The best yoga and exercise mats for home workouts (2024)

Like Jennifer Lopez, Hailey Bieber and Victoria Beckham, we’re sold on Alo’s gorj sports bras and leggings, so it’s no surprise the brand’s popular yoga mat passed our tests with flying colours.

Coming in a range of cute colours including powder pink and highlighter yellow, it has a non-slip surface to wick away moisture and stop you sliding around, even during the sweatiest of flows and HIIT sessions.

Our expert said the smooth, plush material felt comfortable for all positions and at 5mm thickness, it offered serious comfort and top-notch joint protection. Plus, the anti-odour finish means you don’t need to worry about this mat smelling bad, no matter how hard you work on it.

Our tester appreciated the detailed care instructions (you can find them on the Alo site) but take note, the mat is on the heavier side so it’s best suited to home workouts. If you do want to carry it around you with, the brand offers a durable carry strap.

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Calling all ad-hoc yogis, this simple Boots design – which comes in at under £25 – is your perfect mat-ch (sorry). According to our tester, the foam material is thick, supportive and makes flowing from pose to pose supremely comfy. It’s a particularly good shout if you need extra cushioning for your spine, joints or limbs.

The underside proved sufficiently grippy on all floors, but the foamy top layer was a tad slippy. As such, we reckon this mat is best suited to less dynamic practises, pranayama and meditation.

It lacks fancy features such as travel straps or alignment markers like the pricier mats in this round-up, and it did need flattening out at the edges once unfurled, but nonetheless it’s a brilliant purse-friendly option for beginners and fair-weather yogis.

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Lighter and easier to roll out than traditional yoga mats, this travel mat is ideal for taking on holiday (poolside yoga anyone?). The bag with a shoulder pad is a particularly nice touch, making keeping fit on the go stress free.

Extremely grippy, even when sweaty, this mat would suit yogis and general fitness fanatics alike. Our expert enjoyed the alignment system feature that helped with positioning and technique, and WH Fitness Director Bridie has used hers almost every day since investing in it two years ago.

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There’s nothing more irritating than buying a brand new yoga mat only for it to fall apart after a few vinyasa classes. Fortunately, there’s no such problem with this durable offering from the experts at Complete Unity. It’s crafted from sustainably harvested tree rubber and natural jute fibres, which means the surface isn’t the smoothest, but it is resistant to wear and tear and, crucially, it’s uber sturdy – trust us, it won’t budge, whether you’re flowing on carpet, hard wood or tiles.

If you’re after a mat for vigorous exercise, you can’t beat this Lululemon offering. As the name suggests, it’s designed for training, and we found it the dream for sweaty HIIT circuits and weights sessions. It proved durable enough to withstand dropped dumbbells and our trainers didn’t leave any scuff marks. The plush base was thick enough for our abs workouts (and post-workout power naps) and it didn’t slip around on any surface.

You know you’re getting quality with a Lululemon product and this one didn’t disappoint. It delivers on good looks and performance, it’s easy to clean (just give it a wipe down with a damp cloth) and it doesn’t have that unpleasant rubbery smell that many mats do. However, it’s not the one for hot yoga – our hands and feet slid around during sweaty sun salutations.

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We’re all for keeping your fitness routine fresh by trying new things — and luckily for us, so is this versatile mat. It’s double-sided, with the cushioned red surface ideal for yoga and the grey side (with its anti-slip coating) providing a brilliantly grippy platform for energetic workouts.

Our expert said it laid flat on the floor instantly when rolled out (nothing like tripping over curled-up edges to ruin your flow) and was robust enough to withstand a weighty dropped barbell, while also proving super comfy for yoga. The eyelets were a nice touch for hanging in our home gym, too.

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Our pals at Myprotein have hit the nail on the head with this fuss-free mat. It's wonderfully cushioned, so you won’t feel the floor beneath you, while the plush foam material helped support our hands and feet.

