I'm back for another Ergoflex Update. It's been a a couple of months since I've had the Ergoflex mattress so I've got a good idea of how I feel about it with regards to how it has been affecting my training and exercise lately. If you didn't see my last update post, you can find it HERE. 

In my last post, I mentioned that I hadn't seen a massive improvement with regards to the effect on my training with the new mattress. I have a Garmin which allows me to track my sleep so I thought it might be interesting to have a look into those results compared to before I had the mattress to see if there are any noticeable differences.

I'll also recap on whether I've seen any positive effects since I've done some more races and upped my exercise a lot recently - so that will be at the end of the post.

Sleep Stats on Garmin
So, like I said, I've got a Garmin that allows me to track my sleep throughout the night.. and whilst I'm sure it's not the most accurate way of tracking, it allows me to roughly see how long I've been able to sleep for and how long I've been in light and deep sleep.

I've compared 3 months prior to having my Ergoflex to the 3 months since I've had it with regards to the amount of sleep that I've managed to get.
Above is the last 6 months of my sleep data, the 16th May highlighted on the picture is when I received the mattress. Below is a week sample of each of the months.
To be fair, it doesn't show too much difference - however, the amount of sleep that I've been getting seems to be going up since about mid July. I can see that I was consistently getting around 8 hours, however over the last 3 months, I've been apparently getting around 9 almost 10!

Then there's the comparison of light sleep/deep sleep on days prior to having the mattress compared to after having the mattress:


Even with these stats, there doesn't seem to be a massive difference. For the most part, they appear to be pretty similar - light sleep actually appears to be slightly higher on some of these stats since getting the mattress but this is most likely due to the fact that I am sleeping about an hour extra.

So, whilst these comparisons don't seem to show that much of a difference stats wise, the proof is in the pudding for me and I can notice a difference in how I feel with regards to recovery and better sleep quality. I've not woken up feeling sore as often, I've not had any issues with a bad back and I physically feel WAY more rested with this Mattress and Phillip feels exactly the same way.

Update // Ergoflex Effects on Training
Like I mentioned earlier, I want to briefly recap on how I'm feeling with regards to the Ergoflex now that I've done a couple of races and upped my physical activity. After my last update, I had two races in quick succession. Typically, I never tend to book races that close together as I've ALWAYS found that it takes me a while to recover after I've done a race.

Everyone pushes themselves that much further in a race situation and for at least a few days after a race, I'm typically very tired and my muscles are rather sore. It's always been the case.. so I was very apprehensive about doing 2 races a week apart but I needn't have worried!

I can't say 100% that my recovery has been down to the Ergoflex alone but I definitely think it's making some sort of difference that's for sure! Recovery was very quick between races, in fact I was back to swimming the next day and running the day after, so that's a massive difference for me.

I've also recently increased the amount of swimming that I've been doing and I've also started open water swimming alongside my normal running routine of 3-4 times a week. I've been making much more of an effort to try and get to bed at a decent hour and I've definitely been reaping the benefits, I feel very much recovered in the morning and well rested. Again, I can't say it's 100% Ergoflex as I'm sure that the extra sleep is helping but overall it's definitely improved since having a new mattress!

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I'm gonna do a short final recap post in the not too distant future with all the benefits, any negatives I might have and my final thoughts. Stay tuned if you're interested, if not.. I'll always have other posts! ;)

Also, Ergoflex have launched their new website and their new mattress which is pretty exciting..and I'm actually quite jealous of anyone that has/gets one! ;) - The 5G looks fab and if it's anything like the mattress I have, owners are in for a treat!

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It's been a good month and a half since my last update with the ErgoFlex mattress and I wanted to do a quick update to let you all know how I've been getting on over the last month and a half with regards to the quality of my sleep since changing from a pocket sprung mattress to an Ergoflex Mattress and whether or not it's had any positive effects on my training.

So, I'm gonna keep this relatively short and sweet(hopefully) and cover some of the major points to mention with the mattress that I've seen over the last month and a half.

Quality of Sleep
I've by far noticed the biggest change here. A switch to the Ergoflex Mattress has stopped me waking in the middle of the night and I wake up feeling WAY more refreshed and less stiff and creaky in the morning which is awesome! I don't quite wake up as zombified as I did previously, which is also good for others as they don't get grumpy Laura in the morning! ;)

I've been away twice within the last month or so - Once up to Phillip's Aunt&Uncles in Penrith for a few days for the Great North Swim. I tell you what.. I notice a massive difference in comfort between different beds and I actually tend to miss my own mattress now! I slept on a sofa bed with Phillip that weekend and they're not the most comfortable. My sleep was disturbed quite often from trying to get comfortable and I definitely wasn't well rested when I woke up.

I also went to my parents the other weekend too and we slept on a blow up camping bed. Again, same thing - lack of comfort, constantly waking and moving about.

Effects on Training
Thus far, I've not seen a massive difference in my training and performance but I think that's because I haven't really been going all out with it as of late. As you may well know, I was in running funk and didn't run for a week after I got back from visiting my parents and as I mentioned earlier, I've been away on two occasions.

My training basically hasn't been 100% over the last few months and so I haven't properly gotten to see if there's a real difference.

On days where I HAVE had a tough session, like a hill training session, I've slept comfortably and woken feeling great. In the past, a hard hill session leaves me feeling quite stiff when I get out of bed the next morning but not with the Ergoflex which is a good sign.

Phillip has told me he is definitely noticing a difference in his training. He's currently training for a Triathlon in August so he's been doing a lot of block sessions of cycling and running and he has said that he always feels fully recovered since sleeping on the new Mattress, he isn't disturbed during the middle of the night and is able to keep going with his training the next day without the need to rest further, so it's a thumbs up from him!

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I've got sleep data from my Garmin watch for the last couple of months with both my old mattress and my new one,so I'm gonna go through the data to see the comparisons between the two for my next update which will be in a month or two!

Overall, it's all positives this far and I've nothing to complain about. I'm looking forward to seeing how I feel after some hard races coming up these next two weekends and whether I'll feel better recovered the morning after.

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Disclosure: I received an Ergoflex Double Mattress for free in return for blog updates on how the Ergoflex effects my training. I am not being paid to talk about or advertise their products. All opinions are as always, my own. See my policy page HERE for more detail.

Question: What type of Mattress do you own? Do you think the amount/quality of sleep effects your training?

Everyone knows that sleep is more important and that they should sleep more. There's a lot of benefits for getting a better nights sleep.. Improved Immunity, Better Health, Better Weight Control, Clearer Thinking and many more. However, sleep is the one thing that many people tend to cut if they're short on time.

I am very much one of those people. On both parts. As much as I know that sleep is important and that I should go to bed earlier, it very rarely happens and obviously I don't feel very good for it. I tend to be in a bad mood more often than not and always feel tired.

Along with the benefits I mentioned briefly above, another benefit of better sleep is an increase in performance during exercise and aiding in recovery. As of late, I've been trying to make more of an effort with my training. Rather than just plod along and make very little progress, I want to try and get faster and stronger and beat my times in races.

So, along with ramping up my training and incorporating some speed runs, I knew the other part I needed to focus on was my recovery and sleep!

Why is sleep important for exercise?