Pilates Mats
Unlike yoga, where students bring their own mats, most Pilate’s studios already have Pilate’s mats and students are not usually expected to bring their own. The reason most people purchase a Pilates mat is to be able to practice Pilates at home. Pilates and yoga mats may be similar in that they are about the same size and both are used for exercises performed on the floor, but there is a difference between the two.
Generally, all Pilate’s mats are thicker and a bit tackier than most yoga mats. Yoga mats need to be thin enough for the practitioner to feel the floor beneath them due to the many standing poses required in yoga. Yoga mats also need a tacky surface to prevent users from slipping out of their poses, and slippage is not a factor in most Pilate’s exercises. Pilate’s mats are much thicker mats because they need to protect users from hard floor surfaces and provide adequate padding during all of the floor movements required in Pilates. Although Pilate’s mats are available in a variety of styles, shapes and colors, most good Pilate’s mats are at least one half inch thick. Pilate’s mats should also be somewhat firm in order to support the user’s balance and allow proper alignment during exercises. In order to make sure you’ve got room to exercise freely, Pilate’s mats should be long and wide. Most Pilates roll-up style mats are usually from 72-inches to 86-inches long and the widths will vary from around 20-inches up to 40-inches.
Dense foam or rubber roll-up style Pilates mats are the most common types and are compact, portable and generally affordable at around $30 each. Soft foam mats with a vinyl outer covering can sometimes be a bit too soft and mushy for Pilates work. Most Pilate’s fans prefer closed cell foam mats that are usually denser and feel more firm than soft foam. Most roll-up style Pilates mats are sold with a mat bag or a drawstring and strap system to keep the mat rolled up for easier storage and better portability.
There is a small following for fold-up style Pilates mats, but they are larger, more expensive and usually confined to professional studio use. A high quality folding mat will usually be 4-feet by 6-feet in size and carry a price tag that can be up to ten times that of a small roll-up mat. Fold-up mats are very nice, but they are not absolutely necessary for home Pilate’s routines.
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