The Best Mattresses for Athletes

Whether you’re an athlete or just enjoy staying active, you can appreciate how important a good night’s sleep is to recovery. Tom Brady goes to bed at 9 p.m. and LeBron James and Steph Curry sleep 8-9 hours per night, in addition to daily naps.

Rest and rejuvenation are essential to staying healthy, energized, and injury-free. And when you don’t get a good night’s sleep, you pay for it in more ways than one. But we’re guessing you already know that.

What you might not know is that your mattress can have a major impact on the quality of sleep you get and how you feel when you wake up. Sure, you pay close attention to your gym routine, what you eat, and how you stay hydrated, but you might be neglecting to treat your mattress as one of the most important performance tools in your toolbox.

Read on to learn more about what you should look for in a mattress to help with recovery and see some of our favorite mattresses for athletes and active people.

Best Mattresses for Athletes

• Editor’s Choice – Spartan
• Best Mattress for Back Sleepers – Puffy Lux Hybrid
• Best Mattress for Heavyweight Athletes – WinkBed Plus
• Best Mattress for Pain Relief – Purple

We’ve highlighted four of our favorite mattresses for athletes and active people. If you want to read more about a particular mattress brand, we’ve got you covered in the next section.

Take a look at factors like materials, rating, reviews, and price to help you decide. We’ve limited our selections to mattresses that have a trial period of at least 100 nights.

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Spartan by Brooklyn Bedding

The Spartan mattress is a luxury hybrid mattress made by Brooklyn Bedding specifically for athletes and active people. The materials in the Spartan, including its FDA approved Nanobionic® technology, work to disperse your body heat while you sleep for quicker muscle recovery.

The other materials in the Spartan that make it ideal for athletes include its pressure-relieving Energex™ foam and TitanCool™ infusion throughout the bed.

One of the benefits of the Spartan is that it’s customizable. You can choose between three firmness levels, so you can pick which firmness level works best for you, your body type, and your sleeping position. Typically side sleepers are most comfortable on the medium firmness, and stomach/back sleepers are best supported on a firm mattress.

Read our full Spartan mattress review.

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Puffy Lux Hybrid

Restorative sleep is essential for athletes, regardless of their sleeping position. For those who sleep on their backs, the Puffy Lux Hybrid checks the boxes for firmness level (6/10) and spine alignment (an 8/10 score in Mattress Advisor testing).

If a vigorous workout regimen means your core body temperature runs hot, the Puffy Lux Hybrid’s Cooling Cloud Foam Layer is designed to circulate air and wick away moisture. The cooling properties are augmented by a layer of heat-resistant ClimateComfort Memory Foam.

Puffy also offers a lifetime warranty, so you can spend less time worrying about the shape of your mattress and more time concentrating on keeping yourself in shape.

Read our full Puffy Lux Hybrid mattress review.

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WinkBed Plus

From football to basketball to martial arts, some of the greatest athletes are also some of the biggest. For athletic and active people weighing 250 pounds or more, the WinkBed Plus mattress is designed with larger frames in mind.

This durable hybrid mattress includes layers of high-density foam and reinforced steel pocket springs. The design also has several comfort features, such as a core-supporting LumbarLayer, a zoned latex support layer, and a Tencel cover that helped the WinkBed Plus earn an 8/10 Mattress Advisor score for cooling.

Since every athlete knows the importance of endurance, remember that the WinkBed Plus stands behind its claims of durability with a lifetime warranty.

Read our full WinkBed Plus mattress review.

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Purple

Made with a proprietary, purple material called hyper-elastic polymer that’s been tested and used by medical professionals for years, the Purple mattress sleeps cool, comfortable, and supportive.

Complete with its Smart Grid Technology™ that was crafted to deliver “push back” to support its sleeper, the Purple mattress is great for spinal alignment and pressure-point relief, making it a good mattress for side sleepers. In fact, many customers who own the Purple have claimed it helps relieve back and neck pains.

Read our full Purple mattress review.

What Should Athletes Look for in a Mattress?

Athletes should look for similar things that anyone else should look for in a mattress: comfort and support. And these things can be different for different people. Just as you have your own individualized training routine, you’ll have your own personal preferences when it comes to selecting your mattress.

However, there are a few factors that can help you choose the best mattresses to aid in recovery and promote uninterrupted, quality sleep.

Cooling Properties

You might have your own thoughts on what you set your thermostat to in the bedroom, but it has been scientifically proven that lower body temperature increases the likelihood of falling asleep and may even help promote deeper stages of sleep. So, what does this mean? It’s important to find a mattress that’s going to help keep you cool while you’re catching some Zs – whether it’s through materials used or mattress construction. In our top picks below, we’ve called out which ones do a good job in this arena.

Pressure Relief

You’ll feel much more rested and much less achy when you wake up if you’re sleeping on a mattress that adequately supports your pressure points. An ideal mattress will evenly distribute your body weight so you’re not sinking in too deeply on heavier parts of your body, like your head, hips and shoulders. Pressure relief is something you’ll definitely want to pay attention to when it comes to recovering from injuries or alleviating back pain.

Motion Isolation

Motion isolation simply means that you don’t feel movement from the other side of the bed. This one is especially important if you sleep with someone else, or if your pets tend to share your bed with you. In order to get your deepest, most rejuvenating sleep, it’s important that you’re not interrupted throughout the night. Some mattress materials, like foam bends and memory foam, are better at isolating motion than others.

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Summary

Here’s a recap of our top-rated picks for the best mattresses for athletes:

Mattress	Type	Best for	Firmness
Spartan	Hybrid	Editor’s Choice	Plush, Medium, or Firm
Puffy Lux Hybrid	Hybrid	Back Sleepers	Medium-firm – 6/10
WinkBed Plus	Hybrid	Heavyweight Athletes	Firm – 8/10
Purple	Hybrid	Pain Relief	Medium-firm – 6.5/10

Athletes: if you’re taking the time to invest in your wellbeing by leading active, healthy lifestyles, then make sure getting quality sleep on a great mattress is part of your routine.

Sleep has endless benefits when it comes to recovery and staying energized. Dr. David Geier, orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist, says, “While we’ve known for decades that sleep plays a key role in alertness, decision-making and reaction times, more light is being shed on its powerful influence over cardiovascular performance, endurance, and even injury prevention.”

Still have questions about finding the right mattress for your active lifestyle? Drop us a line in the comments below and we’ll get back to you after our nap, errr…we mean run.