After 2020, I knew I needed to start focusing more on my health.
I've never been unhealthy, I like to think, but this year has been the laziest of my entire life, and things needed to change. The first step was my fitness.
Halfway through the year, I noticed I didn't have as much stamina as I used to. Before the stay at home order, I would cycle a lot, so I decided to get an at-home exercise bike. Not just that, I decided to get the Peloton. After some research and reading many reviews it was the obvious choice.
I struggled to get into the groove of exercising from home so I looked up some tips, and I discovered how vital sleep was when it comes to exercise and performance. I've been struggling to get a full night's sleep this entire year.
I remembered reading about a smart mattress by a company called Eight Sleep that was listed with the Peloton as one of the "best tech inventions of the year" so I decided to look into it.
The Pod Pro by Eight Sleep is a cooling mattress that incorporates cutting edge technology to give you the most comfortable and effective sleep. One issue I had with my sleep was feeling too warm. When I read that the Pod Pro allows you to control the temperature of either side of the mattress separately, I was even more interested.
The Pod Pro creates a microclimate anywhere between 55 to 110℉. You just set the mattress to whatever temperature suits you best, and the intelligent Pod sensors will adjust to your ideal temperature whenever you need it. My partner and I are always fighting over the AC at night, so it didn't take much convincing.
Our Pod Pro was delivered and we couldn't wait to put it to the test. It was super quick and easy to set up, and the cooling feature was just the beginning. Eight Sleep also has its own app that connects to your mattress where you can track all your sleep metrics.
The Active Grid tracks your vitals such as heart rate, breathing, sleep cycles, and HRV, but also environmental factors like humidity and temperature. All this biometric data is fed into an algorithm so that the Pod continually calibrates exactly what your body needs to stay asleep all night.
First night in the Pod Pro and I couldn't believe how comfortable it was. Not just temperature-wise, but the mattress itself molded perfectly to my back. Turns out, it's a 5-layer premium foam mattress that provides the ideal comfort and support.
It has Comfort Blend™ technology that integrates with the Active Grid water-cooling system for enhanced comfort and pressure-point relief. I fell asleep super quickly that night and actually stayed asleep. My partner was the exact same. We didn't think this was actually possible for us, it had been so long since we had an undisturbed sleep.
We both woke up super refreshed, the first night in a long time we didn't have to fight over the AC remote. Not to mention, this mattress is much quieter than the AC, and even uses up less energy so it saves us money on bills.
A cool thing about the Pod Pro by Eight Sleep is that you don't need a loud alarm anymore. The mattress can wake you up naturally by gradually reducing the temperature. This wasn't something I thought would work but it really does and it's a much nicer way to wake up. We even have it connected to our smart coffee machine so our coffee is already being made when we wake up!
After a few weeks on the Pod Pro by Eight Sleep, I noticed something; I had much more energy and was able to burn more calories on the Peloton. Looking at my sleep metrics on the EightSleep app, it all made sense. Sleep is really important for fitness and health, and the better sleep I get the more energetic and fit I am.
If you're starting to exercise more then you need to start off by getting better sleep. I'd highly recommend the Pod Pro by Eight Sleep for the best night sleep ever. Check it out, you won't regret it.