To the male practitoners out there, if you were going to develop a line of yoga mats that was aimed stricly at male yoga practitioners, what kinds of features would you incorporate into the mat? For example, greater thickness, longer length, wider mat? Any opinions are appreciated.
anything except purple and pink. Wider and longer would be nice as well.
some other color blocks too besides purple and pink.
I personally do not perceive a need for a men’s yoga mat any more than a men’s yoga class. I find it silly.
That having been said, if one is using a mat its helpful to have it be the proper length for the body (be it a male body or a female body) and to have it be sticky enough for some poses and not too sticky for others. It should be cleanable and not have a toxic odor. And I prefer it be light and effusive in color since the practice is light and effusive. Heavy dark things are a bummer.
I agree. Different people prefer different kinds of mats and it’s irrespective of their sex.
I have recently purchased a mat made from all natural rubber. It’s super heavy, but is so much nicer to do yoga on. For one, it doesn’t have a plastic smell (or off gas). And two, it is soft yet firm, very supportive and the perfect amount of ‘stickiness’.
Highly recommended!
What a fantastic idea! I would like a men’s yoga mat with a built in beer dispenser and the design should include scantily clad bikini models. It should also be 12 inches wider than standard yoga mats to handle my manly shoulders and 1/2 inch thick around the area my genitals would be during cobra pose to comfort my manly testicles.
Oh, and eco friendly and all natural and organic and whatever other marketing buzzwords you can come up with. To help you in your design of an eco friendly, all natural, organic yoga mat, allow me to give you my super secret design specifications of the world’s ONLY truly eco friendly all natural organic yoga mat:
[QUOTE=David;51322]What a fantastic idea! I would like a men’s yoga mat with a built in beer dispenser and the design should include scantily clad bikini models. It should also be 12 inches wider than standard yoga mats to handle my manly shoulders and 1/2 inch thick around the area my genitals would be during cobra pose to comfort my manly testicles.
Oh, and eco friendly and all natural and organic and whatever other marketing buzzwords you can come up with. To help you in your design of an eco friendly, all natural, organic yoga mat, allow me to give you my super secret design specifications of the world’s ONLY truly eco friendly all natural organic yoga mat:[/QUOTE]
There are grass (now of course synthetic grass) mats available in most Indian cities (called charpai)- these are broader usually 6.25 ’ x 4 '. These of course may not do much for the manly organs…
[QUOTE=DoYogaWithMe;51149]I agree. Different people prefer different kinds of mats and it’s irrespective of their sex.
I have recently purchased a mat made from all natural rubber. It’s super heavy, but is so much nicer to do yoga on. For one, it doesn’t have a plastic smell (or off gas). And two, it is soft yet firm, very supportive and the perfect amount of ‘stickiness’.
Highly recommended![/QUOTE]
I know Yoga mats have become a fashion. But I prefer the traditional grass mat (charpai) with a folded blanket and a towel on top of the blanket. The support it gives is great.
Any colour except black please.
Most mats is 60cm wide, I prefer a 90cm wide mat, works best and is very comfortable.
I prefer a length of 1.2m - 1.5m
In terms of thickness 1cm -2cm thick is perfect, thinner is not nice and thicker makes the mat unstable under the foot.
Please let it come with its own elastic band to keep it together when rolled.
And please get rid of that industrial rubber/foam smell.
That idea won’t work. They won’t sell AT ALL. Firstly, most guys don’t care about things like what their mat looks like, and secondly, there’s only about 3000 men in the entire world that does yoga lol 
[QUOTE=YogiAdam;51344]That idea won’t work. They won’t sell AT ALL. Firstly, most guys don’t care about things like what their mat looks like, and secondly, there’s only about 3000 men in the entire world that does yoga lol :)[/QUOTE]
We can develop Custom made -made to order only mats. They can retail at $5000.
I like David’s idea. Beer and scantily clad women.
[QUOTE=reaswaran;51348]We can develop Custom made -made to order only mats. They can retail at $5000.[/QUOTE]
$5000??? For a mat!?.. where are my glasses, I must have read that wrong.
[QUOTE=YogiAdam;51539]$5000??? For a mat!?.. where are my glasses, I must have read that wrong.[/QUOTE]
Custom made, my dear Sir. Only one of a kind for each order.
The Rolls Royce of mats.
for $5000 does it at least have a picture of a Rolls-Royce on it… be gold encrusted as well as have a CD player and wet bar
[QUOTE=Men’s Yoga;51039]To the male practitoners out there, if you were going to develop a line of yoga mats that was aimed stricly at male yoga practitioners, what kinds of features would you incorporate into the mat? For example, greater thickness, longer length, wider mat? Any opinions are appreciated.[/QUOTE]
Longer and wider… that is all
Fair and welcome question.
Longer and wider for sure.
I’d love to see a mat with a softer centre for knee placement and meditation and firmer for and aft where my feet are in the act of splitting the mat in half.
I love centre lines and would advocate for some compass lines for 90, 45 and 60 degree lines among the most popular for foot placement.
I presently use 3-4 mats a pilates very sticky durable and long lasting but way too thin to solo mat over top of a thicker but not very durable mat.
I also bring a non-slip towel with silicone bubbles on the bottom for hot yoga.
I like to arrange my mat in a T shape packed like sardines classes are not for me. I need space, and am considering those circle mats.
I went through lots of mats trying to find one that worked for me. I am quite a big chap and found most light mats werent suitable. I really favour a heavy rubber mat that is quite thick and very durable.
I’m not a man, but make sure whatever you go for is eco-friendly!! The mats with the foamy weird smell have polyeurethanes in them. My mat is polyeurethane free, with biodegradeable rubber. It’s kind of a relief to know I’m not inhaling carcinogens whenever my face is close to the mat. The only thing that would make it better is if it was made using sustainable practices and with natural dyes (mine’s purple-ish).
My mat is wonderful, I love it. The only thing I would change would be the length. At 5’10, if I don’t plan carefully I’ll end up with my feet or my head off the mat for horizontal poses. Although I’m sure that helps me in maintaining my awareness of self (and self’s location).
Back to those circle mats. They are presently 6’ diameter and I think that is just a bit short for me, I would love to teach on one of these though. With a full 360 degree demo and teaching area, it would just be sick.
I’m going to disagree with some of the posts - men need a yoga mat that’s tailored to them, both in design and style. Look, this is the same as when you buy a men’s pair of running shoes to exercise as opposed to women’s, or jogging shorts instead of tight spandex hot pants, or why you might have decided to pass on that blouse on sale.
Wake up guys. Look, for the average guy yoga can be intimating, no? Most guys initially see yoga as effeminate or girly to begin with. Men need to feel confident going to class, and bring the right equipment, particularly the mat.
Here’ some simple guidelines for what I think would be a great mens yoga mat:
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Increased Length - At a minimum the mat needs to be Six Feet Long (72 inches / 183 cm)
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Extra Thick and Durable (1.4 thick)
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Styled right. Guys need a brand that has style, too.
Either way, I think there’s definitely a need out there for a good number of guys to have a mens yoga mat available today in the market.
YogaJack