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Best Training Mats

What Are The Best Training Mats

Sometimes it is hard to know what the best Training Mats are for the particular activity that you do. There are so many mats on the market that it can make things confusing. They come in so many different shapes and sizes. Not to mention colours as well. That is what we are here for. To help guide you through the process.

Individual Training Mats

The first thing you would want to ascertain is what kind of activity are you doing. Is it a group activity or is it an individual activity? It it is the later then you might want something you can just roll up and take with you where ever you go.

A good option for this would be Pilates Mats which are light weight and very portable. Pilates mats are also often called yoga mats although there are mats which a exclusively for use with pilates training. Pilates mats are usually made from light weight material like EVA, PVC or NBR. There are all foam like materials which are durable and inexpensive.

Group Training Mats

Then you have the kind of mats you would use if you were training in a group. These might be Gym Mats that you lay down permanently such as tatami mats. Tatami mats are usually bigger and heavy which make them let portable than other gym mats. You will find them in martial arts schools and other places where a durable mats is required.

Then you have gym mats which are smaller and more light weight such as Puzzle Mats. With puzzle mats you have a mat which is 1m x 1m and comes in a variety of thickness. They also come in different colours which makes them idea for all sorts of organisations. The best thing is that they are easy to transport and store especially if you have a special made trolley.

Francis Ngaggou Moves up Pound-For-Pound List

Francis Ngaggou has moved up the pound-for-pound list after his defeat of Stipe Miocic at UFC 260. His victory has seen him move to fourth position whilst UFC fighter Jon Jones stays at the top. Jon has stayed at the top of the list even though he has rarely fought in the recent past due to personal issues.

How long Francis will stay on the list is a question everyone would like to know. Obviously his time on the puzzles mats has paid off with his improved performance. The question is whether he will have the stamina to keep up the training. Lots of fighters have made it to the top only to lose momentum and fall again. Miocic was the exception when he held onto the title for six years.

Every fighter knows that they need a good set of jigsaw mats if they are going to remain at the top. That is certainly true for a fighter of Ngannou’s calibre. He would indeed need to spend hours training on jigsaw mats to achieve his level of skill.

There is nothing better than having a good gym to train. A key factor of a good gym is the kind of gym mats they have. If you were to check you would find that a large portion of MMA gyms have jigsaw mats somewhere in there gym. Sure the main sparring area might mats MMA mats but they are more than certain to have jigsaw mats in common training areas.

That said I do have a soft spot for Stipe and I do hope that he makes a come back. I would not be surprised if there were a trilogy fight between Francis and Stipe in the future.

Trump Say US may make trade deal with China

To the surprise to many it appears that US President Donald Trump has held out hope of a trade deal with China. He is not backing down on tit-for-tat tariffs as the trade war escalates but feels it could eventually happen.

A day after imposing new tariffs on nearly $US200 billion Chinese imports and threatening more if China retaliates, President Donald Trump has left the door open for China to negotiate an end to the trade war between Washington and Beijing. During a speech to reporters on Tuesday while visiting with the Polish President, Trump implied the US may make a deal with China. Trump said that he is always open to talking, “We’re having a tremendous impact on China. We’re doing a very good job with China,” he said before threatening to add tariffs to $US267 billion of Chinese goods if Beijing dares to retaliate.

Amongst the goods that Donald Trump is placing new tariffs on include, but are not limited to, foam mats, puzzle mats and jigsaw mats. It seems that a disproportionate attention is being aimed at gym mats, which is strange considering that Americans like to train. Also they are not a major manufacturer of training mats.

China has indicated that they would go ahead with more tariffs of their own but their options are limited considering that the US import far more goods from China then vice versa. It would be ironic if China decided to impose their own tariff on gym mats from the USA. It is unlikely that China imports any gym mats from USA other then some specialist mats that are not currently manufactured in China.

Dollar Down After Disappointing Inflation Data

The Australian dollar was down this morning after weaker then expected inflation data. The rate of inflation came in at 0.2% instead of the expected 0.4%. The core rate was 0.5% which was in line with expectations. Although the RBA is more likely to take core inflation into account, the announcement spooked traders which saw the dollar fall by 0.3%. Immediately after the announcement it found itself just above the $0.79 mark.

We don’t expect the current fluctuation of the AUD to have a dramatic effect on the price of gym mats. The dollar has been relatively high in the past few months which has kept the price of gym mats low. In any case suppliers like Southern Cross Mats are competitive and usually absorb any currency movements. It would take a serious shock to the market to cause a large drop in the AUD and therefore have an effect on imported goods.

The other factor to consider is the price of oil. As you may very know foam mats are manufactured using EVA which is a petroleum bi-product. Any change in material costs has an effect on the finished product. The price of foam mats has stayed low because the cost of oil has been stable. What’s more any rise in the cost of USD denominated raw materials would have been off-set by the rising AUD which has acted like a buffer. As such we can expect the cost of foam mats to stay low.

Order your jigsaw mats whilst the AUD is good value. You know you will be able to buy your jigsaw mats at a good price when the Australian Dollar is so high. The price of jigsaw mats is much higher when the dollar is around the $0.72 mark. We have heaps of stock of jigsaw mats at the time so order now. We also have a shipment coming regularly.

30mm EVA jigsaw mats are also know as puzzle mats

How Jigsaw Mats Got Their Name?

It is always interesting to find out how certain products got their name. Sometimes it is a vague connection with how a product got it name like Pina Collada. Who would ever know how that drink got its name. I have tried to find out and have had scant success. And what about that movie La La Land. I watched it the other night and I have no idea how that got its name either. I don’t know if it is because it was based in LA or if is about an industry that is so “out there”. Nonetheless it is a puzzle to me (I wonder if they used any puzzle mats in the film).

Which brings us to jigsaw mats. How did jigsaw mats get their name? Whilst it may allude many people to me it seems quite obvious. If you have ever seen a jigsaw mat then you would have noticed that it resembles a jigsaw puzzle. The main difference is that with a jigsaw puzzle the pieces all fit together differently. This is because it is a game to see if you can find the right pieces to fit together. With jigsaw mats it is not a game. It is serious business. When people buy these mats they don’t want to be mucking around trying to find the right piece. They want the convenience that comes with having interlocking mats that fit together.

So whilst jigsaw mats got their name from a game we at Southern Cross Mats take it quite seriously. For us it is not a game as we love to please our customers and make sure that they get the best deal possible when sourcing their training mats. So if you are also serious about your gym mats then give Southern Cross Mats a call.