Personal Trainer Advice: Sleep Positions | Personal Training ...

Jan 19th, 2013 by Jay Scott

Lexington KY?s Top Personal Trainer discusses sleep positions, and how they affect your looks, health, and vitality.

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Sometimes owning a Personal Training Business requires offering more than fitness, exercise, and nutrition advice. I?ve been discussing back pain with a few of my clients (I used to have this myself) and we finally got onto the subject of sleep position.

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As I type this everyone in Lexington is about to watch Kentucky stomp Auburn (basketball) ? then they are going to go off to bed. However, the position they sleep in when they decide to hit the hay is another matter entirely?

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Honestly, I never really considered my sleep position (not so good considering I?m a Personal Trainer), but after chatting with a few people (one of which is a chiropractor) I decided to alter mine.

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?I was a long time ?skydiver sleeper? ? that?s what I call it anyway; stretched out like I?m in a mid-air free fall ? head to one side or the other ? taking up most of the bed (no, I?m not married). Being forced to shift his position was always a real bummer ? and resulted in a crappy night?s sleep.

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I also had a lot of alignment issues ? sometimes throwing my back out for no apparent reason.

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What are some of these ?no apparent reasons?? Here are a few:

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• Stretching in the morning

• Drying my hair in the shower (yeah that really happened)

• Getting things out of high cabinets (yeah, I?m short)

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I would usually throw it out mid-back; right between the shoulder blades. I?d be in pretty severe pain for a few days afterward.

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Never once did it occur to me that my sleep position might be the culprit.

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So now let?s discuss some pros and cons of the different sleep positions:

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Stomach:

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Pros: Good for snoring, open air pathways. That?s about it.

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Cons: Bad for joints, nerve impulses, throws spine alignment out of whack, gives you wrinkles (I noticed this has been much better since I switched from this awful position as well), flattens breasts (I don?t mind this on myself, but I will say as a red blooded male that that isn?t going to help you out on the old attractiveness scale)

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Fetal Position:

Pros: good for snoring; good for pregnancy sleep

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Maybe you have to be really young for this to be a great sleeping position?I mean really, really, young?

Cons: Restricts breathing, premature facial wrinkles, bad for breast shape, promotes back and neck pain, bad for arthritis

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Side:

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Pros: Does prevent back and neck pain, good for acid reflux, good position during pregnancy and helps prevent snoring, good for overall health

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Cons: Causes facial wrinkles (face pressed into pillow all night), causes breast sag because ligaments are stretched (hey, I researched this ? didn?t know they had ligaments either)

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Back:

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Pros: Helps prevent neck and back pain; keeps you from getting facial wrinkles, keeps breasts from sagging, reduces acid reflux, great for overall health

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Cons: Bad for snoring

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As you can see I researched this a bit ? and the overall winner is: BACK.

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Dude had it right all along?

Sleeping on your back will prevent wrinkles, keep your breasts perky, keep down indigestion, prevent back pain, aid with arthritis, and aid in overall health.

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When I read this I was faced with a decision. I slept on my stomach ? 100% the opposite of back sleeping. In fact if I woke up on my back I thought ?whats up ? did I get abducted by aliens or something last night??

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It was that strange for me to ever be on my back during sleep.

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So what to do? I decided that if I wanted to alleviate back pain, and stop wrinkling (the right side of my face was really showing a line from cramming it into the bed all night) I was going to have to bite the bullet and totally switch sleeping positions.

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I did it three months ago. Here are the results:

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1. My back pain is much reduced ? in fact I haven?t even had a ?close call? on throwing out my back (knock on wood) since changing to back sleeping.

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2. My wrinkles are much better. The ?smile line? on the right side of my face was becoming much more pronounced from sleeping on my stomach. I?m 33 now ? so what used to not matter ? now does. Since sleeping on my back it has started to fade and balance out with the other side. I must say it definitely aids in wrinkle prevention.

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3. My digestion is much better. I used to have acid reflux ? especially if I overate late at night (hey I don?t do it that often). Acid reflux was actually becoming a problem for me ? but now I have virtually none! Sleeping on the old back has tremendously helped in that regard as well.

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So how did I switch?

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Miserably. I must admit it took me 6 weeks to get used to sleeping on my back ? and my sleep quality was down for that long. I just wasn?t comfortable. I can sum up the experience in two words. It sucked.

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3 months in I?m fine ? and I sleep well and with comfort. But it was a miserable 6 weeks.

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The way I accomplished it was to sleep on my living room couch. I would put my legs over the arm of the couch to elevate them (you can use a pillow for this in a bed) and pin my side into the back of the couch.

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That?s the only way I could keep myself from rolling over once I was asleep. Now I?m used to sleeping on the couch and sleeping in the bed feels funny.

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I am about to transition back to the bed though ? I think I can control my ?stomach sleeping urge? now.

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This whole thing has resulted in a change of my language as well ? now I tell people ?It?s late; I?ve got to get up early ? I?m going home and going straight to couch.? Haha. I kill me.

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Think about this blog and how it can possibly reduce some of your issues ? then decide if you want to take the plunge and become a back sleeper.

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If you already sleep on your back ? trust me, you don?t know how lucky you are ? as for the rest of us; well, I still think it?s worth the discomfort to change your sleeping habits and to start sleeping on your back. I know it?s been worth it for me.

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nil desperandum ? NEVER GIVE UP!!!!

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Jay Scott

1050 Chinoe Rd. Suite 104

Lexington, KY 40502

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Tags: kentucky, ky, lexington, personal trainer, personal training

Posted in Fitness

Source: http://www.cefitness.net/personal-trainer-advice-sleep-positions

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