Questions: Family & Friends

Although neither of my parents were tall (mother 5'6", father 6'1"), I ended up so damn short due to Precious Puberty, and probably other things, like malnutrition, a lack of sleep growing up, not getting enough cardio during puberty, etc.

The unofficial formula for height growth is to take the middle of your parents height and add two inches if you're male and subtract two inches if you're female. Meaning a 6'2" father and a 5'6" mother with two kids growing up under healthy circumstances, should end up with a 6'0" son and 5'8" daughter, respectively. Ideally, you would want a tall mother and a tall father, with not that much range between the two, if you were to end up tall. Those who don't end up tall with a tall father, usually have their short mothers to blame.

Of course, parents only determine your potential height range, and those with taller parents have a larger potential height range they could end up in. Environment determines what your final height will be, and whether you will meet the expected height (average of your parents, +2" or -2" inches for gender), surpass it, or fall well below it. Nine to ten hours of sleep nightly, a diet healthy with plenty of vegetables and protein, and daily cardio, is what maximizes one's height potential. This is why student athletes end up so tall. Not because of the sports itself, but because of their lifestyle surrounding it, especially cardio-heavy sports like basketball and volleyball (much less so with football or wrestling, which relies more on muscle).

I'm an inch below what the height formula predicts, but six inches below what my height should've been (two tall grandfathers; both were 6'5" and I still ended up a shrimp).

Did you end up shorter or taller than your parents?