At a Glance
Weight lifting can have a positive impact on overall health and sleep apnea severity for most people, including older adults. However, body builders, football players, and other athletes focused on growing body mass and bulk may be at risk of developing sleep apnea. Many people outside these groups can lift weights safely without worrying about getting sleep apnea or worsening existing sleep apnea.
The benefits of exercise have never been more clear — or more widely reported. Weight lifting in particular is having a moment in the spotlight, with newspapers, academic journals, and social media all touting its positive impacts. But also making the rounds is a rumor that resistance training may have a negative impact on sleep apnea.
Below, we’ll explain how weight lifting and sleep apnea affect one another, as well as how they don’t. If you’re unsure about starting to lift because of your sleep apnea, keep reading to learn about safe ways to make gains.
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Can Lifting Weights Cause Sleep Apnea?
There’s a link between weight lifting and sleep apnea, but not one that’s harmful for most people. In fact, there’s widespread research that looks at how resistance training actually helps prevent sleep apnea and alleviate its symptoms, and very little evidence showing that weight lifting causes sleep apnea in most people.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is characterized by repeated pauses and stops in breathing that happen when a person’s upper airway collapses or becomes blocked. Neck circumference and body mass index (BMI) can play a major role in developing OSA: If your neck is larger than 17 inches around or you carry excess weight around your neck, your breathing passages don’t have enough support or structure to allow proper airflow.
In most cases, a weight-loss plan that includes exercise can help reduce neck circumference and improve sleep apnea symptoms. However, body builders and weight lifters focusing on bulk may be the exception to this rule. A review of studies found that male athletes in strength-based sports like rugby and football may be at higher risk for OSA, as they are more likely to have thicker necks and higher BMIs.
Weight-bearing exercise may cause necks to become thicker as a byproduct of increasing overall muscle mass. For the vast majority of people lifting weights, this is a non-issue. But athletes and body builders focused on increasing body mass significantly may be at risk of developing OSA or worsening existing OSA.
Does Weight Lifting Help Sleep Apnea?
Though it’s not a cure for sleep apnea, weight lifting can improve symptoms and overall health. Lifting weights can increase muscle tone and promote weight loss, both of which have been shown to help OSA outcomes. One review states that exercise can actually help improve OSA severity, even when people don’t lose weight or lower their BMI.
When you lift weights, it improves muscle function and tone. This is particularly helpful for sleep apnea, because improvement in neck strength supports your upper airway and breathing passages.
Exercise is well-known for improving sleep, and there’s long-standing evidence to support the connection between the two. There’s a bi-directional relationship between exercise and sleep, so if your sleep is better, your exercise will be, too, and vice-versa. Even anecdotally, one survey found that more than half of U.S. adults say that exercise improves sleep.
Is It Safe to Lift Weights With Sleep Apnea?
Research shows that it’s generally safe for people with sleep apnea to lift weights and that it can be beneficial, even for people over 70 years old.
However, weight lifting requires strict attention to form and body position to prevent injury, so make sure to consult a trainer or expert before picking up the barbell. You may also want to speak with your physician or sleep specialist before starting a new exercise program.
It’s also important to continue treating your sleep apnea. Exercise and weight lifting can help OSA severity, but they cannot cure the disorder. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy is the first-line treatment and is effective for most people who stick with using their machine nightly and as directed. People who don’t tolerate CPAP well can look to alternatives and supplement with home remedies.
Does CPAP Improve Workout Performance?
Stopping CPAP therapy, even short term, can have a negative impact on your OSA and overall health, but using it correctly can help both your overall health and workout performance.
One study focused on people with both OSA and heart disease, found that CPAP has long-term health benefits, and that compared to the control group, people treated with CPAPs had 20% more moderate activity across a more than 3-year span. They also reported fewer physical limitations than the non-CPAP group.
CPAP therapy prevents your upper airway from collapsing, which minimizes the number of breathing pauses people with OSA experience during sleep. Getting a full night’s sleep with proper oxygen levels can increase energy and decrease fatigue and daytime sleepiness, which can both be helpful when it’s time to hit the gym.
Since sleep and exercise have a symbiotic relationship, better sleep means you can train harder and more consistently, and more exercise means you’ll sleep better.
When to Talk to a Doctor
Though weight lifting and exercise are generally helpful for people with OSA, there are a few things you should look out for if you have sleep apnea. Call your doctor if you experience or notice any of the following.
- Extreme fatigue during workouts
- Dizziness or shortness of breath
- You have sleep apnea symptoms but no diagnosis
- Trouble recovering between sessions
- Increased bulk around your neck
- A BMI that increases with exercise rather than decreases
If you or your partner suspect that you may have sleep apnea, the first step in getting effective treatment is an at-home sleep test.
Written by
Cassandra Burns, Contributing WriterCassandra is a health writer who writes about sleep products and reads emerging research to develop science-based articles that help demystify the connection between health and sleep. She's happy to report that she sleeps well most nights, which is probably thanks to her energetic dog and her other work managing a family-owned whitewater rafting business in Upstate New York.
