Fitness Friday #10: Finding the Right Yoga Mat -

A friend recently decided to purchase a yoga mat, and found himself going crazy with all of the different choices and reviews.

A yoga mat can be a yogi’s best friend, and when you decide to make the investment, you want something you’ll love. I’ve personally been through 8 different mats since I started my practice several years ago, and only found the mat that I absolutely LOVE a couple of years ago.

So, I present, a little help in the search for the perfect yoga mat:

Yoga Mats 101

– Material — most yoga mats are made with PVC which is considered a toxic plastic BUT it’s the right amount of sticky for some people (see ‘stickiness’). If you want to think about the environment for whatever reason, recycled rubber (which in my opinion smells awful), cotton, or bamboo are good alternatives. I’ve never personally used bamboo or cotton, but I did have a few different standard PVC mats.

The worst mat I ever used was made of recycled rubber. It left my hands smelling awful, even if I used a yoga mat towel.

– Thickness — So the mats that we have for use in my dance studio are of the thicker variety (about 1/4-1/2″). These offer more cushion for knees, which some people love for our planks and back sections. The standard is mat is 1/8″ thick.

Some of the thicker mats are not very sticky on the bottom, so they slide in a typical studio. If you practice on carpet, you shouldn’t have much of an issue with a thicker mat sliding.

– Length — most mats are 68″ in length, but there are some “OMG SO LONG” mats that accommodate the taller yogis.

– Stickiness — sticky mats are KEY to prevent slipping once your hands and feet get sweaty. To be honest, you really only want stickiness on the bottom of the mat, but many standard PVC mats have both.

– Price — So a “hey I’m in wal-mart let me get a mat” cost is like $15-25. Those are ok for a bit, but they will start to fall apart (you might see little colorful bits of PVC around the room after class). However, some of them get crazy at $100 a mat. (Like Lululemon brand). My advice is to find a pretty sturdy mat and be ok spending a little more on it, knowing it will last longer!

So, with all of that, I present to you a few mat choices.

For starters, this is the one I use, and it’s hands-down been my favorite mat. It’s sticky on the bottom and the material on the top is like an absorbent towel.

http://www.target.com/p/pilates-hot-yoga-mat/-/A-14575272