Americans Get Physical After a Good Night in Bed

Source: BetterSleep.org

While weary, overextended Americans are turning to “quick fixes” like caffeine and performance-enhancing supplements, which claim to improve everything from their daily workout to their sex lives, they are losing sight of what experts say is essential to improved performance: a good night’s sleep.

According to the 2008 Better Sleep Month (BSM) national survey, sponsored by the Better Sleep Council (BSC), those respondents getting nine hours of sleep or more are more likely to engage in higher-intensity workouts, including biking, running and/or weight lifting. Yet an alarming seven in 10 (70 percent) report that they are not getting the recommended amount of sleep needed each night (7.5 hours or more) to perform at their best each day.

“Sleep deprivation impacts us physically, which can negatively affect our coordination, agility, mood and energy,” says Dr. Bert Jacobson, professor and head of the School of Educational Studies at Oklahoma State University (OSU) and the lead author of the new study Grouped Comparisons of Sleep Quality for New and Personal Bedding Systems. “Research shows that sleeping better and longer leads to improvements in athletic performance, including faster sprint time, better endurance, lower heart rate, and even improved mood and higher levels of energy during a workout.”

One out of three survey respondents agrees, stating that the best thing about getting a good night’s sleep is improved physical performance. However, the BSC explains that better sleep and/or improved physical performance is not just a result of getting one extra hour of sleep a night. “Getting a better night’s sleep is about making a larger investment in sleep overall, including taking a closer look at your sleep surface and surroundings. Improving sleep quality is just as important as quantity,” adds Dr. Jacobson.

A New Mattress Does a Body Good

The same survey found that 81 percent of Americans report waking up with back, neck or shoulder pain in the past year, with nearly half (46 percent) of respondents reporting that they frequently (at least a few times a month) wake up with these types of pain that limit their physical performance.

There’s good news, however, for the majority of people suffering with limited mobility due to back and neck pain. According to Dr. Jacobson’s study, published in the Journal of Applied Ergonomics, sleeping on a new mattress can significantly improve sleep quality during the night and reduce physical pain during the day. In fact, when sleeping on new bedding systems, study respondents on average reported significant improvements in:

• lower back pain (62.8 percent)
• shoulder pain (62.4 percent)
• back stiffness (58.4 percent)
• sleep quality (64.4 percent), and
• sleep comfort (69.6 percent)

“Like your favorite pair of athletic shoes, your mattress can still feel comfortable long after it has lost its ability to provide your body with the comfort and support it needs,” said Karin Dillner, BSC spokesperson. “And just as we need the proper equipment to get the best workout, we also need the proper equipment to get the best night’s sleep—most importantly, a quality mattress.”

The BSC recommends that consumers evaluate their current mattress by asking themselves four basic questions to determine if it’s time for a mattress upgrade:

• Is your mattress 5-7 years old or older?
• Do you wake up with stiffness, numbness, aches and pains?
• Do you get a better night’s sleep somewhere other than your own bed (such as a hotel)?
• Does your mattress show visible signs of overuse (sags, stains, etc.)?

Visit us at Bowen Town & Country Furniture in Winston-Salem, NC where we carry mattresses by Sealy, Tempur-Pedic and Carolina Mattress Guild! We are located at 1910 Mooney Street, right off Stratdford Road…near Hanes Mall.

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Price Vs. Value: What’s more important?

By: Keith Joyce
VP of Operations

I enjoy a good “saying” as much as the next guy; maybe even more than average.  We’ve all heard thousands of them in the course of our lives… you know, like “Penny wise and pound foolish” or “Here today and gone tomorrow”… that kind of thing.

I heard a particularly pithy one the other day that has a LOT of meaning in today’s economy… “Price is what you pay, but value is what you get.”  That one makes a lot of sense; if you buy something solely because it’s cheap, you may get very little for your money… so, because you got no value for your dollars, the cheap item actually costs MORE than a more expensive – but much better quality item.

Here’s a good example… a 50-cent Bic pen does the same thing as a $200 Mont Blanc pen.  It won’t look as good in your pocket and you won’t impress anyone when you whip it out… but when you look ONLY at function, the Bic is a MUCH better value than the Mont Blanc.

However, if you’re attracted to classic European craftsmanship, gold and other fine materials, a heft and balance like no other pen – and if it’s affordable to you, you’re probably going to spend the extra money for a pen that you will keep for a lifetime… while the Bic hits the trash can in a few weeks.

If you write a lot, the Mont Blanc –over the years -could even turn out to be cheaper than buying a box of Bics every few weeks.

Furniture is the same way.  We can sell you a dining room chair for less than $100.  You can sit on it to eat your meals for years, but you won’t linger very long around the table.  The seats in those chairs have very minimal shaping and simply are much less comfortable than the more expensive chairs.  If price is your primary concern, this is the chair for you.  It will provide a seat, just like chairs costing many times as much.

So, what DO you get with a more expensive dining chair?  Wooden seats will be carefully contoured to provide maximum comfort; upholstered seats will feature thick, high-quality padding.  The chair parts will be machined to very close tolerances; they’ll be put together with as many as three different types of attachment on each joint.  The chair back may be contoured just right to provide lumbar support while you linger with friends and family for coffee and conversation… and who can put a price on those treasured moments?  That time is priceless… and that, my friends, is value.

Visit us at Bowen Town & Country Furniture! We are located at 1910 Mooney Street, right off Stratdford Road…near Hanes Mall.

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