Thanks for the info and I'm also aware of this, neck training and being as heavy as an NFL lineman probably does contribute.
I'm upset with this post because in my opinion, it's totally incorrect to say that the upper chest and traps contribute and what's even worse is that this post is showing up as a top hit on search engines so people reading this could literally jump to the wrong conclusions and just stop doing workouts like incline bench or push presses.
I've legit had resp. therapists tell me wrong information (that I don't have sleep apnea) and the doctor from the same clinic tell me the opposite (that it's mild). I legit would not trust everything health professionals tell you.
How can building muscles AROUND the actual muscles that contribute to sleep apnea, actually worsen sleep apnea? You're not even working the muscles that directly contribute to sleep apnea. I know this was posted years ago but I just want to state my opinion (and perhaps facts) on what that respiratory therapist told you.
There's no way that working your upper chest could worsen sleep apnea. First of all, sleep apnea is caused by the relaxation of your neck and throat muscles, particularly the front neck muscles. Your upper chest is not your neck or throat. As for your traps, they can contribute to bad forward head posture which contributes to sleep apnea. But if you maintain good posture, then working the traps by themselves should not contribute to apneas. Your traps are located on your back. As far as I know, your traps are not your (front/side) neck or throat. If you were to look at the anatomy of where your airways are located relative to your trapezius, you will see that they are very decently far away from each other. Additionally, people on forums claim that when they bulk up and work traps, they have worse conditions. Sleep apnea is more directly correlated with body fat percentage than body mass index (and there are studies that confirm this / it should also just be obvious - a flabby body functions poorly versus a toned body). So having larger traps or an upper chest alone is far less worse than really just being fatter and having an -overall- thicker neck.
I'm a guy who's looked into sleep apnea on and off for the past 6 years. I don't have a medical degree, I have an advanced degree in engineering. Pretty sure respiratory therapists only need their associates, I wouldn't trust everything they say. People in the medical field get things wrong all the time.
Unless someone can point to actual medical literature that proves this, then I wouldn't trust what that resp. therapist said. I wouldn't even trust what some doctors say sometimes because even they get things wrong.
