Tumbling Mat | How to Buy the Right Tumbling Mats

How to Buy the Right Tumbling Mats

Safety and security for those involved in gymnastics, wrestling and other sports are paramount. As a parent, you want to ensure that your children have the right equipment to keep them safe. Having the right tumbling mats also has an impact on your children’s performance. The materials used to created mats can impact effectiveness, and the thickness of mats is essential to both safety and performance.

These mats come in varying thicknesses for different activities. There are three basic thicknesses that you should concern yourself with when shopping for tumbling mats: 1 & 3/8th inches, 2 inches, and 2 & 2/8th inches. These three thicknesses will get you everything you need in mats, and if you have particular activities in mind, you’ll want to ensure you have the right mat for each of those activities.

The thinnest mat, that which is 1 & 3/8th inches, should be used for stretching and general exercises. These mats are good for children who enjoy tumbling. They are also good for serious athletes who need to protect themselves while warming up. These thinner mats are good for low impact aerobic exercises and for less intense activities like stretching and calisthenics.

For those involved in wrestling, gymnastics, martial arts, and other high impact activities, the 2 & 3/8th inch mats are best. They provide better impact absorption, taking the strain off of muscles and joints. They also allow for greater rebounding, making them perfect for bouncing and jumping. A gymnast doing handsprings or a wrestler who needs to quickly bounce back from take down will find these mats best suited to their efforts.

The middle of the road thickness for mats can be good for higher impact activities as well. They are well designed to absorb weight and allow for some rebounding. They can be great for smaller children whose body weight does not require the same thickness of mat to protect them from injury. They can also be good for adults who are involved in medium impact exercises.

Children’s play activities can often become rough. Tumbling, summer salts and other maneuvers often result in falls, trains, or repetitive stress injuries. You want to ensure your children are safe when participating in physical activities and Alex Toys Tumbling Mats can go a long way toward that goal. Children are more likely to remain physically active and fit if they do not get hurt while playing.

Eliminating the risk of physical injury helps you make sure your children don’t get hurt, but it also helps you protect them emotionally. Injury can have a long-term emotional impact, and one which can prevent children from being active in the future, for fear of experiencing similar injury or resulting pain. By providing a safe and secure environment for children to play, participate in sports, or simply enjoy tumbling, you increase the chances that they will continue to be physically active.

Tumbling mats are created from foam materials. There are two main types of foam used for mats: polyethylene crosslink foam and polyurethane foam, which is also known as polyfoam. Crosslink foam is recommended for mats that will be used in high impact activities, while polyfoam is good for general exercises, warm-ups, stretching, and low impact tumbling.

A gymnastics tumbling mat that is 2 & 3/8th inches thick and made from crosslink foam is your best value. These mats are durable and can last for many years. They don’t break down with frequent use and are able to withstand significant weight and repetitive impact.

Purchasing cheap tumbling mats doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice quality. You can often find a used tumbling mat for significantly less money than buying new. However, if you do purchase new, then you will want to shop around and find the best prices available.

The thickness is the most important factor when selecting tumbling mats. The thickness of the mat can significantly reduce the chances of injury. Thicker mats are able to able to protect tumblers from the stress of impact. Gymnastics and wrestling require the right mats to protect participants from injuries that can result from the regular activities of the sports. Without appropriate mats injuries can be common, but with the right mats these sports and other similar activities can be quite safe.

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