Exercise Floor Mats

Exercise Floor Mats are essential to all serious fitness routines. Stretching properly before and after a workout is the first defense against athletic injury. Exercise Floor Mats keep you comfortable when you're doing back and abdominal stretches, push-ups and sit-ups. They also act as shock absorbers during aerobic workouts. If you work out at home, Exercise Floor Mats will protect your floors from stress.

Your choice of Exercise Floor Mats will depend on your routine. If you're into Yoga stretches, you'll want a mat called a "sticky" mat. It's made of thin foam that won't slip and slide as you move through your positions. Pilates Exercise Floor Mats are thicker and wider than Yoga mats, with extra room for lateral stretching. Because of their thickness, Pilates mats can also double as aerobics exercise mats.

You'll also have to choose between folding and roll-up Exercise Floor Mats. Roll-up mats have great portability, making them ideal for people who go to the gym to exercise. Folding mats constructed of closed-cell foam or rubber generally cost and weigh more than roll-up mats, but compensate with additional durability. Roll-up mats are fine for Yoga, Pilates, and other low-impact routines. If your workout intensity and duration is a big concern, a folding mat will perform better over the long run.

The protective material on the outside of Exercise Floor Mats is just as important as the cushioning material within them. You want something that looks good and cleans up easily. Mats are available in an entire Crayola box worth of colors, so you will have no trouble finding one that works with your look.

Exercise Floor Mats can easily become dirty, greasy and sweaty during workouts. Cleaning yours up before you store it just makes sense. You need a mat with a waterproof cover like vinyl to keep your cleaning solution from penetrating the mat's core. Just spray it with alcohol or another disinfectant and water, wipe it down, and you'll be good to go.