

This is an exciting step, because it allows you to literally become taller instantly.

So how do you become taller instantly?

By fixing your posture.

I know that’s not a ground-breaking answer you were looking for.

But let me show you how game-changing this strategy is:

As you can see in this picture, fixing your posture can instantly make you an inch taller.

With that, here are steps you can take to become taller, right now:

Ways to Become Taller (Instantly)

Optimize your standing posture by:

Standing against the wall (with the back of your feet, buttocks, shoulder blades, and head all touching the wall)

Tucking in your chin while looking straight (this will align your head properly while putting your spine in its neutral position)

Get a cheap posture corrector on Amazon (these will FORCE you to maintain a good posture)

Aim to sit less by:

Taking frequent breaks

Using standing desks, or

Lying down on your stomach when using your laptop or phone for a long time

Sleep on your back without a pillow (this is my favorite technique)

Install a medium-firm mattress to keep your spine in its neutral alignment

Become more confident; this makes you pop out your chest naturally, bringing your spine into a proper alignment

What a Correct Standing Posture Looks Like

Here is what a correct posture looks like:

As you can see, you have to align your head, shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles

For a more in-depth guide on how you can optimize your standing posture, check out the following resource:

Art of Manliness: The Ultimate Guide to Posture (by Brett and Kate McKay)

Step #2

Stay Taller

You’ve probably found the last step pretty easy to pull off.

I mean, fixing your posture shouldn’t be rocket science.

But maintaining a tall posture is a whole different game.

And in this section, I’ll show you exercises to help you maintain your taller posture, much more easily.

These exercises will either:

Strengthen the muscles that are too weak, or

Stretch the muscles that are too tight

9 Exercises to Maintain a Taller Posture

(Click on each exercise to see the video demonstration)

Doorway Stretch

Wall Angels

Standing Rows

Shoulder Rotations

Thoracic Stretch

Hip Flexor Stretch

Glute Bridge

Plank

Superman

3 Bonus Resources for the Best Postural Exercises

Here are 3 bonus resources you can use to further improve and maintain your posture:

Brett (from Art of Manliness): 6 Exercises to Counteract Slouching

Jeff Cavaliere (from ATHLEAN-X): Perfect Posture in 5 Steps

Dr. Alan Mandell: 13 Best Postural Exercises for Forward Head Posture

Step #3

Grow Taller

This is the step you’ve been waiting for.

As you probably know, your bones stop growing after you reach a certain age (around late teens or early 20s).

If so… how in the world can you grow taller as an adult??

By lengthening a part of your body that CAN still grow: your spine

I’ll explain.

Your Spine: The Hero That Can Help You Grow Taller By 1 to 2 Inches

Here is a diagram of how your spine looks like:

As you can see, your spine contains 24 bones (white), separated by 23  cartilage discs (red).

The coolest part?

Unlike your bones, the cartilage discs in your spine can grow longer, no matter HOW old you are [49].

How Much Can Your Spine Discs Grow?

The question then becomes:

How much can your spine grow in total?

More than you think.

To give you concrete numbers:

If all you do is increase each disc length by 0.05, you would grow 0.05 inches x 23, which equals 1.15 inches in total.

In fact, that’s exactly how I grew taller when I was 23.

But I’m not the only one who grew taller as an adult…

A group of patients (whose average age was 65 years old) were able to lengthen their disc length by (in order to reduce their back pain) [50].

So if a group of 65-year-old patients can become taller, you certainly can too.

How to Maximize Spine Growth as an Adult

At this point, you’re probably wondering:

How do you actually increase your disc length?

By implementing what I call the “3 Spine Maximizers” into your lifestyle:

Spine Maximizer #1: Minimize Pressure on Your Spine

If you want your maximize the length of your spine discs, you need to minimize the pressure on your spine.

And the easiest way to minimize the pressure on your spine is to stop lifting weights over your shoulders.

Now, as I mentioned in the previous chapter, lifting weights will NOT stunt your growth.

That’s because your bones can keep growing no matter what pressure you place on them.

But your spine discs are different: if you place too much weight on them, they won’t be able to expand in length.

So here are exercises and activities you want to avoid (for the next few months):

Overhead shoulder presses

Handstand pushups

Squats

Lifting heavy backpacks

Carrying anything that’s too heavy off the floor

On the flipside, you CAN still do some weight-lifting exercises that won’t compress your spine, such as:

Flat bench presses

Normal pushups

Cable exercises

Can You Start Lifting Over Your Shoulders Again?

