LEXINGTON, KY (July 22, 2015) – Better sleep could mean better performance for the athletes of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA). The USSA and Tempur-Pedic North America, LLC announced today the opening of the Tempur-Pedic® Sleep Center at the USSA Center of Excellence in Park City, Utah. By integrating sleep science into advanced training regimens, the USSA will track how transformative sleep positively impacts athlete performance, recovery and overall training ability.
“The Sleep Center is a way for us to educate our athletes in optimizing their sleep quality through individualized methods,” said Luke Bodensteiner, executive vice president, athletics at the USSA. “We are making this a topic for athletes because sleep is incredibly important to an athlete’s recovery and their physical and neurological performance.”
As the official sleep provider of the U.S. Ski Team, U.S. Freeskiing and U.S. Snowboarding, Tempur-Pedic outfitted the Sleep Center with its newest mattress and bedding products, including the TEMPUR-Flex®, which features the famous adaptive benefits of TEMPUR® in a new dynamically responsive feel. TEMPUR® material adapts to the sleeper’s shape, weight and temperature to deliver the best night’s sleep. It creates fewer pressure points for less tossing and turning, reduces motion transfer and provides even support.
Also featured in the Sleep Center rooms are TEMPUR-Ergo™ Plus Adjustable Bases, which allow the athletes to choose from an infinite number of ergonomic rest positions.
Designed with comfort in mind, the Sleep Center resides in a quiet, low traffic area of the Center of Excellence. The sleep rooms, which are void of any natural light, have acoustic ceilings, blackout shades and dedicated temperature controls to help create a comfortable sleep environment.
The athletes will also be provided with sleep counseling developed collaboratively by Tempur-Pedic and the USSA’s High Performance Team, as well as check-in and check-out surveys to measure the positive impact of transformative sleep.
“The USSA’s athletes participate in some of the world’s most physically demanding winter sports, where fractions of seconds determine gold medals,” said Jay Spenchian, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Tempur Sealy International. “Integrated into the Center of Excellence’s state-of-the-art training facilities, the new Tempur-Pedic Sleep Center will provide USSA athletes with a distinct competitive advantage as they prepare to compete for the top spot on the podium.”
USSA’s world-class athletes train year round at the Center of Excellence to prepare for their competition seasons. Physical conditioning is a large part of this preparation along with testing, which encompasses various elements of high performance, including nutrition, psychology, physiology, injury prevention, rehab and sleep.
“After training sessions athletes can now use the Tempur-Pedic Sleep Center to recover and prepare for other activities. We notice significant improvements in the performance of the athletes’ sessions when they have taken the necessary means to recover,” said Matt Whitcomb, U.S. Ski Team women’s cross country coach. “Athletes who sleep better, perform better.”
Tempur-Pedic has had a relationship with USSA since 2010 and was most recently an associate sponsor of the U.S. Freestyle Championships held in March in Steamboat Springs, Colo.
“We strive to have all of our corporate partnerships include some direct tie in with our athletes and their performance. This partnership with the Tempur-Pedic Sleep Center is a perfect example of a partner’s product and activation tying back to winning medals,” says Michael Jaquet, USSA’s chief marketing officer. “This permanent placement at the Center of Excellence will allow our athletes to get the rest and recovery they need to push their training to the next level.”