It’s also finished with a wave groove pattern that stopped us from slipping and sliding. We loved how lightweight it is, and how well it stayed rolled up, making it easy to store at home.

However, the foam material meant it picked up scratches easily and marks didn't come off after wiping either. We also found the corners curled up a tad, but when you consider the price, it’s hard to complain.

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First things first, let’s state the obvious: this mat looks great and everyone will envy you. But, how did it perform? Thankfully, there was plenty of substance to back up its stand-out style, with a layer of soft towelling providing a nice, soft feel to the upper. This could be a little slippy on dry hands, but (top tip) you can solve this small setback by giving it a quick spritz with water before using.

It’s incredibly light — great for travelling to and from class — with a surprising amount of cushioning for a 2mm mat. It did mark quite easily, though the fact that it’s machine washable means cleaning it is a doddle.

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One of the thickest mats tested, this one is ideal if you're looking for plenty of comfy cushioning. Lightweight with a bumpy texture, it had fantastic grip when tested with yoga and high intensity exercise, as well as with shoes on or off.

Cleaning it is a painless experience too, as all you have to do is give it a wipe!

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Another top-quality option from our pals at Les Mills. Unlike the MBX mat above, this one is designed specifically for yoga, with a vegan leather top layer that absorbs moisture (read: sweat) and stops you from sliding around, no matter how clammy your paws are. Sure enough, our resident yogi stayed rooted in their poses during vigorous vinyasa flows, without any distracting slipping around. Music to our ears!

Fast-paced flows aside, it’s just as effective for chilled out sessions, even on the most unforgiving floors, thanks to the wonderfully cushioned rubber base. Our tester said it lay flat on the floor as soon as they rolled it out, it’s wide enough for users of all sizes, and cleaning the mat is a painless experience – just wipe it down with a cloth and you’re G2G (good to go).

Just note that the mat is on the delicate side – it picked up a few scratches on test – so avoid wearing shoes and make sure to remove any jewellery that may snag the fabric before you get into your sun salutations.

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A vegan suede yoga mat with a luxury feel? Yes, please! Unravelling easily, with a light cushioning, we found it had the perfect balance of being soft yet grippy on our hands and feet.

The mat felt sturdy and stayed flat throughout all the workouts tested. With lots of patterns and colours to choose from, your mat can be as stylish as your workout gear.

It’s also machine washable and dries overnight for the ultimate convenience. What more could you want?

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Ever tried savasana on a hardwood or tiled floor? Not fun. Or it never used to be, anyway. Now, thanks to this plush mat, you can transform the hardest surfaces into cushioned workout zones.

It’s sticky and feels soft on bare feet, a potent combo for yoga, and is also more than durable enough to provide a solid base for weights sessions. Thicker than most mats, it cocooned our spines during ab workouts, but can still be rolled up tight thanks to its nifty adjustable carry straps.

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If a mat has any green credentials, it’s a big bonus in our book. So, when we found out this one is partly made from algae (yep, the stuff from lakes and ponds), we knew we had to give it a try.

Our expert said it was one of the most comfortable mats they tested, offering mattress-levels of cushioning, and it felt soothing on their hands and feet. It was surprisingly lightweight and portable too, handy if you fancy some Pilates in the park. Our only niggle: it wasn’t amazingly grippy, so we’d reserve it for more relaxed practices.

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Oh Decathlon, yet again you've given us just what we need before we even realised we needed it, and at a price we can just about stomach. This time, it’s a yoga mat made for restorative sessions such as yin yoga.

When you’re holding poses for longer periods of time, you want a mat that can keep you comfortable and your joints happy. Thankfully, at a generous 8mm thick, this one does just that.

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Skipping out on your much-looked-forward-to daily flow, because you're not at home and didn't feel like lugging a hefty workout mat around?

That won't be a problem once you get your hands on this super light yoga mat. Weighing only 450g, you won't mind taking it along for the ride.

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