Kooi Beds: Why Athletes Are Racing to Fall Asleep on These Beds

Waking up with sore muscles just isn’t fun anymore. Especially not when it starts affecting your performance on the field or in the gym, right? So you decided to look into Kooi beds because you heard somewhere that they are made specifically for people that lead an active lifestyle. Well, you heard right.

And if you want to know more about the topic, don’t go anywhere. Because in this article, The Mattress Warehouse’s bed experts are going to tell you everything you need to know about Kooi mattresses – from where it all started to how they can improve your sleep and subsequently, your performance.

The high-performance bed trusted by South African athletes

Because former Springbok captain, Jannie Breedt, wanted to create a more effective sleep system for athletes, Kooi beds were born in 2006. Together with bed expert Zaach Smith, they created first the Kooi Pure range – high-tech foam mattresses for a super comfy snooze. And then later on the more traditional Kooi-B series, containing coils and at a better price, came along.

It took a lot of research and product testing before the first official Kooi bed was launched on the market. Most of the research went into finding the perfect combination of foams to enhance high-performance athletes’ sleep. To this end, the beds feel good, look good and sleep like a dream. The three different comfort ratings cater to all sleeping styles and utilise unique ratios of high-density and soft foam to create a sleep surface that offers the perfect balance between comfort and support.

Tip – Comfort in a mattress is important. If your mattress is comfortable you can lie down without tossing and turning all the time. It also means that you fall asleep quicker. Support in a bed is essential for proper blood circulation to boost muscle recovery and regeneration.

If you train regularly and need a bed that can help you sleep better at night, this is it.

The reason why quality sleep is so important for athletes

Not only is getting enough sleep important for your physical state, but it is also crucial for your mental wellbeing. You’ll know that athletes are oftentimes under a lot of stress and take mental strain during high-stakes games. So you’ll agree that having your wits about you during that all-important final is non-negotiable.

Let’s take a look at the mental and physical benefits for athletes that get enough sleep, as well as the drawbacks of not getting proper, restorative sleep.

Benefits of sleep for athletes

Arguably the most important muscle for any athlete is their heart. And so it will come as no surprise that your heart needs time to rest and recover after strenuous activity. When do you get time to rest your heart? You guessed it – when you sleep. Moreover, when your heart is healthy, general recovery times are better and injuries heal quicker.

Okay, so sleeping well keeps your heart happy. What else?

1. Increased accuracy

Various studies show that ball-players’ accuracy improves by up to 10% when they get enough shuteye. It doesn’t sound like much, but it can well be the difference between victory and defeat.

2. Better reaction time

Well-rested athletes react faster to sound and movement. And you know how crucial reaction time is when you have to make split-second decisions during a game. Likewise, if you are running track, getting out of the blocks faster than your opponents is advantageous, to say the least.

3. More endurance

More than one clinical study tested the correlation between sleep loss and endurance sport. All of them showed that a loss of sleep decreased the timespan and intensity with which the test subjects (athletes) could compete. The inverse is therefore also true – more sleep is equal to more endurance.

4. Skills consolidation

When we sleep, our brains sort and file everything that happened during the day. So if you don’t sleep enough, your brain can’t sort through everything. For athletes, sleep helps to consolidate new tricks or techniques that they learned during the day.

Drawbacks associated with loss of sleep

The drawbacks are pretty much the inverse of the benefits.

1. Decreased accuracy

Just as improved sleep increases accuracy and ball-speed, sleep deprivation shows a drastic decrease in these areas. Where good sleep increases accuracy by up to 10%, sleep deprivation can decrease it by up to 50%. So the drawback here is a lot bigger than the benefit.

2. Bad reaction time

One study in a journal for sports medicine found that a lack of sleep in athletes led to bad reaction times and poor decision making on the field. So if you want to win, get your beauty sleep in.

3. Prone to injury

Interestingly, athletes that are sleep deprived are more prone to get injuries. This is likely due to a combination of bad decision making and muscles that didn’t get enough time to recover from previous activities.

4. Average performance

Another study shows that a lack of sleep leads to slower sprint times. Moreover, the study shows that players are more likely to fumble the ball and make mistakes when they try to use skill to get past an opponent.

So what does it mean?

Simply put, sleep is important for athletes. That is probably why a couple of Springbok rugby players choose to sleep on Kooi beds. Here’s what a couple of them have to say:

Thanks to Kooi beds I know my recovery needs are taken care of so I can keep putting in the work, day after day.

Herschel Jantjies

And,

I wake up energized and ready to take the day on, thanks to my Kooi High-Performance bed. A must-have addition to my high-performance lifestyle.

Steven Kitshoff

Benefits of Kooi Beds: what makes it different

So what makes a Kooi bed different from any other bed and why is it good for athletes?

Glad you asked!

• Kooi beds adhere to strict European quality standards, so they are internationally accredited.
• Kooi mattresses are made from pure foam without chemical fillers and allergenic chemicals that can irritate a sleepers airways. Furthermore, the foam does not decay over time.
• All mattresses undergo rigerous stress-testing and do not leave the factory if it fails any of the tests. So you know that the mattress you get will have your back (literally).
• For athletes sleeping with a partner, you’ll like the fact that kooi mattresses have minimal to zero weight transfer. So if your partner has a restless night, you won’t even notice it and get that much needed restorative zZz’s in.

Kooi Beds South Africa at The Mattress Warehouse

It is clear that sleep enhances performance and a lack thereof has dismal repercussions for your game. So don’t let a lack of sleep hold you back. Head over to our Kooi beds catalogues and level up your game.