As athletes we try to control what we can in pursuit of our goals, equipment, diet, training, work, friends and family, etc. If you are a triathlete, road, track or off-road racer there is a universal need for recovery regardless of cycling discipline or fitness level. Any good coach will attest that quality sleep is key in not only maintaining fitness but also foundational to building your fitness “engine”. More importantly, what position is your engine (the human body) sleeping in?
Why would the actual position you sleep in be important? It is estimated you will spend a third of your life in bed. An unsupported skeletal position leads to muscle imbalances, functional leg length discrepancies, unilateral pelvic imbalances and other issues. Take these issues and apply them to a closed kinetic chain such as cycling and you have a root cause or “trigger” for hip, knee and lower back pain. This may be why after countless visits to medical and non-medical professionals, the issues never seem to completely subside. For years mattress companies have promoted their product as a cure-all for aches and pains, guaranteeing restful sleep and while the right mattress is an important factor, in reality it plays a minor role. With the majority of society being right handed, it is uncanny when questioned how many non-southpaws seem to sleep on their left side and/or stomach with their left leg prone (bike fitter’s word for straight) and their right leg pulled up with the leg at a 90 degree angle like a flamingo. Or in technical sleep position terms, a modified free fall position.
Why is this significant? Over time, the uneven muscular tension of your back is manipulating your skeletal alignment. In this modified free fall position the left side of the body is prone, but the right side from shoulder to hip is shorter, thus drawing the hip up. Our young bodies tend to snap-back within the first few minutes on the bike, but as we age this process takes longer, or may not happen at all depending on the amount or rigidity of your personal muscular structure. So in essence you are not resting your muscles “evenly”.
What is the solution? Can you simply start sleeping on your back or switch to the other side? Probably not. Habits are hard to break, especially subconscious ones. When I ask clients how they sleep many do not know, probably because they are not conscious of it. For those who commit to change by trying to sleep on their back, they often report less restful sleep or switch to their old position some time during the night. Your best recourse (at minimum) is to sleep with a body pillow between your knees or under the elevated leg. While I am not anti-romantic, the goal is to keep spinal alignment with the pelvis and more importantly reduce the pelvic rotation. There are specialty pillows on the market ranging from small to full body (preferred) which will aid in your personal alignment without greatly changing what you already know.
And while not a scientific product, I often recommend investing in an inversion table to assist in physical maintenance, balance restoration (albeit temporary) and muscular tension. I find that in reoccurring sessions with long distance clients (Ironman, RAAM) that sleep correction coupled with inversion yielded less “deflection” in their position under duress or the limits of exertion with more even muscle recovery. The reduction of muscular tension yields a more neutral position with more manageable pelvic angles versus a position that was uncorrected or catered to a pelvis off axis.
So in essence a body that is foundationally sound at rest will be foundationally functional and adaptive in motion. A body compensating for structural deflection in a closed kinetic loop is forced to provide added rigidity even prior to motion. Enjoy the ride.
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