Review on HemingWeigh 1 Inch Thick Yoga Mat, Extra Thick, Non Slip Exercise Mat For Indoor And Outdoor Use, Black by Tom Podolski

When I read "extra thick foam" I felt that this would be a great replacement for my worn exercise mat. Last fall I started working out again and really wore down the mat I had.Then I transitioned to running in January and trained for a 5k, 10k, and finally a half marathon. During this time my kids used my mat as a bed roll when doing sleep overs. Apparently they thought it would be a good idea to tears bits and pieces off because my old, worn mat was also quite holey when I took it down to start doing cross training for the next few months. My upper body is in serious need of a good work out.I expected this mat to be a similar texture but slightly thicker than my old one. The material is much softer though.I want to say that again because it was not something I picked up on in any of the reviews I read.The material is extremely soft.I mean this as a compressive type of soft but also in the sense of something that feels nice to the touch as well. I use the mat on solid concrete but it is insulating and I don't feel any painful stress points when doing sit-ups, yoga, and other strength building exercises.My only complaint (the reason for 4 stars instead of 5) is the mat is only 70 inches. I knew this when I bought it, but it sure would be nice if they made it at least 72. None of my exercises have me laying on the full mat so I don't end up hanging off the end. The closest are a couple of leg lift stomach work outs that leave me feet off the end of the mat, but I'm holding them up off the ground so it wasn't a problem for that. Still, at the end of a hard work out I do like to lay on my stomach, stretch my arms above my head and point my toes. Of course, the mat would need to be over 8' (96") to keep me entirely on it's super super surface.One note of warning, because it is so soft you might find your footing slip should you try to use the bare mat when sweaty. This isn't a flaw in the product as far as I'm concerned though. I keep a towel around to lay over my workout mat when I need extra grip. I don't like the feel of a textured surface when I'm doing the ab workout though so I'm glad to be able to throw a towel on if I need to keep my foot from slipping during yoga and tag it off when I'm doing pushups or an ab routine.Also, please note, I cannot speak to durability yet. I'll try to update after I've abused it for a few months.