What is the Best Mattress for Athletes?

July 11, 2019

Sleep quality has more than a passing impact on athletic performance and physical recovery after exertion. The key is to choose a mattress that promotes cool air flow, that supports spinal alignment, while offering pressure point relief and cushioning comfort. It sounds like a tall order for a mattress. However, the right mattress can do all these things and more for athletes to ensure they get a great night’s sleep, consistently.

Why is Sleep so Important for Athletes?

Athletes who are well-rested have better endurance, more stamina, are faster, and exhibit greater reflexes over those who are not.  Additionally, sleeping on sleep surfaces that are comfortable and supportive helps athletes to recover from aches and pains faster, promotes healing, and supports good blood flow. Below is a “by the numbers breakdown” of the many reasons sleep is so essential for today’s elite athletes.

• Speed and accuracy. According to a Stanford University study of basketball players, getting additional sleep just two nights a week resulted in increases of speed and accuracy of five and nine percent Fatigue Science also reports that tennis players who get adequate sleep enjoy a 42 percent boost to hitting accuracy.
• Improved decision making. According to the National Sleep Foundation, athletes who do not get sufficient sleep experience declines in their abilities to make split-second decisions while well-rested athletes have greater accuracy.
• Improved strength. According to Fatigue Science, athletes who experience as little as four days of restricted sleep experience maximum bench press weight declines of 20 pounds.

Another Fatigue Science report indicates that sleep improves peak performance among athletes in other ways as well, including:

• Lengthening playing careers
• Reducing injury rates
• Improving overall health and wellbeing
• Experiencing fewer mental errors

In fact, adequate sleep for athletes is so important, National Football League team the Seattle Seahawks have invested wholeheartedly, as an organization, in the benefits of fatigue monitoring to improve performance.

Don’t forget one of the unintended benefits of improved sleep – a better mood. For many athletes the right frame of mind is as essential for their game and performance as adequate nutrition, hydration, and training.

Choosing the Right Mattress

Now that you understand just how important a good night’s sleep is to your game, it is time to examine the characteristics you need in a mattress to deliver a good night’s sleep night after night.

Types of Mattresses Available

There are several different types of mattresses on the market today. Perhaps more than ever before. Choosing the mattress that will meet your needs best will help determine how well you rest for many years to come. These are some of the more common mattresses available in today’s crowded mattress marketplace.

• Natural latex
• Memory foam
• Traditional innerspring
• Hybrid mattresses
• Inflatable air mattresses

Each type offers specific strengths and weaknesses to consider during your search. The better you understand yourself, your body, and the way you sleep, the easier it becomes to identify the best match for your sleep needs.

Sleep Styles and Mattress Needs

Most people can be broken down into three categories of sleepers with a rare few being a combination of one or more of the following styles:

1. Back sleeper
2. Side sleeper
3. Stomach sleeper

Back sleepers traditionally struggle to find mattresses that promise the perfect blend of comfort and essential support to maintain proper spinal alignment throughout the night. Most back sleepers require a firmer mattress to fully support their sleep needs.

Side sleepers struggle to find the perfect blend of cushioning comfort for pressure points that often bear the brunt of their weight while sleeping. Whether it’s shoulders, hips, knees, or other joints that ache upon waking in the morning, the right mattress can provide amazing comfort results, so that you wake rested and pain-free.

Stomach sleepers often fare better on firmer mattresses, though this is the worst possible sleep position to promote proper spine health and a good night’s sleep. Most physicians and trainers will strongly encourage you to try to retrain your body to sleep on your back or side. Until then, look for firmer mattresses that offer greater support.

Memory foam is often the mattress of choice for side sleepers who prefer the additional comfort and cushioning of the memory foam itself. However, many people are beginning to discover the benefits of hybrid latex mattresses, like Eco Terra, that provide the excellent support of individually-wrapped coils with a top layer of luxurious and comfortable Talalay latex.

Latex is often the preferred mattress of choice for the back and stomach sleeper who need added support while sleeping to wake pain-free in the morning. The Eco Terra mattress offers the benefits of both, along with other health promoting features to keep in mind.

