What simple strategy has helped college basketball players shoot more baskets, elite swimmers swim faster and varsity tennis players improve their serves? All of these athletes performed better when they increased the quantity or quality of their sleep, which helped maximize muscle recovery.
When you’re tired and sore after a workout, do you look forward to crawling into bed at night to soothe your muscles? Whether or not you’ll fall asleep easily and rest comfortably can be influenced by external factors, like your mattress.
How can you find the best mattress for muscle recovery? Read on.
What Is Muscle Recovery, and How Does It Relate to Sleep?
If your muscles feel sore after you run, lift weights or play soccer, it’s a sign that you’ve developed micro-tears in your muscle fibers from the physical exertion. These tiny tears are normal, an expected result of exercise. When the micro-tears heal, your muscles become stronger. The healing process is known as muscle recovery.
Stretching, staying hydrated and eating a healthy diet can help with muscle recovery, but sleep is a key part of the process. While you sleep, your body uses growth hormone to recover from the physical stressors of the day, repairing exercise-related damage to muscles and other tissues.
Muscle recovery mainly takes place during a certain stage of sleep. When you fall asleep, you don’t remain in the same sleep state all night. There are two phases of sleep: Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, when most people dream, and non-REM sleep. There are different stages of non-REM sleep, ranging from lighter (stages 1 and 2) to deeper sleep (stage 3).
After you fall asleep, you experience non-REM stage 1, non-REM stage 2, non-REM stage 3, and then REM sleep. It takes about 90 minutes to cycle through the different phases and stages of sleep. The cycle repeats several times throughout the night in this order.
Your sleep is the deepest during stage 3 of non-REM sleep. During this sleep stage, your body releases the most growth hormone, which allows the body to repair itself as you rest.
Why Mattress Choice Matters Even More for Athletes
Getting a good night’s sleep is important for everyone, but it can be even more crucial for athletes. If you’re very physically active during the day, you’ll need enough time for muscle recovery overnight. Your mattress can have a direct impact on your ability to get enough rest.
In order for your body to repair while you rest, you’ll need to spend enough time in the deepest sleep stage. But if you can’t get comfortable, you may toss and turn at night. You may not get the recommended 7 to 9 hours of sleep, even if you’re in bed for the allotted period of time. If you can’t get enough total sleep, you won’t get enough deep sleep for your body to heal the micro-tears in your muscles.
If your mattress is so uncomfortable that you wake up periodically throughout the night, you may not progress beyond a light sleep (non-REM stages 1 and 2). If you don’t reach the deep sleep of stage 3, your body won’t release the ideal amount of growth hormone for proper muscle recovery.
There are several reasons why elite athletes prioritize their sleep:
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Muscle Recovery: This happens when athletes get enough deep sleep and their body releases enough growth hormone.
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Reduced Inflammation: Sleep helps to reduce inflammation in the body. Sleep deprivation increases inflammation.
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Better Judgment: When you’re well-rested, you’ll be clearer-headed and able to make split-second decisions. If you’re tired, you may have poor judgment or delayed reactions, which can negatively affect your performance on the field or in the gym.
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Improved Performance: Researchers have shown that elite college-level athletes who get more sleep see improvements to their game. One study showed that basketball players who slept 10 hours at night scored more free throws and sprinted faster than when they slept less. Another study found that tennis players who slept 2 additional hours at night improved their serves. Yet another study showed that swimmers who slept the most the night before a competition swam faster.
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Injury Prevention: Research has shown that athletes are at greater risk of getting hurt when they don’t get enough sleep. When you’re sleep-deprived, you’re more likely to make poor decisions or have delayed reactions. That split-second difference could result in injury.
Key Mattress Features for Muscle Recovery and More
If you’re seeking a better mattress to improve your sleep quality and maximize your physical performance, consider the following criteria:
Soothing Sore Joints with Pressure Relief Features
Going to bed with sore joints and muscles can be painful if your mattress doesn’t provide the proper pressure relief. Look for mattresses with contouring foam that can disperse your body weight, taking the pressure off of your joints, even if you lie on your side. If you don’t care for all-foam mattresses, seek out a hybrid mattress with a responsive coil system below the foam comfort layers.
Proper Spinal Alignment and Support
If your mattress properly supports your spine, you should have less back pain, reduced pressure on your joints and support for muscle recovery. High-density foam mattresses and hybrid mattresses with zoned coil systems are good options for alignment, because they contour to your curves while providing enough structural support to prevent the heavier parts of your body (like the lumbar region) from sinking too far into the mattress and throwing off your spine's alignment.
Temperature Regulation
If you sleep hot, it’s hard to get comfortable in a bed that traps heat around you. A mattress with a cooling cover should make your bed more relaxing. Mattresses with cooling features may have copper-infused foam, gel-infused foam, natural latex or other cooling technology.
Bear Mattresses with Sleep Recovery Technology™
Bear mattresses with Celliant® infrared technology can take your overnight recovery to the next level. Fibers infused with bioceramics create a bio-responsive surface that absorbs excess body heat and converts it to infrared energy. The infrared energy is then reflected back towards your body, which can help improve local circulation, increase cellular oxygenation and support temperature regulation. Celliant® infrared technology is ideal for athletes hoping to enhance muscle recovery and improve their overall sleep quality and efficiency.
Where to Find It: Shop the Bear Elite Hybrid mattress and choose the Celliant Infused Cover option. This luxurious bed makes a great fit for anyone who wants to support their sleep, recovery, and fitness goals.
Additional Sleep Tips for Active Days and Restorative Nights
You should get better quality sleep if you practice good sleep hygiene. Try these ideas:
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Obey Your Bedtime: Go to sleep and wake up at the same times every day, whether it’s a weekday or the weekend. The consistency should help you feel tired at bedtime and sleep the expected number of hours.
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Lower the Temperature: Keeping your bedroom cool (64 to 68 degrees) should make it easier for you to fall asleep.
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Upgrade Your Bedding: Consider cool, moisture-wicking sheets or a gel-topped pillow. If you have to travel for a competition, consider bringing along your own, familiar sleep comforts.
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Stop Using Screens: Smartphones, tablets and laptops emit blue light, which mimics daylight and signals to your brain that it’s daytime, even when it’s late at night. Putting your devices away an hour before bed should make it easier for you to fall asleep.
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Reduce Stress Levels: Find ways to destress so that you don’t lie in bed worrying instead of sleeping. Take a warm shower, dim the lights or listen to soothing music that you enjoy. Some research has shown that writing a to-do list before bedtime can help you put off your worries until tomorrow, which should ease your mind until the morning.
Disclaimer: Bear does not provide medical advice. All resources on the Bear blog, including this article, are informational only and do not replace professional medical counsel. Talk to your doctor about any health, mental health, or sleep-related issues.