Now here’s the good news:

Once you’ve fully maximized your spine length, you can go back to lifting height weights over your shoulders.

Because no matter how much pressure you put on your spine, you’ll still be able to maintain your taller height [51, 52].

But until you reach that plateau, do your best to minimize these spine-compressing activities.

Spine Maximizer #2: Maintain a Straight Posture (Already Done)

Maintaining a straight posture isn’t just important for simply appearing taller, but actually increasing the length of your spine discs.

How?

By maintaining a proper posture, you can decrease the pressure on your spine by up to 60lbs (which is around 23 kg)…

But luckily for you, if you’ve already completed steps 1 and 2, you already have a straight posture.

So you’re ready to move on to the last Spine Maximizer.

Spine Maximizer #3: Maximize Your Natural HGH

In the intro chapter, I explained how HGH is important for increasing your bone length.

But what you may not know is that HGH also lengthens your cartilage discs as well [53, 54].

So the more HGH you produce in your body, the longer your spine discs can become.

With that, here are 5 ways you can boost your HGH naturally:

Will These Strategies Work For You 100%?

In this chapter, I showed you the gist of what I did to become 3.0 cm taller when I was 23 years old.

Now, does this mean that you can get the same result?

It depends.

Before I implemented these strategies, my posture was flatout terrible!

That’s why as soon as I fixed my posture, not only did I appear taller instantly, but my discs expanded drastically.

However, if your posture is already perfect, the chances are, these tips won’t help you grow much taller.

On the flipside, if you have a bad posture like I did, there’s a good chance you CAN become noticeably taller.

But however much you end up growing, just know that these tips and strategies go beyond growing taller:

Following this guide will help you become stronger and healthier as you age.

How Does Height Loss Occur?

There are 3 main factors that can cause you to lose height as you age:

➊ Weakening of the postural muscles

➋ Shrinkage in disc height, and

➌ Loss of bone strength

In chapter 4, I explain how you can fix your posture AND maximize your disc height.

So in this chapter, we’re going to focus mainly on how to prevent your bones from becoming weaker.

What Causes Your Bones to Weaken As You Age?

When most adults become older, they develop a condition called Osteoporosis.

To put simply: Osteoporosis describes bones that are less dense than what’s considered to be healthy.

Osteoporosis is also called a “silent disease”, since it doesn’t show any symptoms.

That’s why about 10.3% of American adults (over 50 years of age) were estimated to have Osteoporosis, while 43.9% of them suffered from low bone mass [56]!

Osteoporosis Should Be Taken Seriously

Osteoporosis can not only decrease your height as you get older, but it can also cause fractures [57, 58, 59].

But here’s the good news:

By taking the right prevention steps, you can decrease your chances of developing Osteoporosis.

Ways to Prevent Osteoporosis and Height Loss

Here are a list of things you can do (and avoid) to prevent Osteoporosis, and ultimately, preserve your height as you age [60, 61]:

Optimize your diet around the following nutrients:

Amino Acids and Proteins to maintain higher levels of HGH, and

Calcium and Vitamin D3 to increase your bone density

Stay active by taking part in your favorite activity every day (don’t worry about doing high-intensity exercises!)

Maintain healthy levels of testosterone and estrogen

Avoid drinking or smoking cigarettes

Beware of using certain drugs or medications (such as glucocorticoids or anticonvulsants)

How to Check for Osteoporosis

If you’re worried that you may have some kind of low bone density right now, here are tests that will help you check your bones [60]:

Bone Mineral Density Test (on your hips or spine)

Screen Tests (x-rays, central DXA test)

For more information about Osteoporosis, check out the following resources:

National Institutes of Health: Osteoporosis Overview

National Osteoporosis Foundation: What is Osteoporosis and What Causes It?

Conditions That Are Similar to Osteoporosis

While Osteoporosis is the main bone condition that you need to watch out for, there are 2 similar bone disorders you may want to to be aware of [62]:

1. Osteopenia – “Milder” version of Osteoporosis

2. Osteomalacia – Mainly caused by a lack of Vitamin D

If you want to learn more about these conditions (or other conditions that can cause problems for your bones), check out the following resource:

National Institutes of Health: Muscle and Bone Diseases