A good mattress makes a big difference to how well you sleep — here's why

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Enjoying quality sleep every night can make a positive difference to your health, just as much as taking plenty of exercise and having a balanced diet. However, many people are wrecking their sleep by sticking with a mattress that’s well past its best before date and unable to provide consistent support and comfort.

Investing in one of the best mattresses can dramatically improve your sleep quality and, therefore, your health. Not only does it mean you’re more likely to sleep through the night, it can also help keep your spine aligned your joints well cushioned and supported so you don’t wake up with aches and pains.

Right now is an excellent time to ditch your old mattress and treat yourself to a new bed that’ll upgrade your sleep. Black Friday mattress deals are happening now, which means you can invest in better sleep without spending a fortune.

Need more convincing? Read on to find out exactly how a new mattress will transform your sleep. Plus, get our top tips on getting better sleep.

7 benefits to sleeping on a new mattress

Upgrading your mattress will have a huge impact on your sleep. You’ll see a reduction in your aches and pains and will start to fall asleep faster as well as staying asleep through the night and achieving deeper sleep. Additionally, you’ll be better able to regulate your in-bed temperature, and prevent various health conditions from building up. So, if you’ve asked yourself all the key questions about buying a new mattress, find out how you can expect it to improve your health.

1. It can reduce aches and pains

Nothing is more important when sleeping than maintaining spinal alignment. If your spine isn’t properly supported in bed, you’ll start to see aches and pains creeping in as your body struggles to get comfortable during night. This can lead to pressure points and increased tension.

Older mattresses may have reduced support from sagging, meaning your spine will drop out of alignment. The best mattresses for back pain will provide enhanced lumbar support to solve this problem, as well as providing plenty of cushioning to prevent any pressure points from building up. All of this will help to improve your sleep quality, making it easier for you to drift off at night.

2. You’re more likely to sleep through the night

Over time, even the most luxury mattresses will start to sag and sink in places, as foams and springs start to show signs of age. These dips and uneven patches in a mattress can make it difficult to get comfortable in bed and awkward to change position.

As you can imagine, this will make you restless when you’re sleeping, and you’re more likely to wake up repeatedly as you struggle to find a comfortable spot to sleep in. A new mattress will not only provide a smoother sleep surface, but will also be responsive and adaptive to your body – helping you stay asleep throughout the night. This helps prevent sleep deprivation and improves your overall sleep quality.

3. Helps you stay the right temperature

As our bodies release melatonin (a sleep hormone) to help us prepare for sleep, our body temperature also drops slightly. Keeping our body at the right temperature overnight, then, helps us stay asleep and have an undisturbed night.

As old mattresses sag or collapse, you’ll find that more heat can become trapped in the layers, making it difficult to regulate your temperature, and eventually leading to overheating.

New mattresses, especially those with natural and breathable materials, like those found in the best organic mattresses, will help you regulate your temperature through the night, leading to better sleep. If you’re naturally a very hot sleeper, we’d also recommend checking out our guide to the best cooling mattresses.

4. You may fall asleep faster and easier

Perhaps you’ve followed all our tips on how to fall asleep faster, but you’re still lying awake for hours on end before finally nodding off? The problem could actually lie with your old mattress.

A lack of support and comfort will make falling asleep in the first place difficult as you struggle to find a sleeping position that actually feels comfortable. Investing in a new mattress means that you’ll have a bed that’s contouring to your body, cradling pressure points and providing plenty of support where it’s needed. All this is going to make it easier and quicker to fall asleep at night.

5. You’re more likely to achieve deeper sleep

Your nightly sleep isn’t one long stretch of blissful oblivion — rather you move through four sleep stages, all of which make up a sleep cycle, and you’ll go through four or five sleep cycles in the course of the night.

The four sleep stages are N1, a transitional stage between being awake and falling asleep; N2, light sleep, which is how we spend roughly half the night; N3, deep sleep, a restorative phase that’s essential for maintaining a healthy immune system and glymphatic system and which takes up roughly a quarter of the night; and REM, which again takes up about a quarter of the night and is when we dream.

Over a perfect night’s sleep we’ll go through all those stages at a steady pace, briefly waking at the end before starting the next cycle, and so on until we wake in the morning. However if your sleep is disturbed by being on an uncomfortable mattress or by your partner’s movements, there’s a good chance that your sleep cycles are being interrupted prematurely and you’re not spending enough time in restorative N3 sleep. That in turn means you’ll be waking up feeling tired and, in short, not feeling the benefits of sleep.

