Using a night guard for sleeping can actually improve your workouts



About 15 years ago I was told by my dentist that I should be wearing a night guard to bed because my teeth were showing signs that I was grinding them during the night.   Two things came to my head right away.    No way did I want to sleep having a bulky thing inside my mouth for 7 hrs.   The other was how much was it going to cost for this contraption.  After some serious thought and talking to some people, I decided to invest $200 for it.   Pretty pricey I thought but the benefits sounded like they outweighed the cost.   I can honestly say it was one of the best investments regarding my health. 
 
The first thing I noticed after using it for only a week was that my face, neck and shoulders felt so much more relaxed upon waking up.   Because of this my workouts seemed better too because the muscles around my upper back and shoulders didn’t get fatigued as quickly as they usually did.    When seeing a client repeatedly raise their shoulders doing upper body work and noticing the tightness in their traps, I will often ask if they grind their teeth or clench their jaw at night.   Many times they say yes and tell me they were told by their dentist that they should be wearing a night guard.   It definitely shows in their posture and movements!!

Headaches would occasionally occur during my day, probably because of the tension that the grinding created at night.   That would always put a damper on wanting to exercise because it would only make my headache worse.  Once I started using the night guard, though, the headaches went away.   I very rarely ever get one anymore so there is never an excuse that I have a headache and don’t have the energy to move my body.

Everyone should consider wearing a night guard, even if they don’t grind their teeth like I used to.   However, don’t use a generic sports mouth guard because it may damage tooth alignment.  Custom dental guards may even improve alignment.   There are many more options to getting one these days than just through your dentist.   You can get them online as well which is the less expensive route.    Either way it is money well spent!!