IN BED WITH: Andrew Pearson

2. How would you rank the four main pillars of health and fitness?  

I may not follow the same stereotypical four because I think a lot of them blend together. For example, I need to have good nutrition so that I can train properly, but that's also going to take care of my digestive health, and in turn that's going to help with my mental health too. So, again, it's kind of a web where they're all interconnected and if one is really terrible, no matter how good you're doing in the other ones, you're still going to suffer some inadequacy. Now, I would even say, and it sounds crazy, but your strength training would probably be your lowest priority for many people. You need some activity, but it's not the most important thing for most people to improve their quality of life, whereas focusing on mobility and diet often provides the most drastic improvements.

3. Do you think there's a correlation between massage therapy and sleep?

I’ve been working at a new clinic where a lot of the clientele are construction workers and laborers and I come across a lot of shoulder injuries. I always ask them about how they sleep and what side they sleep on. More often than not, they tend to sleep on their shoulder. So, imagine sleeping on that shoulder and putting it in a poor position for 8 hours over the course of 10 years. That's a lot of trauma that adds up, especially when somebody has a firmer mattress. Another thing I noticed too is with pillow usage. I ask a lot of people about their pillows because we're already in a forward position at our computers or on or phones all day and then most people also do it again while they’re sleeping. Your body never really gets a break, and you’re forcing this maladaptation 24/7. I've actually had a lot of people tell me that when they cut out an extra pillow or they come down to a thinner one, they realized how much of a difference it makes.

4. Tell us a little more about the scope of your position as a Registered Massage Therapist.

The core fundamentals are to increase the quality of movement, increase the quality of your muscles, and reduce tension. We're going to help with the entire rehab process of all of your muscles and joints, so really our job isn’t about relaxation. Our job is to try and get your body back to how it should be moving, and to make sure there's no dysfunction with your muscles. Ideally, if I put everything back to how it should be or as close to it as it should be, your body is going to take care of the rest and then let you move freely again. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't know that there's any sort of dysfunction at all because it’s just how they assume their body is, it's their “normal.” A lot of my job is also education and educating people that your baseline is pretty low, but really our baseline should be way higher. So as you bring that up that baseline, people start feeling better and then it's really easy at that point to start instilling that you can actually move better and that we can build on that.

5. What, in your eyes, is the optimal choice for recovery?

It's hard to say, I'm very biased towards massage. I think it can be great if you find a great practitioner who actually looks at the whole body and how you can improve and optimize your movement. Outside of that, definitely sleep, sleep is a huge one. I noticed myself, as soon as we switched to the Hunter Mattress, I felt incredible. I lost weight, I felt more focused, I was leaner, I was stronger, and my appetite was better. Plus, it’s the easiest thing. I literally just have to go and lay down. That is the easiest way to get yourself to feel better, and my wife experienced the same thing too. She felt better right away, more alert, less grogginess, and it’s so simple, it's passive. So, I think that's kind of like the ultimate thing because it shouldn't take any extra time or effort outside of making the right choice for yourself.