Lululemon The Mat 5mm vs Manduka GRP Adapt 2.0 Long: Which One Should You Buy?

Both of these put a polyurethane layer over a natural rubber base, which is the current premium answer to sweaty hands. They finished a point apart in GearLab’s 2026 roundup, 82 for the GRP Adapt 2.0 and 81 for The Mat, and that closeness hides how differently they behave in the condition each was built for.

The GRP Adapt 2.0 Long is $138 and 79″ long. The Mat is $118 and 71″. Same width, same thickness, different jobs.

GearLab measured the GRP Adapt 2.0 at 8.5 out of 10 when wet, the best result of the 19 mats it tested, and gave it the award for grip in hot yoga. The Mat measured 4.5, which is mid-pack. Both numbers come from the 71″ versions; the Long is the same surface in a bigger cut.

Manduka tuned the GRP’s Satin Grip layer specifically for heated rooms, and it shows. Lululemon’s top is a more general-purpose grip surface, which is part of why GearLab handed The Mat the award for mixed fitness routines instead.

The GRP measured 9.5 dry and The Mat 6.5. In a normal room with dry palms both are perfectly usable, and most people would not describe The Mat as slippery. It just does not have the tack that Manduka’s surface does.

Neither needs breaking in, which separates both of them from the classic Manduka PRO, where the first few weeks are famously slick. You unroll either of these mats and practice on it the same day.

GearLab gave The Mat a perfect 10 for comfort and support, the top mark in its 2026 field. That comes from density rather than plushness: the rubber base does not deflect under a standing foot, and it protects a knee by keeping it off the floor rather than by being soft.

The GRP’s Satin Grip layer is smoother to the touch and behaves more like a suede, getting tackier as it picks up a little moisture. With bone-dry hands it can feel slicker than you expect, which is exactly what a 9.5 dry score sitting next to an 8.5 wet one describes.

Neither is a cushioned mat. At 5 mm each they are firm surfaces built for stability, so if padding under your knees is what you have been missing, both of these are the wrong aisle.

The GRP Adapt 2.0 Long runs 79″ against The Mat’s 71″. Eight inches, which matters above roughly five foot ten and does nothing below it. On a 71 inch mat a tall practitioner finishes savasana with heels on the floor and steps off the end in a long lunge.

The trade is colorways. The GRP Adapt 2.0 Long comes in Carbon Black and nothing else, while the standard 71″ GRP at $128 offers around five. Lululemon gives The Mat about ten.

The Mat is 5.2 pounds and the GRP Adapt 2.0 Long is 6.5, so the shorter mat is also the lighter one by a bit over a pound. Neither is a travel mat. Both are dense enough to stay flat from the first unroll, with no curling at the corners.

If weight is the deciding factor you are shopping in the wrong part of the market. A 3 to 4 pound mat exists, and it is thinner, cheaper and grippier only when dry.

The Mat is reversible, and the textured rubber underside is the reason GearLab called it the best choice for mixed fitness routines. Flip it for anything that would grind a coated surface: floor weights, shoes, dragging a kettlebell across the corner.

The GRP has a natural rubber underside meant to sit on the floor rather than be practiced on. It does one job and does it better than anything else in GearLab’s test, but it does not want your trainers on it.

Polyurethane is a layer, and on both mats it is the part that goes first. Owners of The Mat commonly report flaking or peeling after a couple of years of heavy use. The GRP’s top has the same vulnerability, made worse by heated practice and by cleaning it hard.

The routine that extends both is the same: a damp cloth, a mild mat spray, dried flat, out of the sun. Manduka gives the GRP 30 day returns and no warranty; Lululemon’s Quality Promise has no stated term. Neither is a decade mat the way the PVC Manduka PRO is.

Neither of these is an Amazon mat. Lululemon sells The Mat through its own stores and website only, at $118. Several review sites still quote $98 for it, which is out of date by twenty dollars.

Manduka sells the GRP Adapt 2.0 Long direct at $138 on manduka.com. No marketplace pricing on either, which at least means the list prices are close to what you pay.

Buy the GRP Adapt 2.0 Long if you sweat. That is the whole argument and it is a strong one: it measured nearly twice The Mat’s wet grip in the same test, and it gives you eight extra inches on top. You pay $20 more, gain a pound, and lose every color except black.

Buy The Mat if 71 inches covers you and the mat is doing more than yoga. It is lighter, cheaper, available in real colors, and the reversible rubber side makes it the more useful mat in a room where you also lift. Just do not buy it expecting hot yoga grip.