Why 7 Super Bowl Rings and 8 Olympic Medal Winners Sleep with This Brand

I broke my marathon personal record last year, at 4:10:54. While it was so satisfying to shave 6 minutes off my prior time, I desperately wanted to complete all 26.2 miles in under 4 hours. I began training immediately after I got accepted to my third marathon a few months back, determined to beat my old record and meet my personal goals.

 

To help me achieve this goal, I invested in some new products designed to enhance my performance. I bought the highest-rated sneakers, wore the most comfortable and breathable workout gear, and assembled the most energizing running playlist I could imagine. It was going to take total support for me to shave a little over 9 minutes off my time. I ate right, didn’t drink a lot, and went to bed pretty early each night. But was there more I could do to help me perform at my best on race day?

I was browsing Costco.com for some household staples and stumbled across a brand called Molecule which is used by marathon runners Ryan and Sara Hall, super bowl champions Tom Brady and Russell Wilson, and many other athletes at the top of their game like Women’s World Cup Champion Alex Morgan.

Designed by a fellow of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, Molecule’s specially-engineered mattresses and bedding help support the proper sleep needed for athletic recovery. But could a product really support my sleep in the same way that a sneaker or a pair of athletic leggings could?

I was skeptical a mattress available at Costco would up my game, but I started doing more research online and found it all comes back to the type of sleep you need to perform at your best.

As it turns out, something called slow wave sleep (SWS) is the key to recovery.

The third of the four sleep phases, the body is best able to repair and grow muscle, tissue, and bone when you enter the SWS phase of sleep. SWS is also when the body best regulates cortisol, the stress hormone that controls the digestion of energy-boosting glucose.

With the proper amount of time spent in SWS, the body achieves ideal production of the hormones that lead to feeling full, so you don’t overeat and throw off the macro balance essential to peak performance.

The catch? SWS only occurs when your core body temperature (CBT) remains a constant cool. Fans and heaters don’t help, as your body and the sleeping environment change throughout the night. That’s where Molecule comes in!

The mattress’ RestoreFlo layer provides seven times more airflow than the standard memory foam mattress, and the RecoveryFlo layer beneath it uses a pattern that optimizes support and airflow to minimize muscle and joint soreness the morning after a workout.

I decided to try it for myself knowing that I can trust Costco’s long standing return policy. 

A few weeks into sleeping on my new Molecule mattress and I noticed how my training improved. A few seconds came off of each practice run, my stamina increased, and I felt more refreshed after a night of sleep. When the big day came, I crossed the finished line right under the four-hour mark, at 3:58:29. I have my competitive streak — and Molecule’s supportive and innovative recovery system — to thank!