Top 10 Best Mattresses for Heavy People

Whether you are out of shape, or just a large-framed person, if you are heavier than average it is important to have the right mattress.

The quality of a mattress not only determines the quality of sleep, but can also affect health. Mattress purchases should not be made lightly.

Unfortunately, it can be a bit confusing determining what the best mattress would be for your particular needs.

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There are many features and variables to mattresses, and they are most definitely not one size fits all. For larger people, consideration must be taken regarding what the best mattress is for them.

For people who are overweight, a balance needs to be reached between comfort and firmness. If the bed does not provide the right amount of support, they can find themselves waking up with aches all over, especially in their joints and back.

Also, if we are larger,  it means that our beds get worn in more easily. Mattresses are often quite expensive, and if you are going to buy one you want to make sure that it is going to keep those qualities that make it comfortable for a long time.

This means that heavier people need to look for more firm, supportive beds. This often spring mattresses a poor option for people who are overweight.

The need for a firm durable bed that provides pressure relief may mean that the best mattresses for overweight people are usually memory foam.

However, another major consideration is temperature control. Many heavier people suffer from sleep heat, with their mattresses feeling almost like furnaces against their backs. Unfortunately most memory foam mattresses have difficulty with breathability.

This means that if you are overweight you really can’t just pick any firm mattress. Instead, you have to really find one that will work best for you. Below we’ve compiled a list of 10 mattresses that we believed are the best beds out there for people who are heavier than average.

Best Mattress for Heavy Sleepers Overall – DreamCloud Mattress

The typical mattress is simply not designed to accommodate sleepers who weigh more than 250 pounds. As durable and supportive as memory foam materials can be, heavy sleepers require a mattress designed uniquely for their body type.

The DreamCloud mattress is not your average mattress – it is a luxury hybrid mattress that combines the contouring comfort of latex and memory foam with the support of a pocketed innerspring system. Plus, it has a tufted cashmere top that promotes airflow to ensure a cooler night’s sleep for heavy sleepers.

The DreamCloud hybrid mattress features a luxury 8-layer construction that consists of gel-infused memory foam, quilted memory foam, natural latex, PFC memory foam, and a pocketed coil system all topped with hand-tufted cashmere for cooling comfort.

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Best Mattress for Heavy Side Sleepers – Zinus Memory Foam 12 Inch Green Tea Mattress

Many side sleepers struggle to find a mattress that supports proper spinal alignment without putting added pressure on the hips and shoulders. The Zinus Memory Foam 12 Inch Green Tea Mattress is the ideal choice because it features a unique 3-step pressure relieving system, including a unique Lumbarlayer for added lower back support and reduced tension.

This mattress has a hybrid design that combines the contouring comfort of foam with the support of coils, all with the added benefit of an advanced ventilation system that moves heat away from the body as you sleep. Plus, it comes with a full lifetime replacement warranty.

One more thing that makes the Zinus Memory Foam 12 Inch Green Tea Mattress unique is the fact that you can choose from four levels of firmness. The Plus model is specifically designed for heavier sleepers to resist impressions while providing optimal support and responsiveness for long-term comfort and durability.

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Best Mattress for Heavy Stomach Sleepers – Avocado Green Mattress

Stomach sleepers tend to find that innerspring mattresses are too firm, but memory foam mattresses are too soft. For the ideal combination of support and spinal alignment, we recommend a latex mattress like the Avocado Green mattress. Available in a medium (5.5/10) and a medium-firm (6.5/10) design, this latex mattress is eco-friendly and all-natural.

The Avocado Green mattress is made with the finest organic materials, including GOLS organic certified latex and 100% GOTS organic certified cotton. This combination of luxury materials ensures comfortable contouring and cushioning with pressure-point relief and optimal spinal alignment.

Avocado offers both a standard and a pillow-top option. The Standard model offers a balanced level of firmness for back and stomach sleepers while the optional pillow-top adds an extra 2 inches of luxurious pressure relief ideal for side and back sleepers.

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Best Mattress for Heavy Back Sleepers – Saatva Mattress

If you are looking for a mattress that will keep you cool, the DynastyMattress Cool Breeze might be the best option for you. The top two layers of this thick 12-inch bed are designed for comfort and temperature control. The top layer has 3-inches of gel foam, followed by 4-inches of Cool Airflow Foam.

Combined you get the comfort of a memory foam bed with the cool airflow of the traditional spring mattress. Of course, the final 5″ of the bed is a firm supporting foam. This mattress also looks great with its brown suede corners. It also has a washable cover, great for keeping it clean of bacteria and potential allergens.

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Best Mattress for Hot Sleepers – New Purple Mattress

Many heavy sleepers have trouble finding a mattress that delivers the optimal degree of comfort and support while also providing a cooler sleeping experience. The New Purple mattress offers these benefits and more thanks to the Purple Smart Comfort Grid, which adapts to your body to reduce pressure points while dissipating body heat. Additionally, the grid isolates motion and works in conjunction with responsive support coils to ensure proper spinal alignment and support for even the heaviest of sleepers in any sleeping position.

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Tuft & Needle Mattress

Tuft & Needle is a leading startup in the world of mattresses, designing top of the line mattresses using high-quality foam. This mattress uses special T&N Adaptive foam which gives it a bouncy yet supportive feel. The T&N Adaptive foam is a more advanced material than memory foam, and prevents you from feeling stuck in a hot bed. The mattress should give you supportive pressure relieving sleep with a little “bounce”. Tuft & Needle use cooling gel and graphite to keep the bed fresh and feeling cool throughout the night.

