Over a billion people worldwide have sleep apnea, and many don’t know that simple airway exercises can genuinely help as part of managing it. Sleep apnea happens when the airway narrows and the muscles at the back of the throat become too relaxed, allowing the airway to collapse during sleep and interrupt breathing. (Based on the insights of Dr. Eric Berg)
Key Takeaways
- Weight loss only meaningfully helps sleep apnea in about a third of cases — many people with a healthy weight also have it, which is why direct throat muscle training is a legitimate complementary approach.
- Three exercises — tongue root press, palate lift, and cheek suction — target the roughly 20 muscles supporting the airway, taking about 7 minutes daily.
- Nasal breathing creates airflow resistance that supports better oxygen/CO2 balance, even though it can initially feel like less air is getting through.
- Get your vitamin D level tested before supplementing — sustained intake above 4,000 IU/day (the standard upper limit) should involve blood monitoring, not blanket high-dose supplementation.
- These exercises complement, but shouldn’t replace, prescribed CPAP or other treatment for diagnosed sleep apnea without your sleep physician’s guidance.
Why This Happens
The airway in your throat is supported by roughly 20 different muscles. When these muscles lose tone, they can become lax, increase in volume, and obstruct the airway — a problem made worse when sleeping on your back, since gravity pulls the tongue backward into the airway. Weight loss is commonly recommended for sleep apnea, but it’s estimated to meaningfully help in only about a third of cases, since plenty of people with a healthy body weight also have sleep apnea. This is why directly training the strength and tone of these throat muscles, sometimes called myofunctional therapy, is a legitimate, evidence-supported approach worth knowing about.
A Quick Self-Check
Look in a mirror, open wide, and say “ah” to see how much space you actually have in the back of your throat. Also check where your tongue rests — if it sits flat on the floor of your mouth rather than up against the roof, that can be part of the problem, especially for people who tend to breathe through their mouth.
Exercise #1: Tongue Root Press
Place the tip of your tongue behind your top front teeth, then flatten and press the rest of your tongue firmly against the roof of your mouth, from tip to the very back, creating a suction-like seal. Hold this pressure for 5 seconds, relax for 2 seconds, and repeat 15 times. You can place a thumb under your chin to feel the muscle activating. This is considered the most important of the three exercises, since a poorly toned tongue base is a major contributor to airway obstruction during sleep.