What's the Deal with Zoning?

Beyond Mattresses
1

Could someone please explain to me how zoning works?

Here’s an example. The Leesa Legend has 2” of comfort foam - 1” of poly, 1” of memory foam (no density divulged), and then a layer of microcoils “zoned” with foam - i.e., the top third of the mattress width-wise is 1.5” microcoils (unknown guage) and the middle third of the bed is a swath of 1.5” of firm poly foam (unknown density), and the bottom third of the bed is again the 1.5” of microcoils.

The theory is that the middle swath is where peoples’ hips will hit, providing support to prevent hammocking, resulting in back pain.

But, where the theory breaks down is in the reality of the length of peoples’ torsos and the size of the people. My husband is 5’11” and I am 5’3”. His torso is much longer than mine, so his hips hit the swath of foam. My hips are barely on the foam, at best the bottom part of my hips top of my legs, resulting in the top half of my hips on the microcoils, bottom half on the firm poly foam, resulting in low back pain.

I would have to scoot down 5” into the bed to hit the hip swath of firm foam in exactly the right spot, putting me under the covers, or my husband uncovered.

Additionally, because I weigh 115lbs, and am thin build, bony vs muscle, the firm poly foam hurts my hips, causing pressure vs relieving it. I’m don’t weigh enough to need that firm support there because I don’t sink into the bed.

So realistically, I don’t see how zoning can work. Maybe it works for a certain size person - “x” tall and “x” weight but I think to present it as a blanket solution for every size person is wrong, because techinically there’s no way that can be true.

So I have two questions -

  1. Should a person my size avoid zoning?

  2. Is there some zoning that might be more subtle - like with the Tempurpedic Luxe Adapt soft all foam beds that have 3” ergonomic support foam at the bottom of the bed after 5” softer foam? My hips and shoulders in that case would still need to fit into that swath of different density foam in that ergonomic layer and don’t see how that’s possible.

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Hi there,

I’m the same height as you, basically - 5’2.5” and have a zoned bed, but it is zoned a little differently.

On our bed, it is zoned differently on each side, which helps a lot.

My husband has firm at shoulders, firm at hips, and medium at feet (and a board underneath - he really likes it firm!)

Right now I have soft at shoulders, firm at hips, soft at feet. But most of the time I have had medium at shoulders - just not at present as I am recovering from a shoulder injury.

Each section is a little over 2 feet long (we have a king) and so I do have the same issue as you, but not quite as pronounced as it is all latex, just different firmnesses.

I do what you describe in your post and scoot down a little bit. It works for us.

I hope you can find a solution that works for you - perhaps you can provide some extra support to the top section so that it is more similar to the support you get in the middle. Or if there is a way to soften up the foam in the middle section a bit - that could help.

Kathleen

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This is a great question and one we get in our stores from time to time. In fact, we’re planning to do a video on this exact topic soon.

Our take might be a little contrarian compared to what many mattress companies say: we’re not huge fans of zoning for the exact reasons you described. In theory, zoning sounds great—firmer in the hips for support, softer in the shoulders for pressure relief—but in reality, it only works some of the time. People’s bodies don’t line up the same way. Torso lengths, hip placement, shoulder widths, weight, and build all vary, so the “zones” rarely land in the right spots for everyone.

That’s why we always go back to the basics: the two most important factors in choosing a mattress are pressure relief and back support. In most cases, you can accomplish both without needing zoning at all. That said, zoning can be helpful for certain people—especially if it’s customized rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

I know Flobeds (Members of this Forum) offers some interesting customizable zoning, and we’ve also started doing custom zoning for individuals in specific situations. If you’d like more help on this we’d be happy to help.
I hope this helps!

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