Living-room appropriate exercise mats? MAGIC EXERCISE RUG???

August 19, 2018 9:12 PM

I live in an apartment with hardwood floors in the living room and I would like to be able to do stretching and pilates on a cushion-y exercise floor without having to roll out a mat (keeping it rolled up would mean I would have to find closet space too) Also, I want it to look cool. Is there something like... attractive exercise carpet that anyone here has tried?

I want something that is good looking enough that I can have it always out in my living room, so that whenever I feel like it I can comfortably start doing exercises in front of my TV.

I have been considering hardwood-looking anti-fatigue mats, but a sample of those seemed not quite soft enough for me.

What do you think about the idea of fashioning a rug of sorts out of two of these exercise mats together? I think i would need to cut the rounded edges off at each end and then like... duct tape them together in the back? suggestions welcome :) Thanks!

posted by wowenthusiast to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (8 answers total)

Look into soft floor tiles that fit together like a puzzle. You could even put a rug over it and fold it back when you want to use it for exercise. (I’d put a towel over it or something probably too.)
posted by vunder at 9:23 PM on August 19, 2018 [1 favorite]

I put two exercise mats under a regular soft cotton rug and that seems to be working out. Except the dog won't get off it.
posted by fshgrl at 10:48 PM on August 19, 2018 [4 favorites]

Look into playmats like these from Parklon - many of them have "living room appropriate" designs, depending of course on what your interior decor style is like. Bonus: they're properly sized and well padded, and because they're for babies they don't have weird chemical offgassing like some cheap exercise mats do.
posted by hellopanda at 11:10 PM on August 19, 2018 [5 favorites]

My living room "carpet" is from Soft Tiles. I bought it for "sit on the floor with a kid" purposes, but it's pretty soft, and reasonably durable. It's a bit tricky to make them look like adult furnishings, but not impossible (I haven't tried the wood grain). They do swatches.
posted by another zebra at 12:17 AM on August 20, 2018 [2 favorites]

How about a round yoga mat? It is 1/4” which is as thick as I’d want a mat to be if I need to do any balancing on it (like yoga or Pilates). I got one of those 1/2” thick mats, and I think it’s only meant for jumping impact. I can’t do static exercises on it very well. Now I use it as a camping sleeping mat.

Anyway, I feel like I’ve even seen 6’ round mats that have decorative prints, but I can’t find one right now. If a solid color is decorative enough, that could work.
posted by Kriesa at 4:44 AM on August 20, 2018

Bubba Mats have some neutral rug-like designs.They are expensive but so comfortable to sit on and excellent quality.
posted by Wantok at 5:49 AM on August 20, 2018

Response by poster: YES! Thanks everybody!!!
posted by wowenthusiast at 7:08 AM on August 20, 2018

Response by poster: ended up going with this one, which will fit my decor nicely i hope...

I never would have thought to look for a baby play mat so THANK YOU METAFILTER!!!
posted by wowenthusiast at 1:20 PM on August 20, 2018