Ever measured yourself right when you wake up in the morning? If you are like most people that’s not probably a part of your morning routine.
Tonight before you go to bed measure and see how tall you are, then in the morning the second you wake up grab your ruler and see how tall you are. You will be quite surprised when you realize that you measure about one inch taller than you were the night before.
So why is that?
Business Insider takes us through the science behind this. From the minute you wake up in the morning, gravity is putting vertical pressure on your spinal column. This pressure compresses the cartilage (squashy bone goo) between each vertebra (small bones that make up your spine) and as the day goes on, the more they compress. When you go to bed however, that vertical gravitation pull on your spine is gone and the cartilage expands. Which stretches out your spine and makes you about one inch taller in the morning.
For the average person it’s not a big deal, but if you are trying to get recruited to play college basketball, that one inch on your resume might give you what you need to set you apart from the rest. If that extra inch in the morning doesn’t quite do it for you, there is another solution: go be an astronaut for awhile.
Astronauts return to earth on average two inches taller then they were when they left due to the constant lack of pressure on their backs. The thought of being a little bit taller sounds pretty great but seven out of ten astronauts report having back problems within days of returning to our gravity stricken world.
So they you have it! You are in fact taller in the mornings than you are in the evenings, and if you are looking to grow an inch or two you might want to consider space travel as a potential occupation.
