You can transform your entire room with a folding exercise mat or interlocking exercise tiles, or you can use a basic mat for yoga or pilates to do at your home or studio. There are multiple options available in the market with various featues, colors, patterns, and designs. Hence, choosing the right one may be a bit puzzling. So, in this article, we bring you the 10 best folding yoga mats so that you can start your exercise game afresh! Read on!

10 Best Folding Exercise Mats Of 2022 For Great Home Workouts

1. BalanceFrom 2″ Thick Tri-Fold Exercise Mat

Feeling too lazy to go to the gym or yoga studio? This 6-foot long, 2-foot wide, and 2-inch thick folding exercise mat is an ideal exercise mat size for exercises such as yoga, pilates, MMA, and martial arts at home. It’s made of thick, firm, high density EPE soft foam, and its exceptional resilience allows you to keep your balance during any form or style of exercise. Its surface is made of non-toxic, lead-free vinyl that is durable, 18 oz puncture-resistant, and non-absorbent. Its moisture resistant technology makes the mat easy to clean so that it stays free of odor and bacteria. This mat is lightweight and its foldable, 3-panel design along with handles make it easy to carry and store. This mat comes with a 2-year warranty and is available in multiple colors. There’s nothing stopping you from getting fit. Pros

Non-toxic Lead-free Lightweight 3-panel design Features handles

Cons

Some may feel the seams could be stronger.

2. ProsourceFit Tri-Fold Folding Exercise Mat

Need to get into shape? This 6 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 1.5 inches thick folding exercise mat is made of dense EPE foam that provides adequate support during your workouts. It has an easy-to-clean, waterproof vinyl surface, keeping it safe from odor and bacteria, and making it convenient to use both indoors and outdoors. This low-maintenance mat has a convenient tri-fold design that folds up quickly, and handles to carry which makes it very easy to carry and store. This versatile exercise mat gives adequate support and a cushioned surface during core workouts, tumbling, wrestling, stretching, and outdoor fitness routines. This tri-fold exercise mat protects sensitive joints like knees, hips, spine, and wrists and saves them from potential injuries on a hardwood floor, offering you a safe workout experience. Watch the video to know more about the ProsourceFit Tri-Fold Folding Exercise Mat. Pros

Vinyl surface Waterproof Low maintenance Tri-fold design Easy to carry and store

Cons

Some may find the surface a little hard.

3. Sunny Health & Fitness No. 048 Tri-Fold Exercise Mat

If you want to stay fit and flexible at home, this tri-folding exercise mat helps ensure that exercises, such as leg extensions, yoga, core strengthening, stretching, pilates, martial arts, and crunches, are carried out on adequate cushioning. This 6 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 2-inch thick folding exercise mat comes with 2 nylon, slip-resistant handles, making it portable, and its compact tri-fold design fits easily into car trunks, closets and cupboards, or in storage units. Its durable vinyl cover is tear-resistant and easy to clean— all you need to do is wipe it down with a damp cloth. This versatile mat also doubles as a spare bed, futon mattress, or for a children’s play area! Pros

Versatile Vinyl cover Nylon handles Easy to transport and store

Cons

Some may find it too soft for adequate support.

4. Matladin Tri-Fold Exercise Mat

Interested in a convenient and cost efficient workout? This 6 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 2 inches thick folding exercise floor mat with a reinforced carrying handle and foldable construction is easy to carry and store. It’s made of good quality, high density, and  environment-friendly EPE foam, which gives the mat better resilience and an anti-slip surface for your workout. The thickened PU leather cover is non-toxic, slip-resistant, waterproof, crack-resistant, and is safe to use and easy to clean. Reinforced, tear-resistant, and durable stitching on all sides add to the life of this mat. It has hooks and loops on all sides, so you can combine one or more mats to create a large-sized mat for tumbling or gymnastics. Take a look at the honest Polar Aurora Folding Gym Matto know why you should buy the Matladin Tri-Fold Exercise Mat. Pros

Lightweight Portable Versatile PU leather cover Reinforced stitching Hooks and loops to extend

Cons

May be too small for some

5. Best Choice Folding Exercise Mat

In case you have been missing your gymnastic and aerobic workouts, this 10 feet long and 4 feet wide mat has strong and durable stitching to withstand jumps and leaps, and is ideal for gymnastics and aerobics. This foldable exercise mat is made of 2-inch thick, high-density EPE foam with a faux leather surface that is waterproof and easy to clean. It has a removable, zippered cover so you can access the foam when needed. Touch fasteners enable you to join your mat to other similar ones for a larger surface area when practicing cartwheels and other complex moves. Its built-in side handles make this folding exercise gym mat easy to carry and transport. The 4-fold design of this mat lets you fold the surface into a compact shape to be stored neatly when not in use. Pros

4-fold design Removable cover Touch fasteners to extend mat Built-in handles

Cons

The cover may initially have a slight odor.