By investing in a new mattress won’t disrupt your sleep cycles, you’re increasing your chances of enjoying more restorative sleep, which means you’ll feel a lot better for it.

6. Can boost recovery if you’re training

During sleep, your body releases human growth hormone and does the behind-the-scenes work to repair your muscles for optimal athletic performance. So, it’s essential you get the rest you need.

Tiny tears develop in your muscle fibers when you work out. During sleep, your body releases human growth hormone to fix those tears and make your muscles stronger for optimal athletic performance. Most of this happens during the deepest sleep phase, slow-wave sleep, and the better your sleep quality, the more human growth hormone your body produces.

“The right mattress improves sleep efficiency, allowing more time in the deep and REM stages, where the majority of muscle recovery and memory consolidation occur,” says Todd Anderson, certified strength and conditioning coach and co-founder of Dream Performance & Recovery. “Poor mattress quality is linked to sleep fragmentation.”

Read more: How a good mattress can boost recovery

7. Fewer nighttime disturbances

For those of us who share a bed with a partner, a key factor in getting a good night’s sleep is not being disturbed as they move about, or get in and out of bed. After all, old mattresses don’t do much to absorb motion.

When springs and foams collapse, support across the mattress is no longer adequate for motion isolation. Edge support will probably have softened as well, adding in a danger zone around the perimeter of the bed. New mattresses will provide far better motion isolation and edge support which will, in turn, give you a better night’s sleep.

How sleep affects your health

Most of us know how important a healthy diet and regular exercise is to our overall health, but sleep often takes a back seat. Yet, getting a good night’s sleep is just as important, with studies showing that following a consistent sleep schedule yields better health outcomes in adults.

Sleep deprivation has been linked to reduce immune function, metabolic dysregulation and weight gain, along with more serious conditions such as heart disease, kidney disease and high blood pressure – all of which means that the importance of sleeping well really can’t be overstated.

How to sleep better: 4 expert-backed tips

Buying a new mattress will undoubtedly help you get a better night’s sleep, but adding in these three tips will ensure you get the best out of your new bed.

1. Improve your sleep hygiene

“Sleep hygiene doesn’t have to be complicated,” says Claire Davis, Senior Sleep Editor and Certified Sleep Science Coach. “My basic approach is to make sure I go to bed and get up at the same time every day (which helps strengthen my circadian rhythm), and to have a good wind-down routine that starts about 30 minutes before bed.”

“This includes setting my phone down for the night and using that time to wash my face and brush my teeth, get dressed for bed, then spending about 10-15 minutes doing a guided sleep meditation to relax. The main rule of sleep hygiene is consistency – whatever you want to include in your routine, do it every night at the same time so your body learns those cues (it’s time to sleep now).”

2. Set a consistent sleep schedule

As Claire stated above, consistency is key. Especially when it comes to your sleep and wake times. This helps to regulate your body’s sleep cycle (known as circadian rhythms). An established sleep schedule will improve your health and leave you well rested, as well as helping to reduce daytime sleepiness.

Be aware that your sleep window (the period of time in which your body naturally wants to go to sleep) can vary from person to person, so do experiment with different times. In addition, it’s important to note that the amount of sleep we need varies by age, although in general most people need between seven to nine hours of sleep a night.

3. Create a night-time routine

It’s all very well setting a consistent sleep schedule but if your body doesn’t think it’s ready for sleep, you could end up lying awake. A nighttime routine that helps your body to get ready for sleep can make all the difference.

We recommend taking a warm bath or shower, which will help your body temperature to drop. Avoid electronic devices, as the blue light they emit can disrupt your circadian rhythms.

Dim your lights, or just use a bedside light and try listening to some soothing music or meditations to help your mind switch off. Ensure your bedroom is conducive to sleep — apart from a new mattress, you might want to consider investing in one of the best pillows or blackout curtains, for example.

4. Avoid alcohol in the evenings

While having a drink or two in the evening can make you feel sleepy, the sleep you’ll get after drinking is likely to be compromised. In short, you might fall asleep faster, but cortisol is released as the alcohol in your system is metabolized during the night, which can cause tossing and turning and nighttime awakenings. You’re also more likely to need more nocturnal bathroom visits, as alcohol is a diuretic.

Avoiding alcohol in the evenings is an easy way to enjoy better sleep. “People who use alcohol as a sleep aid often wake up feeling tired, groggy, or unrested due to disruptions in their sleep architecture, including reduced REM sleep, frequent awakenings, and shallow rest,” Dr. Leah Kaylor, a clinical psychologist specializing in sleep and trauma, previously explained to us.