Every now and then, there’s a product that just makes life better. Some of these products are high-tech and sleek, like a cool fitness tracking device. Others aren’t very sexy, like a pair of compression socks to reduce inflammation.
Either way, runners are no strangers to products that can change your life, and neither is Product of the Year USA, the organization that just awarded 36 items as the best products of the year. Two of them—the Nectar Sleep Premier Memory Foam Mattress and Icy Hot Pro—are both real game-changers, and that's why they've won accolades from Runner's World editors, too.
The Product of the Year award winners span categories like body cleanser, keto food, home essentials, and digestive health aids, to name a few. But of the 36 winners, two products stood out to us: the award winners for the mattress and topical pain relief categories.
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Nectar Sleep Premier Memory Foam Mattress
Nectar Sleep Premier Memory Foam Mattress
The Nectar Premier Memory Foam Mattress is one of our favorite cheap mattresses. Ranging in price from just over $1,000 to nearly $2,400 depending on the size, this mattress stood out to us because of its particularly long home trial period—you get up to a year to test it out before making the hard decisions.
If you’re a hot sleeper, this mattress is particularly intriguing for its built-in, multi-layered cooling technology that utilizes phase change material, which adapts the temperature of the mattress based on your body temperature. It’s effectively a Goldilocks mattress, personalized for you: Not too hot, not too cold, but just right. With all of this going for it, it’s no wonder that, after consulting 40,000 consumers for the Product of the Year awards, this mattress came out on top.
Icy Hot Pro No-Mess Pain Relief Cream
Icy Hot Pro No-Mess Pain Relief Cream
We were also happy to see Icy Hot Pro win out as the topical pain relief top pick. We dubbed the Icy Hot No-Mess Applicator one of the best muscle rubs for runners for its super affordable price point ($7) and the roll-on applicator that means your hands won’t be coated by the time you’re done using it.
The Pro version is available with a massaging applicator, but it’s the cream inside we’re really after here. At $14 for a three-ounce tube, Icy Hot Pro uses menthol (an ingredient commonly found across Icy Hot’s standard pain-relieving products) and camphor (an ingredient used in stronger Icy Hot products, like Pro and Advanced). When applied, the two active ingredients work in tandem to knock out any post-run aches and pains.
The Nectar Premier Memory Foam Mattress and Icy Hot Pro are staples we highly recommend for runners and non-runners alike. And while we’re always happy to pick up a new pair of running shoes, it’s absolutely worth investing in things that can help you rest and recover, so you can perform even better.
Micki Wagner is a commerce editor for Hearst’s Enthusiast Group, where she is constantly on the lookout for exciting new products, great sales and deals, and fun gifts. Her work can also be found on Saveur and Worth. When she’s not writing about the latest and greatest products, you can find her checking out new restaurants, spending way too much time shopping online, and binging Parks and Recreation…yet again.
