Gaiam Premium 6mm vs Lululemon The Big Mat: Which One Should You Buy?

OutdoorGearLab gave the Gaiam Premium 6mm a Best Buy award and called it the Best First Yoga Mat, at $29.98. That is a genuine endorsement of a cheap mat, not a polite one.

Lululemon’s Big Mat is the oversized cut of The Mat: 84″ × 28″, 5 mm of polyurethane over FSC-certified natural rubber, $128.

Most of the gap between them is floor space rather than quality. Sixteen inches of length and four of width is the product, and if you do not need it, the rest of this comparison gets a lot less interesting.

84″ against 68″, and 28″ against 24″. A six-foot practitioner stops hanging off the end of the mat. A wide stance stops putting a foot on the floor. Savasana stops involving a choice between heels and head.

Standard mats have been 68 by 24 for so long that most people assume it is the right size rather than the cheapest size to ship. It isn’t, and the Big Mat is one of the few mainstream answers.

The flip side is a mat that needs somewhere to live. Seven feet of unrolled mat does not fit in every apartment, and the roll is bulkier as well as heavier.

Better than its price suggests and worse than its award implies if you read only the headline. GearLab scored it 62 out of 100, praised budget-friendly, beginner-friendly, soft cushion and fun designs, and then listed slippery wet grip, cushion compresses, and moderate durability in the cons.

That reads to us as a good first mat you will outgrow rather than a mat that will let you down now. For someone six months into a home practice, it is exactly enough. For someone practicing five times a week two years from now, the foam will have flattened where their hands and heels land.

The Big Mat’s polyurethane top absorbs moisture instead of letting it bead, which is the structural advantage. GearLab tested the 71 inch version of the same mat and rated its wet grip 4.5 out of 10 against the Gaiam’s 4, and its dry grip 6.5 against 6.

Those are closer numbers than a $98 gap suggests, and both sit in the middle of the pack. Sticky PVC gives up as soon as sweat pools on it; absorbent polyurethane holds on longer and then also gives up. If heated classes are your practice, neither of these is the purchase and a dedicated hot yoga mat is.

The Gaiam is 6 mm and the Big Mat is 5, and the Lululemon is still the better platform. Its density is the reason: dense rubber with a soft top cushions a knee without sinking under a standing foot, which light PVC foam cannot do at any thickness.

GearLab gave the standard version of the Lululemon a perfect 10 for comfort and support, a score it shares only with the Manduka PRO, against 6.5 for the Gaiam. New out of the wrapper the Gaiam feels plusher. A year in it has gone the other way.

Worth stating plainly, because we are quoting scores throughout. GearLab tested The Mat 5mm, the 71 by 26 inch version, scoring it 81 out of 100 with a Top Pick for mixed fitness routines. It did not test the Big Mat.

The Big Mat is the same 5 mm construction, the same materials, and the same surface in a larger cut, so those results are a strong indication rather than a measurement of this exact product. We would rather flag that than quote it a score it never earned.

7.1 pounds against 3.3. The Big Mat is heavier than a Manduka PRO, and its extra length makes the roll longer as well, so it is awkward in a way the number alone does not capture.

This is a mat that lives in a room. If you walk to a studio several times a week, the Gaiam is a third of the load and you will feel the difference every trip. GearLab listed portable among the Gaiam’s pros for good reason.

The Big Mat’s absorbent top takes on sweat and body oils and shows it, and it is sold in black at last count, which helps. Wipe it after sweaty sessions, dry it fully before rolling, keep it out of direct sun. The Gaiam’s sealed PVC needs none of that; GearLab gave it 8 out of 10 for care and cleaning.

The Big Mat is built on natural rubber, so a genuine latex allergy rules it out. The Gaiam is latex-free PVC. For some buyers that settles this before anything else does.

The Big Mat sells through shop.lululemon.com and Lululemon stores, in black at last count, and is not on Amazon. Coverage is Lululemon’s Quality Promise, which carries no set term and is handled case by case, so keep the receipt.

The Gaiam is on Amazon and gaiam.com in four reversible color combinations, discounted often, and carries a lifetime guarantee that in practice does not cover foam compressing. If you want the printed version instead, the Premium Reversible is the same family and scored lower.

Buy the Gaiam Premium 6mm unless the size is the specific thing you are shopping for. It is a genuinely good first mat, it costs $29.98, it weighs a third of the alternative, and it is latex-free. You will replace it in a couple of years, and that is fine at this price.

Buy the Big Mat if you are tall, or you want the room, or you have spent years annoyed at where the edges are. That problem is real and few mats solve it. Go in knowing it is 7.1 pounds, black, stains, and is not the hot yoga answer its surface hints at.