Gaiam Premium 6mm vs Gaiam Essentials Fitness Mat 10mm: Which One Should You Buy?

Five dollars separate these two Gaiam mats, and the names make them sound like siblings. They are not. The Premium is a 6 mm PVC yoga mat, the one GearLab hands to beginners. The Essentials Fitness Mat is a 10 mm NBR exercise mat that Gaiam markets for ab work, toning and stretching, with a sling in the box.

On paper the Fitness mat is more mat for less money: thicker, longer, lighter, strap included. For floor exercise that reading is right. For yoga, the extra thickness works against you, and the five dollars saved buys a mat that is harder to balance on.

GearLab tested the Premium in its 19-mat roundup and scored it 62 out of 100, 11th overall, with the Best First Yoga Mat award. The sub-scores are modest, 6.5 for comfort and support, 6 for materials, 8 for care, 6 for dry grip and 4 wet, which is good enough for a first year in a cool room.

The Fitness mat has not been tested, and nothing the Premium scored transfers to it; the foam and surface are different. What it has is volume: 4.6 stars across about 46,800 Amazon ratings when we checked, against 4.5 across roughly 2,700 for the Premium. Amazon’s review summary is the closest thing to independent data on it.

Six millimeters of soft PVC is already thicker than the 3 to 5 mm GearLab recommends for most practice. Ten millimeters of NBR is double that, and NBR is the softer material. Gaiam’s own Amazon copy says the Fitness mat prioritizes comfort and shock absorption over firmness.

More foam under a knee is comfort; more foam under a standing heel is wobble. GearLab noted the Premium holds a handprint for a moment; the Fitness mat adds four millimeters of squishier foam to sink into.

Gaiam’s Essentials 6mm sits between them: 72 inches of the Premium’s PVC foam with a sling for about $22. If length and the strap drew you to the Fitness mat, that is the yoga mat version of the idea; our Premium vs Essentials page compares the two.

GearLab’s testers found the Premium unstable in balance poses, and that is on 6 mm of PVC. On 10 mm of NBR the effect is larger. Amazon’s review summary for the Fitness mat splits stability 227 positive against 365 negative, with owners divided on whether it stays put.

If standing poses are a third or more of your practice, the Premium is the one to buy, and it is the steadier of two soft mats rather than a firm one.

Flip the practice to the floor and the Fitness mat is the better product. Amazon’s review summary counts thickness 1,112 positive against 171 negative and comfort 1,017 against 83. Six millimeters of PVC helps on a hard floor; ten of NBR helps a great deal more.

For yin, restorative work, physio exercises and core sessions, that cushion is the point. GearLab’s 6.5 for comfort on the Premium describes a mat kinder than a studio mat that still lets you feel the floor in a long kneel.

The Premium’s sticky textured finish holds a dry palm well. GearLab scored it 6 dry and 4 wet and listed poor wet grip among its three downsides. Closed PVC absorbs nothing, so once your hands are damp the surface turns slick.

The Fitness mat’s ridged foam is a mechanical grip rather than a tacky one, and Gaiam scopes it carefully: its Amazon bullets say it helps reduce slipping on hard floors during dry workouts. No hot yoga claim, no wet grip claim. NBR is closed-cell too.

Neither belongs in a heated room without a towel. If sweat is your problem, the fix is a rubber or polyurethane mat around $100, and our GRP Adapt 2.0 vs Gaiam Premium comparison covers what that money buys.

The Premium is 68″ × 24″ and the Fitness mat is 72″ × 23.6″. Sixty-eight inches runs short for anyone over about five foot eight in savasana, so the extra four inches matter. The 0.4 inches of width given back do not.

The Fitness mat weighs about 2.8 pounds by our figures, and Amazon’s table says lighter still, since Gaiam publishes no weight. The Premium is 3.3 pounds on GearLab’s scale. Half a pound is nothing on a shoulder; the sling only the Fitness mat includes matters more, even if one owner found it fiddly to cinch around a thick roll.

Both are consumables that fail differently. The Premium’s PVC packs down under regular use and its sticky finish wears smooth where hands land; GearLab found it compresses over time and scored its materials 6 out of 10. Figure a couple of years before it flattens.

The Fitness mat’s durability tally is the worst category in its Amazon review summary: 285 positive against 661 negative, with owners split between a long life and foam that tears easily. Soft NBR dents permanently under knees and tears at the edges.

Gaiam covers both with its lifetime guarantee and publishes the terms for neither. Read that as protection against defects, not against foam going flat or an edge tearing in year two. Gaiam’s 30-day returns apply only to unopened orders from gaiam.com.

Both smell new. Gaiam asks you to air the Premium out for two to three days before the first session. For the Fitness mat it says the low-odor NBR may still smell on opening and clears in 24 to 48 hours; owners disagree, with Amazon’s summary showing odor at 111 positive against 355 negative. Give either mat a few days unrolled near a window.

Care is a damp cloth on both, and the Fitness mat is hand wash only. Keep both out of direct sun. The Premium is latex-free PVC and 6P-free. Gaiam gives no latex statement or certification for the Fitness mat, though NBR is a synthetic rather than a natural latex.

Get the Gaiam Premium if you are buying a yoga mat. It lists for $29.98, 6 mm is already on the cushioned side of what works for standing poses, and it is the one a test lab has scored. Check the current Premium price at Amazon.

Get the Essentials Fitness Mat if the mat is for floor exercise, stretching or sore joints, with yoga a minor part. It lists for $24.98, it is longer, lighter and thicker, and it comes with a sling. Check the current Fitness mat price at Amazon or buy direct from gaiam.com. Just do not expect it to hold still under one foot.