Originally Posted by bigbutblue
Twin studies.. Identical twins is as good as you can get.
Depriving a growing adolescent of sleep to check it’s effects is immoral and illegal. You’ll find no such medical research, unless the Chinese are doing it secretly.
I find this theory of yours to be a bit…. icky. There is no hard evidence, no direct relation between A and B, just a lot of confabulation and (you said so yourself) a healthy bit of paranoia. Growth hormone is released in the resting period after working out, and that stimultes growth in adolescents too. So unless you worked out like a maniac while growing up, you haven't reached your maximum potential. However, not studying enough made you less smart than you could be. And sleeping less than you should have, would have an effect too. Busy life, right?
Wait, there’s more! You need social contact as well, or you’ll end up being a recluse, with a much larger chance of depression and dementia. Stressed out from all this? Too bad, stress counteracts growth and the immune system.
So all in all, no matter what you do, you’ll never reach your full potential according to your own theory. There’s only 24 hours in a day. And now I’ll stop my ranting :)
There’s a far more pressing concern: getting too little sleep while growing can cause chronic fatigue that can last from months to years. And that actually happens a lot, and is severely underrated.
All in all I can answer your general question with a sounding “No, getting a little less sleep definitely doesn’t harm your potential at all. In fact, your size is pretty impressive!”
If you have any other specific questions, ask them :) I’ll do some more research and maybe post something here later on.
* 7 July 2015 (start): BPEL 17 cm (6.7") / EG 13 cm (5.1")
* 6 december 2015 (latest): BPEL: 18.7 cm (7.4") / EG 13.6 cm (5.4")
note: I study medicine, will be honest and skeptical, but I never mean to offend :) My picture thread: TCG's pictures, gains and rants.