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Casper Sleep Mattress

Feel like you are weightlessly floating on a cloud with the Casper Sleep Mattress. The top layer is springy and breathable, keeping away sleep heat while giving you a comfortable rest. Casper uses an innovative design that supports the sleeper across four touchpoints. Below the breathable bouncy top layer, high-density foam supports pressure points. Beneath this high-density foam is a deep comfort transition layer designed to allow for even weight distribution. This weight distribution is important for those who are overweight, keeping off extra tension in localized areas like the hips and spine. A zip-off cover allows the mattress to be cleaned easily.

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Leesa Mattress

The Leesa Mattress is designed with three layers of foam for cooling, comfort and support. These layers will help heavy sleepers stay cool while taking pressure off their pressure points so that they can wake up feeling refreshed, rather than having morning aches and pains. The Leesa is also a beautiful looking mattress with diamond pattern quilt cover.

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Arctic Dreams 12" Cooling Gel Mattress

As the name suggests the Arctic Dreams mattress is designed specifically to address sleep heat. This mattress utilizes an advanced patented visco-elastic foam known called Energex™ to keep sleepers at the perfect temperature. While other mattresses which may require a slow cooling down period, the Arctic Dreams mattress has a quick response alternative that cools you down quickly. The materials used in the Arctic Dreams mattress provides a feel that falls just between spring and latex bed, and also provides pressure relief. On top of this special foam, the mattress is covered a thick layer of soft, breathable quilting.

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Modway Aveline 10" Gel Infused Memory Foam Mattress

 

For heavier people, sleeping on a bed that doesn't conform to their body properly can lead to awful aches in the morning and low quality sleep. The Modway Aveline takes care of this with open cell ventilated memory foam that relieves pressure points. This foam also limits bounce so that partners aren't going to bother each other, while keeping the temperature down. The mattress comes with a removable knit diamond patterned cover which can be washed easily.

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Things to consider before purchasing:

Sleep Position: Not every mattress is designed well for every sleep position. If you sleep on your side you need to make sure that the mattress you choose is one that has sturdy sides. Side sleepers don't just sleep on their sides; most sleep on the edge of their bed, and nobody wants to try sleeping while they feel like they are slowly sliding out of bed. Also, if you toss and turn, you will want to make sure you've chosen a bed that has a bit more firmness to it that won't create deep impressions. Otherwise, you might find yourself trapped in an impression when all you want to do is roll over! This is something you'll have to balance, as you might sacrifice the memory foams ability to provide you with customized alignment, for a little more bounce.

Cooling: Overweight people have a strong tendency to run hot even when they aren't asleep. When they lay down on a mattress made from materials that are not breathable that heat becomes trapped in the mattress, heating it up so that the sleeper becomes uncomfortable and sweaty. It's important to then choose a mattress that at the very least has a breathable top layer. The best mattresses use cooling gels and charcoal to keep the bed cool, and some have a second layer with a slightly more firm material that is still quite breathable.

Firmness: We might imagine that the softer and cloudier the bed is, the more comfortable it is. It may be fun to jump into such a bed, but for larger people, the more plush the bed is, the more likely they will have aches in pains in pressure points. A firmer bed will be healthier for someone that is heavyset. Of course, smaller partners may not like this, and we do still want some plushness to our beds. This means it's important to test the different mattresses to find a balance between firm and plush. Some of the beds above find a great balance by having super firm base layers with soft cloudy top layers. Adding a mattress pad may also be a great way to add plush to an otherwise firm and supportive mattress.

Durability: Spring mattresses are going to wear down quickly if you are heavy, and you'll soon find springs digging into your back. This is why all the beds above are made from foam materials. However, even foam mattresses are going to wear down over time. You should expect that after a few years the firmness of the mattress is going to lessen. The best mattresses for someone who is overweight and wants to keep the mattress long term is one that is thick and super firm. Also consider the cleanliness of your mattress. Some mattresses have removable covers that can be washed. Of course, if you use a mattress pad this won't be a problem.

Size: Always keep in mind the size of your bed frame when buying a mattress. Also not the depth, some mattresses are going to be quite deep and will need sheets that will fit them.

CertiPUR-US Certification: Some mattresses are made with chemicals which aren't great for your health or the environment. CertiPUR-US certification assures you that the mattress doesn't contain formaldehyde, heavy metals, PBDEs, TDCPP or TCEP flame retardants.

Price: Mattresses can be quite expensive, and if you are unsure if the mattress is going to be solution you've had in mind for your sleeping challenges, you don't necessarily want to spend a fortune on a mattress. Fortunately many of the best mattresses on the market these days need not be that expensive.

Warranty: Things can go wrong, especially with memory foam mattresses that may develop indentations in the wrong spots. The mattress seams could rip, or it could develop a strange chemical smell. Make sure you get a good mattress with a long warranty.

Guarantee: Warranties won't cover everything, and you don't want to get stuck with a non-defective mattress that you just don't feel comfortable in. You need to be able to test the mattress for a few days before you decide if it’s the right fit for you. The guarantee is in many ways more important even than the warranty. The best mattresses all include great guarantees, but consider getting one with a 60-100 day warranty so that you really have time to test it out.

Sleep should be a pleasant experience, one that leaves us refreshed, not feeling more tired and achy. Now that you are armed with knowledge regarding the best mattresses for overweight people, you can make the decision to upgrade you sleeping and bring an end to hot uncomfortable bed times.