6. We Sell Mats Personal Folding Exercise Mat

 Incorporate this convenient and portable mat into your home gym workout routine for  a great workout. This folding padded exercise mat has a heavy-duty vinyl cover with a cross-linked polyethylene foam core. This 6 feet long, and 2 feet wide mat provides a comfortable and durable surface for personal fitness and exercises like push-ups, crunches, sit-ups, planks, burpees, squats, and lunges. It can easily endure frequent use and is easy to clean, and the durable crosslink foam core provides the ideal balance between comfort and stability. It weighs just 4 lbs, making it lightweight and easy to carry using the attached handles. It offers you a cushioned, supportive surface that protects your knees, wrists, elbows, and back during a comfortable home workout. Pros

Lightweight Compact and portable Easy to clean Made from heavy-duty vinyl cover Crosslink polyethylene foam core

Cons

Doesn’t have fasteners to extend it

7. XN8 2.4 Inches Thick Exercise Yoga Mat

 This tri-fold yoga mat is 6 feet long and 2 feet broad, made of firm EPE foam, and provides ideal back support during core work, inversions, and other postures that cause otherwise your bones to dig painfully into the ground. This foldable exercise mat is covered with premiere Lamina hide leather upholstery which gives it an elegant look and is highly resilient, slip-proof, waterproof, and easy to clean with a damp cloth. This easily foldable, lightweight, 3.2 kg mat comes with thick nylon handles which makes it easy to take around and store, and is great for both professional gymming and home training. So get ready to work out on a mat that offers high shock absorption and protects your back, knees, and elbows, making your workout highly comfortable. Pros

Waterproof Slip-proof Features lamina hide cover Comes with nylon handles Easy to clean Easily foldable and portable Available in 2 variants

Cons

Some may find it too firm.

8. HemingWeigh Gymnastic Mat

Your search for a multi-functional exercise mat might just have come to an end with this folding exercise mat. It’s suited for different forms of floor exercises, among others such as yoga, aerobics, pilates, gymnastics, and martial arts. It provides supreme underfoot comfort, so you can now save yourself from the discomfort of rough, cold, damp, hard, and uneven surfaces. Made with 1.5 inches thick, firm, high density EPE foam, this foldable gymnastics mat offers maximum support and cushioning throughout your workouts. This 6.25 feet long and 2 feet broad mat comes with a 3-panel foldable design and carrying handles that makes it easy to carry around and store. Its durable and lead-free surface is made with a non-absorbent vinyl which is easy to clean, making this mat worth a try. Pros

Non-toxic Eco-friendly Lead-free Phthalate-free Formaldehyde-free Waterproof vinyl cover 3-panel foldable design Comes with handles

Cons

May have dents on the sides

9. Outroad Gymnastics Mat

Whether it’s dance, aerobics, wrestling, yoga, or martial arts— this mat takes care of all! This large folding exercise mat is 8 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 2 inches thick and is ideal for martial arts, yoga, gymnastics, dance, and even for babies to crawl on. Made of thick high-density, and long-lasting EPE foam, this foldable gymnastics mat for home provides comfort and support against any hard falls. Its PU leather cover is non-absorbent, and is mildew resistant, puncture resistant and a fire retardant. It’s easy to clean and all it needs is a wipe-down with a damp cloth. It folds into a compact size, making it convenient to store, and its 2 carrying handles make it easy to transport. Velcro on all sides makes it simple to link several mats together to make a large tumbling or workout area. Pros

Large in size PU leather cover Features carrying handles Velcro on all sides to extend

Cons

Needs velcro fasteners to keep the mat in place after folding

10. Polar Aurora Folding Gym Mat

This 6 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 2 inches thick folding exercise mat is a great addition to your home gym as it provides you with comfort and stability as you perform floor exercises. This exercise mat is thick, durable, and has a convenient design so that you can fold it and store it when not in use. It’s made of highly dense, environmentally friendly EPE foam which is soft and highly resilient, and offers good support. The workout mat also has carrying handles, making it convenient to carry around. It’s covered with waterproof PU leather which is non-absorbent and smooth, enabling easy cleaning. The mat consists of 3 foldable panels which can greatly save storage space. This tumbling mat is also suitable for babies and toddlers to play on, apart from being suitable for yoga, dancing, light stretching, wrestling, martial arts, and basic exercise. Click on the video to know everything about the Polar Aurora Folding Gym Mat. Pros

Sewn in handles Waterproof PU leather cover Easy to clean Easy to carry and store

Cons

Some may find it a bit hard

Now that you have been through our review of the 10 best folding exercise mats of 2022, it’s essential that you know how to choose a perfect one for yourself so that your workouts are safe and comfortable and you derive maximum benefit from them.

