Puzzle Mats

[Jadnek]

Okay- the "Why do you have to wear socks" thread got me thinking about this as did another discussion over on MartialTalk.

Do any of you train on puzzle mats? Do they mess up your feet any? I recently switched from working out twice a week on them to 4 times a week and they seem to be making my feet really dry and cracky (yeah, nice!). Just wondering if any of the rest of you have this same issue?

[Rateh]

I have been training on them for years and never had a problem. The only downside I can see is that after years of abuse they are impossible to get clean. You can clean them every day, and still end up with dirty feet. But I have never had any trouble with dry feet from them...

[jaymac]

I get dry feet even on wood floors. I just use a nice heel moisturizer twice daily.

[AngelaG]

I've never had any issues with Puzzle Mats, other than occasionally I have stubbed my toe in the gap. I have had blisters on my big toes from overly varnished wooden floors.

Puzzle mats need to be cleaned throughly, especially once the protective surfacing has worn out. I also think that occasionally they need to be separated and cleaned all round the sides. You would be shocked and disgusted by what collects around there.

[Jadnek]

Thanks everyone.....yeah- cleaning them was actually something else I was going to post about.....they are NEVER completely clean and it's gross!! I wish they would go back to carpet or just hard flooring!!

[bushido_man96]

I have never really had a problem with my feet on any surface, and I have trained on everything: wood floor, concrete, carpet, puzzle mats, etc. My instructor has some very nice gymnastic type of padded carpet that is about 3 inches thick. It is very comfortable, and has a nice amount of give. We don't do a lot of grappling, so it isn't like grappling/wrestling mats, but it does have enough give that you can practice throws, breakfalls, and stuff like that.

If I remember, I'll ask him what it is exactly.

[cathal]

We have matts because the dojo we training is primarily for Judo. The matts are fairly good as there is a layer of old tires underneath them. So our feet don't tend to dry out. But someone in our dojo applies the moisturizer at the end of each class, and she's fine.

[CTTKDKing]

I've been training on puzzle mats for 2 years now, and I have had the same problem you have been having. After class I just put some body lotion on my feet. Since I started doing this I have had no problems with dry feet.

[ShotokanKid]

We have puzzle mats, but they're not very soft. My instructor switched after training in Australia (the instructor there had this kind of mat) He says it's better for your body. The only problem most people have is jamming their toes. I saw one of our black belts face plant because his toe got caught.