I need a firm mattress, but short of sleeping on the floor. The Sealy Response Performance Firm is just the right firmness, perhaps a little softer than ideal. Most other mattresses I have tried sag in the middle, even if they are rock hard elsewhere. The Sealy gives me uniform support. For the slight additional support I want for my lumbar area and buttocks I placed a folded blanket across the middle area of the mattress and placed a one inch foam topper over the blanket and mattress to smooth everything out. I had tried literally a dozen mattresses before this one and could not devise a way to make them comfortable even with added blankets and foam, so I am happy with this mattress.