The Different Types of Gymnastic Mats | Which Gymnastic Mat is Right For You
As a gymnast, it is important to have the right equipment such as choosing the perfect gymnastic mat. In this guide we will explore the various types of gymnastic mats, their unique features and insight to help you select the one that best suits your needs and preferences.
Chipfoam Mat
A chipfoam gymnastic mat is a type of mat designed for psychical education, gymnastic activities, judo, karate and other martial arts. It is filled with small, irregular shaped foam chips that are densely packed to provide a firm yet comfortable surface for all floor and movement exercises. The foam chips offer shock absorption and impact protection, reducing the risk of injury during training sessions.
Lightweight Gymnastic Mat
A lightweight gymnastic mat is a type of mat designed for ease of use, portability and convenience during gymnastics or other physical activities. These mats are lighter in weight making them easier to carry, transport, and store. Moreover, they are made from non-slip materials such as PVC ensuring safety. Lightweight gymnastic mats are great for school, gymnastics, and leisure centre use.Heavy Duty Lightweight Mat
A heavy duty lightweight mat is a type of gymnastic mat that combines the advantages of both heavy duty and lightweight mats. A heavy duty lightweight mat offers enhanced durability, sturdiness, and support for more intense activities or higher skill levels.
The main difference between a heavy duty lightweight mat and a normal lightweight mat lies in the construction and materials used. Heavy duty lightweight mats feature a thicker, more robust and tear resistance outer covering.
Both lightweight mats and heavy duty lightweight mats are great to use within schools, gymnastics and leisure centres. However, the intensity of the training sessions play a crucial role in determining the most suitable mat to invest in.
Heavy Duty Agility Mat
A heavy duty agility mat is a specialised type of gymnastic mat designed to withstand rigorous training sessions for all gym activities involving tumbling, rolling and landing. These mats are constructed with durability and performance in mind, providing support, cushioning, and impact absorption for athletes engaging in intense exercises and movements.
These mats are ideal for advanced training sessions, high-traffic environments, and demanding physical activities where standard mats may not provide adequate support or durability.
Safety Mattress
A safety mattress is a thick, cushioned mat specifically designed to provide a safe and comfortable surface for athletes and gymnasts during high-impact activities. These mats are commonly used for practicing jumps, falls, flips and other aerial manoeuvres, offering great shock absorption. Moreover, Beemat Safety Mattresses incorporate breather holes, handles and connecting toggles, allowing multiple mats to be link together.
Folding Crash Mat
Folding crash mats are versatile and portable with a unique feature to fold, making them easy to transport, store and set up in various ways. Because of the versatile nature of these mats makes them an ideal choice for a wide range of activities and training scenarios including a beginner gymnast, home gymnasts and disciplines such as artistic gymnastics.
Soft Landing Mat
A soft landing gymnast mat is a type of cushioned mat specifically designed to provide a safe, comfortable and forgiving surface for gymnasts during high jump activities. A soft landing mat might be the best choice for a gymnast practicing high jump activities for several reasons including shock absorption, safety and injury prevention and versatility.
Runway Gymnastic Mat
Investing in a runway gymnastic mat would benefit those practicing cheerleaders, gymnastics or other acrobatic sports. A runway gymnastic mat is a long, narrow mat designed specifically for practicing and performing running or tumbling sequences. These mats are an ideal mat to use in gymnasiums and exercise rooms because large floor areas can be laid out quickly and they can be joined up with additional mats.
Blended Gymnastic Mat
The Beemat Blended gymnastics mat is crafted from a 50/50 blend of 140kg/m³ density chipfoam and 25kg/m3 of closed cell cross linked polyethylene foam, providing support and protection to students during their exercises. Blended mats cater to a wide range of skill levels and gymnastics disciplines, making them suitable for use in schools, gyms, sports centres, or home practice. Blended gymnastic mats may come in various sizes, thicknesses, and designs to accommodate different needs and preferences.
Alignment Safety Mattress
An alignment safety mattress provides safety and cushioning but also visually helps gymnasts during routines. Alignment safety mattresses typically feature visual guides or markings on the surface, such as lines, arrows, or grids, which aid athletes in maintaining correct body alignment and positioning during landings. This helps improve technique, reduce the risk of injuries, and enhance overall performance.
Stunt Landing Mat
Finally, a stunt landing mat provides a safe and comfortable surface for athletes, stunt performers and gymnasts during high impact activities such as gymnastics, cheerleading, parkour, martial arts and professional stunt work, where falls, jumps and flips are integral parts of the performance. The Beemat Stunt Landing Mat is designed to be more durable than standard crash mats. This mat is constructed using a high quality wear resistant vinyl outer with slatted construction of foam inner incorporating air voids to absorb extra impact.
Understanding which gymnastics mat to purchase is crucial, as it ensures that the chosen mat caters to your specific needs and offers safety across various sports and activities you engage in. We hope this blog has been helpful, and we wish you an enjoyable experience participating in gymnastics safely.
