The Best Mattresses for Athletes

The Bear Original mattress has been nominated as the best mattress for athletes in 2022 by the American sports magazine Sport Illustrated, and for a good reasons. This affordable all-foam mattress is specially engineered to cradle the body, alleviate pressure and facilitate muscle recovery. It does that while delivering strong edge-to-edge support.

The Bear Original is characterized by a medium-firm feel, which makes it an ideal mattress for heavyweight sleepers, or a sleeper of any weight that is looking for firm mattress. It has a 2'' gel-infused memory foam comfort layer, which perfectly adapts to sleepers' body shape relieving pressure. A transition layer of 2'' responsive medium density poly foam gives additional pressure relief and enhances comfort by combining contouring and bounce. Finally, a bottom layer of 6'' high density poly foam elevates the back, hips and shoulders enabling sleepers to maintain a healthy position throughout the night.

The Bear Original's most distinctive material is the Celliant textile it has in its cover. This textile converts excess body heat into infrared energy, which is reflected back at the body stimulating blood circulation and expediting muscle recovery. The Celliant textile also helps regulate temperature. Together with the gel in the mattress' comfort layer, which disperses heat trapped in the memory foam, it creates a cool and pleasant sleep environment.

Finally, the responsive medium density poly foam in the transition layer and the hardened poly foam in the bottom layer reduce sinkage, making it easy to maneuver on the surface of the mattress and, so, enable restful sleep by saving a lot of energy required for repositioning.

The Joybed LXP is a top-notched hybrid mattress offering improved comfort and advanced zoned support. The mattress is available in two firmness models of medium-firm and medium, and so it's suitable for a wide range of sleeper types and weights. Moreover, it's the obvious choice for environmentally conscious buyers as it's crafted from 100% organic and sustainable ingredients with zero synthetic and man-made materials. That includes foam and latex.

Both the LXP's firmness models have a comfort layer made of two sub-layers of plush organic cotton with another sub-layer of soft organic wool in between. This composite structure deeply cushions the sensitive areas in sleepers' body mitigating pressure without causing the sinkage characteristic of memory foam.

The LXP's transition layers is made of 780-1760 nano coils (depending on the mattress size) providing further pressure relieving bounce, which effectively soothes the muscles and joints after long and strenuous exercising.

The most important part of the LXP is the main coil system in its bottom layer. Apart from distinguishing both of the mattress' firmness models from one another (with the medium-firm model having lower gauge and, therefore, sturdier coils than the medium firmness model), it delivers highly advanced support by targeting individual areas in the body due to its unique structure consisting of seven support zones.

This advanced zoned support keeps sleepers spine properly aligned. It also stabilizes the LXPs' edges as one of the support zones is located around the perimeter. Consequently, the mattress provides sleepers with larger space as they can lie away from the center without being afraid of falling off bed. 

Lastly, the Joybed LXP performs exceptionally well as a mattress that effectively dissipates heat. It's highly aerated owing to the breathable cotton and wool in its comfort layer and the two sets of coils in the transition and support layers. Consequently, it remains cool and dry even in areas where the temperature and humidity levels are high, which is great for people who tend to sleep hot.

The Leesa Legend isn't the cheapest mattress you'll find on the market, but taking into account its excellent performance, it's undoubtedly worth every penny of your hard-earned money. This hybrid mattress is capable of providing deep contouring and strong support owing to an innovative designed based on multiple layers of foam and two sets of coils.

The Legend's comfort layer contains responsive medium density poly foam. It gives a bouncy feel and enables easy repositioning. Below the comfort layer, there is a recovery layer which consists of a highly conforming memory foam. As its names suggests, this layer expedites body recovery by alleviating excess pressure.

The Legend's support system comprises 1.5'' micro-coils located at the head and foot of the mattress. These coils elevate the shoulders and hips curbing sinkage in these areas while delivering pressure reliving bounce. A transition layer of hardened poly foam further curbs sagging and helps the main support layer below keep sleepers stable on the mattress.

The main support layer is made of 6'' individually encased coils which generate ample bounce lifting sleepers' lumbar and thoracic back averting curvature disorders by making sure their spine remains naturally aligned.

The Legend isolates motion well thanks to its two upper layers of foam, which can absorb a large portion of the energy created by sleepers' movements, and the reduced motion transfer of the individually encased coils in the main support layer. In addition, the mattress' two set of coils deliver enough bounce to enable considerable ease of movement.

Temperature regulation is definitely another noticeable advantage the Lessa Legend has. The mattress' cover is made of breathable cotton and merino wool which neutralize body heat and wick it away. The poly foam in the comfort layer is aerated and, so, reduces heat retention. Above all, two sets of coils enable abundant air circulation, which helps lower temperature.

The Nest Owl is a high-grade hybrid mattress. Apart from its coil system, it contains foam and latex, and so it's able to draw on the advantages of both of these materials. The mattress is designed to appeal to all types of sleepers regardless of their weight as it's available in three firmness levels of plush (soft), medium and firm. More than that, the King and California King sizes can be split into two different firmness versions in one mattress.

The Owl's comes with a pillow top comprised of 1.5'' soft cotton and joma wool infused with supple low-medium density poly foam, which will highly benefit athletes as it aimed at reducing stress-related pain and muscle tension. The mattress' comfort layer of 3'' springy Dunlop latex augments this effect by providing pressure relieving bounce. The latex in the plush model is of low density giving enhanced cushioning. The medium firmness model has medium density latex, which pads the body while also curbing sinkage. The latex in the firm model is highly dense generating strong lift allowing it to support heavier sleepers.

A transition layer of medium density Dunlop latex works in tandem with the 6'' individually encased coils in the support layer below to elevate the body targeting all sections of the spine helping sleepers maintain a healthy position throughout the night. The coils are reinforced around the perimeter allowing sleepers to lie close to the edge and feel stable.

The use of supple poly foam and latex makes it easy for sleepers to maneuver on the mattress. They'll require little effort to change their positions. Furthermore, the mattress remain cool even after prolonged sleep. The cotton and wool in the pillow top effectively wick away moisture. The latex doesn't retain much heat. The coils, on their part, enable fresh air to flow into the mattress and warm air to flow outwards. 

The Vaya Hybrid is built to upgrade sleep experience at a competitive price. It has a simple yet effective hybrid structure which combines pressure relieving contouring and bounce. The mattress supports sleepers with the help of a thick coil system and a hardened poly foam layer underneath it.

The Vaya Hybrid has a cover of 2'' soft quilted cotton. It cushions sleepers' body soothing the muscles after a long straining day. The comfort layer below contains 2" of proprietary Vaya Foam. This special poly foam is both conforming and responsive. It contours the body and at the same time curbs sinkage. The result is enhanced pressure relief and supportive bounce giving sleepers a cozy cradling sensation without being swallowed by the mattress.

The Vaya's support layer is built from 8'' individually encased coils. These coils reduce sinkage by generating lift, which keeps sleepers' spine close to its natural alignment. The Vaya has an additional base layer of 2'' highly dense poly foam. This foam reinforces the coils and helps them support heavier sleepers.

The Vaya Hybrid's coils are reinforced around the perimeter supporting sleepers lying close to the edge. In addition, The responsive Vaya Foam and the thick coil layer enable sleepers to reposition themselves without exerting too much effort.

The Vaya Hybrid does a good job reducing heat retention. The 2'' cotton in its cover wicks away warm air. The Vaya Foam in the comfort layer applies open-cell technology. This technology accelerates heat dissipation. And as is the case with hybrid mattresses, the coils enable cool air to flow into the mattress pushing out warm air.