How To Choose Folding Exercise (Gym) Mats

Fitting comfort

This will totally depend on how frequently you train. The more frequently you train, the higher the level of comfort, in this case, the mat thickness level, you’ll need. It will also depend on what kind of activities you need the exercise mat for. For gentle exercises such as stretching, yoga, or pilates, during which you will be often in contact with the floor and without footwear, you should go for a softer mat that is at least 5 mm thick.

Material

EPE foam is what is used for most foldable exercise mats that are covered with material that isn’t very absorbent. EPE foam gives strong support and comfort, as it’s soft and resilient, which makes it easy for people to train on all surfaces. The outer cover is usually vinyl or other smooth and durable material that is easy to wipe after a sweaty workout to keep off odor and bacteria.

Size and shape

This again depends on what you’re planning to use the exercise mat for. Narrow and long exercise mats are great for planks and cartwheels, and rectangular mats that cover a greater surface area are ideal for practising gymnastics, martial arts, and wrestling. How tall you are, would also decide the size of the mat.

Durability

The frequency of your workouts will decide how durable your mat needs to be. If used for regular or intensive exercise, choose one with a protective coating. It not only adds to the durability but also improves the mat’s resistance to the friction caused by footwear.

Weight

Folding exercise mats are supposed to be portable and convenient, but some mats are heavier than other mats. Some may weigh only a little over a pound, while others can weigh up to 10lbs. It is generally recommended to opt for lightweight mats that are portable, especially when you carry one to your workout place.

Thickness

The thickness of your exercise mat will depend on the activity and your personal preference. For floor workouts, a thicker mat may be required for extra cushioning. Others, who are veterans in working out, might not mind a thinner mat, as they might not feel the need for extra cushioning. Usually exercise mats range between 1.5 inches to 2 inches in thickness.

Sections and Velcro

The best folding exercise mats should have the option of being extended by adding sections with velcro. The number of sections could be 2, 3, or 4 panels. The number of sections will determine how large your exercise mat will be when it’s unfolded and how easy it could be to store when folded. Some exercise mats come with velcro on all sides which gives you the option of changing the mat’s shape, size, and mat area. Now that you are clear on what to look for while choosing the best folding exercise mat for yourself, it’s always good to know the benefits you can derive from it so that you can draw the utmost from your mat.

Benefits Of The Folding Exercise Mat

Convenience

Folding exercise mats are portable, convenient, simple to use and easy to store so that you can use them anywhere, whether at home on a hard floor or out in the garden.

Comfort, support, and safety

They basically make your workouts safer and more comfortable, especially when you’re lying on the floor for extended periods of time working on your stability and core strength. Folding exercise mats are commonly used as cushioning for gymnastics practice, wrestling, and martial arts, but they are also extremely effective at offering support during core workouts. Whether you like to workout indoors or outdoors, they give protective cushioning to your knees, wrists, elbows, neck, and back.

Cleanliness

Even though everyone gets sweaty while they workout, some like to keep a layer of protection between themselves and the ground, and an exercise mat serves just that purpose.

Why Trust StyleCraze?

The author, Shreya Vishwanathan, is a fitness enthusiast and takes pleasure in helping people make the right buying choices through her well-researched product reviews. She stresses the importance of a good mat for making the exercise routine smooth, comfortable and injury-free. Hence, she has compiled this list of best folding exercise mats after thorough research and an in-depth analysis of user feedback. These low-maintenance mats are lightweight, easy to carry, and offer support during core workouts. Is there a difference between a yoga mat and an exercise mat? Yoga mats are thinner than exercise mats, starting out as thin as ¼ inch and maxing out at 1-inch thickness. These mats are not designed to handle high impact exercises. Exercise mats, on the other hand, are used for a variety of activities and require more thickness, starting at 1 inch and going up to 3 inches, depending on the amount of impact absorption required. Is it necessary to do exercise on a mat? An exercise mat isn’t always essential if you do most of your workouts at home. A carpeted floor usually works quite well for standing or seated strength exercises, suspension training, or cardio workouts. Exercise mats lay nicely against the floor, prevent you from slipping, give you better traction, and protect your joints, and so are great to use for floor workouts and yoga. Can you use a yoga mat as an exercise mat? Yes, you can use a yoga mat as an exercise mat if you are doing a low-impact exercise that does not require a lot of cushioning. What is the best thickness for a foldable exercise mat? For gentle exercises such as yoga, stretching, or pilates, you can go for a softer mat that is at least 5mm thick. For fitness exercises, choose a mat with a thickness of at least 0.5 inches. The choice of thickness also depends on the support you think your joints need. What is the best material for an exercise mat? PVC and vinyl foam are extremely durable and easy to clean. However, people who sweat profusely might find PVC mats difficult to use. In that case, you can use a jute or rubber fitness mat.

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