The answers to your questions
You've decided you need a yoga mat. You search, and immediately there are fifty options and ten specifications — thickness in millimetres, grip ratings, material names you don't recognise, sustainability credentials in various shades of vague. Everyone has an opinion. But which matters and which mat should you choose.
Not every specification matters equally. Understanding the ones that do will help you buy once and buy well.
Cushioning: what to go for
The standard yoga mat is 4mm thick. Most mats sit between 3mm and 6mm. The thicker mats — sometimes sold as "extra cushioned" — go up to 8mm or 10mm.
However, beyond a certain point, more thickness can work against you.
In yoga and Pilates, your sense of the floor matters. When you're in a warrior pose, or balancing on one leg, or holding a Pilates arabesque — the small proprioceptive signals coming from your feet and hands are part of what keeps you stable. A very thick mat muffles those signals. It's softer underfoot, but your balance has less to work with.
For most people doing yoga, Pilates or mixed low-impact movement, 4–5mm is the right thickness. It gives your joints enough cushioning — knees, wrists, spine — without removing ground feedback. If you have very sensitive joints or you're working on hard flooring, 5–6mm is a reasonable step up. Beyond that, you're into territory that suits restorative yoga or floor-based stretching rather than dynamic movement.
The amp Vegan Suede mat sits at 4mm — exactly the point where cushioning and ground connection coexist. Flow and Flow Pro are both 5mm in depth, built to the same principle: supportive enough for joints, stable enough that you never lose your footing mid-pose.
Grip: what the numbers don't tell you
Mat manufacturers use various terms for grip — "non-slip," "high-grip," "moisture-wicking" — and none of them is standardised. The only way to assess grip reliably is to understand what creates it.
Grip comes from material and texture working together. Natural rubber grips by conforming slightly to the surface it's pressed against — it creates friction through contact area, not adhesion. A PU (polyurethane) surface, like the one on the amp Flow Pro, grips through texture and becomes tackier as you warm up. Vegan suede tops grip better the more you sweat — which is why they suit hot or warm practice so well, and why the amp Vegan Suede mat is built around exactly that.
If you run warm or sweat during practice, a rubber-based mat with a sweat-activated top — suede or PU — will perform better than a mat that relies on texture alone. If you run cool and your practice is slow and controlled, almost any well-made surface grips well enough.
The other factor is break-in time. Many natural rubber mats feel slightly slippery when new. This is normal — the mould-release compound on the surface wears off within a few sessions. Don't write off a mat after one use.
Size: longer and wider than you expect
Standard mats are 173cm × 61cm. This is, genuinely, quite small for most adults. A downward dog puts your hands near the top edge and your feet near the bottom. A Pilates leg circle extends beyond the sides.
The practical recommendation: if you're taller than 170cm, or if you do any floor work that involves extending both arms or both legs simultaneously, a longer mat is worth it. The width matters too — a wider mat means your hands don't land outside the mat in a wide child's pose.
A mat that's slightly too small becomes a mild annoyance in every single session. A mat that has room to spare never does.
Material: what's worth caring about
PVC — durable, water-resistant, inexpensive, easy to clean. The environmental argument against PVC is that it doesn't biodegrade and uses harsh chemicals in production. If you're buying once and using it for a decade, the calculus shifts.
Natural rubber — excellent grip and cushioning, biodegradable, and the performance is generally better for dynamic movement. The caveat: natural rubber is heavier and has a distinct smell when new. Both resolve with use.
Vegan suede and PU surfaces — increasingly common as top layers over a rubber base. Both get grippier as you sweat, which makes them well suited to warmer or slower, more intentional practice.
All three amp mats — Flow, Flow Pro and Vegan Suede — are built on a natural rubber base, so the choice between them comes down to surface feel and how you practice, not durability.
How to actually decide
Flow is for everyday movement — yoga, Pilates, barre and sculpt, day after day, at home or in studio. It's the mat to start with if you're not sure yet what you need.
Flow Pro is built for performance — a denser, studio-grade PU surface for serious or high-rotation practice, and the mat worth the step up if you're training often or teaching.
Vegan Suede is for slower, more grounding practice — hot yoga, stretch, mobility and recovery, where grip that improves as you warm up matters most.
Choose the mat that matches how you actually move, not the one with the most features on paper.
Shop the range
→ amp Vegan Suede Yoga Mat — £65