Expert reveals the worst sleeping position for your body
James Leinhardt, a “posture expert” from the United Kingdom, has revealed the worst possible sleeping position for any body.
In a video posted to TikTok, he warns viewers about the perils of sleeping on their stomach, claiming that the common position can actually do more harm than good - from muscle strain to the back and spine to chronic pain.
“This is literally the worst ever sleeping position,” he declared, after demonstrating what he likes to call “the car crash position”.
“You’re rotating your neck, you’re twisting it, you’re putting your head up, you’re fighting all the natural curves of your spine, you’re compressing your vertebrae, you’re getting pins and needles, neck and back pain,” he went on.
“And you still do it every night, why? It’s not comfy, it’s just what you’re familiar with. It’s just what your body’s used to. Does this look comfy to you?”
Luckily, Leinhardt came equipped with a few tips and tricks to help break free from the “awful front sleeping” habit to the “beautiful side sleeping”.
To begin, he recommended having a pillow between the tip of the ear and the tip of the shoulder, as well as one between the knees and angles, to help “support and stabilise this hip and keep you feeling safer and you’re less likely to bring that leg over.”
Of his next tip, hugging a secondary pillow, he noted that “you’re going to de-weight that top shoulder, hug it, and again you’re more stable and less likely to roll over.”
He suggested trying his tips out for just 30 minutes, and “if you don’t like it, if it doesn’t work out, go back to that car crash of a sleeping position and start again tomorrow.”
“Please listen to me,” he encouraged, “this is absolutely easy for you to achieve, just try it.”
And while many were grateful for Leinhardt’s tips, and keen to try them out, there were still those who had no interest in abandoning their comfy old habits, no matter the cost.
“It's comfy in the beginning,” one viewer wrote. “Morning is full of regrets though.”
“That looks freakin fantastic to me!” another declared. “I mean I would rather sleep like that than not sleep at all, sooooo that’s why we sleep like that, BECAUSE we sleep”.
Meanwhile, one simply wanted to know “why all the pleasures of life are forbidden”.
Images: TikTok