Does Hanging Make You Taller? What the Science Says
Hanging from a pull-up bar is one of the most repeated "grow taller" tips online, and it isn't made up out of thin air: hanging really does stretch your spine, and you can measure slightly taller afterward. The catch is how much, and for how long. Here's what the research on spinal traction shows, why the effect fades, what hanging can't do to your bones, and how to try it safely if you still want to.
Quick Answer
Hanging can make you measure a few millimeters taller for a short time, but it does not make you permanently taller. It works by decompressing the water-filled discs between your vertebrae, the same discs that squeeze down over the course of a normal day. Studies of spinal traction, the closest scientifically measured relative of hanging, show gains on the order of 5 to 9 millimeters (roughly 0.2 to 0.35 inch) that reverse once your spine is loaded again.[1][3] Hanging has no effect on the growth plates that determine bone length, so it cannot raise your adult height.[5]
What Hanging Does to Your Spine
Between each pair of vertebrae sits a disc, a soft cushion that holds a lot of water. When you stand, walk, and sit, your body weight squeezes some of that water out and the discs flatten slightly. When you lie down, they rehydrate and re-expand. Stadiometry studies, which measure height with great precision, have recorded roughly 19 millimeters (about three-quarters of an inch, or 1.1 percent of stature) of difference between first thing in the morning and the end of the day.[1]
Hanging reverses that squeeze in the other direction. Hanging by your hands lets gravity pull your body weight downward and takes load off your spine, which opens up the space between the vertebrae. Research on traction, which pulls the spine lengthways by other means, shows the principle works: in young men, traction significantly increased stature, and the change reflected greater spinal length and disc space.[2] A 15-subject study found that 10 minutes of inversion traction significantly increased lumbar intervertebral spaces.[4]
An honest limit to the evidence: most of this research tested traction tables, side-lying, water-based suspension, and inversion rather than ordinary bar hanging. Hanging from a bar is the same basic idea in a simpler form, but there are few studies that measure bar hanging by itself, so the figures below are the best available proxies, not exact numbers for a dead hang.
How Much Height Are We Talking About?
Putting the research side by side shows how small the effect is compared with the normal rhythm of a day.
| What was studied | Reported change | Takeaway |
|---|---|---|
| Rising in the morning vs. end of day | About 19 mm (1.1% of stature) | Your spine naturally compresses and re-expands every day[1] |
| Manual axial traction or lying on your side | About 8.6 mm average gain | Simply lying down gave the same gain as pulling on the spine[1] |
| Vertical (aquatic) traction vs. supine flexion | About 5 mm vs. 4 mm, similar in both | Gains are millimeter-scale[3] |
| 10 minutes of inversion traction | Significant increase in lumbar disc spaces | Real but small, and measured in 15 men[4] |
| Hanging from a bar | Not directly measured in these studies | Likely the same short-lived, millimeter-scale kind of change |
Studies differ in participants, methods, and how height was measured, so these figures aren't directly comparable. The point is the scale: millimeters, not inches.
The most telling row is the second one. Lying on your side for a while produced about the same gain as a skilled manual traction technique, which means the "stretch" from hanging is the same kind of change your spine goes through every night while you sleep.
Why the Gain Doesn't Last
The extra length comes from discs absorbing fluid and spacing out. As soon as you stand up, walk, and sit, body weight loads them again and pushes that fluid back out, which is the very same process that makes everyone a bit shorter by evening.[1][2] Nothing in the bone has changed, so there is nothing to keep the gain in place.
That's also why a measurement taken right after hanging is misleading. If you're tracking real growth, measure at the same time of day and not right after stretching or exercise. Our guide to how to measure height correctly and the Height Measurement Accuracy Checker show how to keep readings consistent, and why we get shorter as we age explains the daily compression in more detail.
What Hanging Can't Do
Bones get longer at growth plates, bands of cartilage near the ends of long bones, under the control of growth hormone and sex hormones. When puberty finishes, those plates fuse into solid bone and lengthening stops.[5] Hanging acts on the soft tissue between vertebrae, not on the plates, so it can't add bone length at any age.
Briefly decompress the spine, build grip and shoulder endurance, and give a relaxing stretch after long periods of sitting.
Lengthen bones, reopen or "stimulate" growth plates, or add permanent height. No study has shown that it does.
Teens who are still growing don't get a special benefit either: hanging is a fine activity for them, but there is no evidence that it speeds growth or raises final height. For how and when plates close, see our guide to growth plates and their role in height development, and for other popular claims in the same category, our height increase myths article.
Is Hanging Safe? Who Should Skip It
For most healthy people, brief hangs from a stable bar are low risk. The common problems come from overdoing it, adding weight, or flipping upside down.
Skip the extras. Adding weight to a hang, hanging for long stretches, or buying inversion gear in the hope of permanent height adds risk without adding any benefit that the evidence supports. Since the gain is temporary anyway, there is no reason to push through discomfort.
If You Want to Try It
There's no research-backed "dose" for hanging, so treat it as a simple stretch and exercise rather than a height treatment. If you enjoy it, these basics keep it comfortable.
▶ Watch: How Hanging Transforms Your Body
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References
- [1] Changes in spinal height after manual axial traction or side lying: a clinical measure of intervertebral disc hydration using stadiometry. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. 2019. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31078315
- [2] Changes in stature during and after spinal traction in young male subjects. Revista Brasileira de Fisioterapia. scielo.br
- [3] Immediate changes in spinal height and pain after aquatic vertical traction in patients with persistent low back symptoms: a crossover clinical trial. PM&R. sciencedirect.com
- [4] Effects of gravity-facilitated traction on intervertebral dimensions of the lumbar spine. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. 1985;6(5):281-288. jospt.org
- [5] Mirtz TA, et al. The effects of physical activity on the epiphyseal growth plates: a review of the literature on normal physiology and clinical implications. Journal of Clinical Medicine Research. jocmr.org