Comfort Concerns to Address when Comparing Mattresses

Comfort is about more than support and plushness in a mattress. For many athletes who work up serious sweats during the day, it’s about sleeping cool and uninterrupted through the night. Something that can’t be accomplished on memory foam mattresses that work best by trapping the heat in close to your body while you sleep, so that the mattress molds to your unique contours.

Latex foam, by contrast, offers a cooler night’s sleep as does the individually-wrapped coils of the Eco Terra latex mattress. This helps you stay comfortable throughout the night, because air flows freely through, wicking moisture away from your body while helping you keep your cool while you’re sleeping.

Size Matters When Buying Mattresses

Some athletes are larger than life. It’s not just about your personality or your prowess in the game. It’s about your literal size. Whether you’re an NFL center or a heavyweight boxer, you may have specific needs from your mattress based on your physical build.

For instance, everyone needs a mattress that comfortably supports his or her frame. Athletes with more muscle mass, however, may need a mattress that has a firmer, more supportive core. The Eco Terra mattress offers individually-wrapped coils to provide firm support under a cushioning layer of luxurious Talalay latex foam. This means you get all the support you need for a good night’s sleep. The 15-year non-prorated warranty means you’ll enjoy consistently outstanding support for your sleep needs for many years to come.

Why is this better than other mattresses? Memory foam is known to have problems with heavier people. A problem many subscribe as a quicksand sensation when sleeping on these mattresses. The primary problem is that they lack a supportive core that prevents the sinking that occurs during the night as your body warms the foam.

Traditional innerspring mattresses are known to develop serious sagging and indentations over time as the coils break down and become less supportive in certain areas of the bed. The problem is so pronounced that most traditional innerspring mattresses last seven to eight years at best.

Buying with Confidence

One of the most important things to look for when buying a mattress for an athlete is the ability to return the mattress if it isn’t working for you. Look for a mattress that offers extended amounts of time, beyond the standard 30-day trial, to help you decide if the mattress is really going to work for you or not.

Eco Terra offers a full 90 days for you to explore your mattress, and see if it’s helping you improve your game, or if another mattress might be a better match. All we ask is that you give our mattress at least 30 days to make sure your body has had time to adjust to your new mattress, before choosing to send it back.

That means you can try your new mattress, risk-free, for up to 90 days to make sure it’s a good fit for your sleep, your comfort, and your athletic performance.

Don’t Dismiss the Value of a Good Return Policy

Just like rebounds are important for great scoring opportunities in basketball and hockey, a solid return policy is a winning proposition when buying a mattress. Make sure you find a mattress company that offers easy returns and your money back if the mattress doesn’t work for you.

The ability to return a mattress that isn’t a good fit for your needs is the hallmark of a reputable mattress company that places your sleep needs above profits. Keep that in mind as you explore your options, and look for a winning return policy before making your final decision.

Beyond a Better Mattress

While finding the right mattress to meet your sleep needs is essential to your goals of getting a good night’s sleep, it isn’t the only factor that affects the amount or quality of sleep you get. These changes and adjustments, along with the right mattress can make worlds of difference in your sleep, fatigue, and performance on and off the field, pitch, court, or ice.

• Limit consumption of caffeine and/or alcohol. Especially reduce the amount of caffeine you consumer during the later hours of the day as they can disrupt your ability to go to sleep at night.
• Keep a consistent schedule. This means maintain a steady time for going to sleep and waking up. This helps train your mind for sleep just as you train your body for athletic success.
• Clear out the clutter in your bedroom. Your bedroom needs to be a place that promotes restfulness and calm. Get rid of paper and clothing clutter so that you find the room relaxing.
• Turn off all screens 30 minutes before going to bed. This includes mobile phone screens, tablet devices, computers, laptops, and televisions.

Another thing you do that will yield impressive results for promoting sleep is to develop bedtime rituals and routines that signal your brain that it is time for sleep.

Whether you’re in the market for a new mattress currently, or simply exploring options to help you up your game, the “just right” fit in a mattress can make a world of difference for athletes of all shapes and sizes.

At Eco Terra, we believe our mattress is an exceptional fit for your sleep needs and offer a generous, risk-free trial period for you to explore its benefits to you. Take a good look at our mattress offerings, then contact us with any questions you may have. Call us toll free at 1-888-605-0096 or chat with us online.

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