Last updated on October 24th, 2021 at 01:31 pm
Sleep apnea is downright annoying. Regardless of whether it bothers your partner during the night, its effects do trickle into daily life. Especially for those aching to get outside to train for a big marathon or meet fitness goals. If you suffer from sleep apnea, you may find the first few splits to be particularly labored. And, cramping and joint pain in the evening may have you pounding water and ibuprofen. After considering all of these occurrences, many start wonder ‘does sleep apnea affect running performance?’
The short answer is yes. Untreated sleep apnea is a threat to not only cardiovascular health, but also mental awareness and physical fitness. Runners may notice increased fatigue, decreased muscle activation, and slower recovery holds them back from their goals.
What is Sleep Apnea
To put it plainly, sleep apnea is a potentially serious condition where a person’s breathing starts and stops repeatedly during sleep. Categorically, there are three types of this sleep disorder, obstructive sleep apnea, central sleep apnea or complex sleep apnea syndrome.
Regardless of the type of sleep apnea, sufferers often snore loudly, gasp for air during the night, and wake feeling unrested. Which can greatly affect the following day’s productivity.
Sleep apnea is often relatively easy to notice, especially if you have a concerned loved one that hears you gasping during the night. However, it’s very important to talk to your doctor if you suspect sleep apnea, as it can have lasting affects on your health.
But, for this post we’ll just be focusing on how untreated or poorly managed sleep apnea affects running performance.
How Sleep Apnea Affects Performance
Not only are you likely to wake with a headache, the affects of sleep apnea are usually felt all day. As a result of lower blood oxygen and repeated awakenings throughout the night, runners may experience several impacts to their performance.
Slower Muscle Recovery
First and foremost, we need a recommended 7-9 hours of sleep per night (source). This is especially important for serious athletes to give the body time to recover from intense training. However with sleep apnea, the repeated interruptions to restorative sleep cause muscle recovery to slow to a sluggish pace. This is why you may feel more sore than your marathon buddies, or you have lingering muscle strains.
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In a recent study, muscle strength greatly declined for men who got less than 6 hours of sleep compared to those who slept a full 7-8 hours (source).
For runners, this means cramping and sore muscles on the track, especially if you’re running every day.
Decreases Endurance
In addition to nighttime dips in blood oxygen, sleep apnea also reduces available oxygen during the day.
A study led by researchers at the San Diego School of Medicine found those with moderate to severe sleep apnea to have 14% lower oxygen uptake during peak aerobic activity (source).
What does this mean for runners? In short, more strenuous aerobic activity becomes difficult to sustain.
On long-days, runners will find themselves slowing earlier in their paces. And, after a particularly difficult night, the first few mile-splits will feel more labored as the body struggles to fuel muscles with necessary oxygen.
Daytime Fatigue and Drowsiness
Not only are muscles more taxed after sleep apnea episodes, our alertness and reaction time takes a hit as well.
This drowsiness threatens our motivation to get out there. But, it also results in a mental fog that can draw our attention from the tasks at hand. And, with increased muscle weakness, you may find yourself turning around sooner on the path.
The combination of lack of oxygen and restrictions on restorative sleep wreak havoc on daily activities. In fact, cognitive function and reaction time are greatly reduced in those with sleep apnea (source).
Increase in Stress Hormones
Finally, sleep deprivation leads to an increases in cortisol levels in the body (source). Cortisol is the ‘stress hormone’ and too much can lead to an improperly regulated pain response.
Yep, sleep apnea can lead to more aches and pains during and after your morning run.
In addition, this increase can compound the other effects like headaches, concentration, anxiety, and trouble sleeping that you may already be experiencing.
Get Ahead of Sleep Apnea
If you suspect sleep apnea is affecting your daily training routine, don’t worry, it’s easily treatable.
Runners will find relief through lifestyle changes, losing weight, and sleeping with a CPAP machine. It sounds scary, but CPAP machines will greatly enhance your athletic performance.
Before chalking everything up to stress and pounding energy shots, talk to your doctor if you suspect sleep apnea. They’ll talk you through the steps to better, more restorative sleep.
Breathing Techniques to Improve Lung Capacity
In the meantime however, practicing proper breathing techniques can help improve lung capacity. Try any or all of the following techniques during the day for a start.
Diaphragmatic Breathing
Diaphragmatic breathing involves fully engaging the stomach and allowing it to rise with inhales. This allows air to fully reach the bottom of the lungs for more efficient breathes.
- Start while laying on the ground. A pillow beneath the knees can help keep you relaxed.
- With one hand on the middle of your upper chest, place the other on the stomach, just beneath the rib cage.
- Slowly breathe in through your nose, focusing on bringing it down toward the stomach.
- Focus on feeling your stomach push against the hand, while keeping the hand on your upper chest still.
- Then, while exhaling through pursed lips, tighten your abdominal muscles to let the stomach fall downward. The hand over your chest should remain still and your arms, neck, and head should remain relaxed.
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Practicing this for about five minutes 3-4 times a day will help strengthen the diaphragm, lower blood pressure and decrease oxygen demand on the body.
Pursed-lip Breathing
Another great tool for improving ventilation of old co2 and to make room for oxygen is pursed-lip breathing. This technique slows breathes through deliberately concentrating on pulling air through the lips.
- Begin by sitting or laying down with your back straight. A few shoulder shrugs and rolls will help you relax.
- While focusing on pulling air into the abdomen with the diaphragm, inhale through the nose for two seconds.
- Now, through pursed lips (as if you’re blowing through a straw), blow out slowly.
- Strive to exhale twice as long as on the inhale. And repeat.
This method helps form better muscle memory and use oxygen more efficiently. Additionally, when done enough, pursed-lip breathing is one of the easiest methods that will hopefully become habit.
Exercises for Sleep Apnea
Along with breathing techniques, there are several voice and mouth exercises that strengthen your jaw, soft palate, and tongue.
Tiger Yell
In the Tiger Yell, there’s no actual yelling. Start by opening your mouth wide into a ‘roar.’ Then, stick out your tongue and point it toward your chin for 5 seconds. Close the mouth and continue this for 10 repetitions.
Loud Singing
It’s just as it sounds, singing loudly can strengthen the upper throat muscles and assist with proper breathing during the day. Try singing your favorite song once or twice a day to help exercise the muscles affected by sleep apnea.
Tongue Exercises
Tongue exercises help strengthen your tongue muscles to resist blocking the airways during the night. To begin, simply push your tongue into the roof of the mouth and slide it backward 10-20 times.
Don't Allow Sleep Apnea to Obstruct your Life
Sleep Apnea is a common ailment, but you don’t have to struggle alone. Start by setting up an appointment with your doctor to pinpoint steps toward treatment. So many athletes struggle with this sleep disorder, and suffer dwindling performance. However, once your sleep apnea is controlled, expect to see more power, less fatigue, and quicker recovery.
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Image Credit: JULIAN MASON | (source) | Attribution 2.0 generic (CC BY 2.0)— reduced file size and image