I’ve been looking at some of the fantastic anti-fatigue mats, and then I remembered: I don’t have an office chair mat to go under my chair, for while I’m at my desk! Right now, as it stands, my chair rolls on the ceramic tile we have here in my home, where my “office” is.

But I can tell you, I think it would be best, all around, for anyone who sits at a desk to have one of these beauties under their wheels to ease movement, as well as preserve expensive floor surfaces, which can be marked up by the wheels of the chair, or even the desk legs.

The office chair mat pictured here, depending on how big your desk is, could accommodate both your desk and your chair. Even if you have laminate floors, which are typically pretty hard on the surface, they can loose their luster over time from plastic chair wheels rolling around on them. Perhaps a commercial entrance mat, at bare minimum, to protect those floors, would be in order.

Even the greatest of anti-fatigue mats cannot diminish MY fatigue from all of these home renovations! But I can tell you: I sure wouldn’t mind having even a couple of these around to help diminish the stress and strain on my feet, knees, and back! I do wear some high-dollar shoes and use an expensive chair [THE best, ergonomic chair, at $500], to help with my back issues, but I just don’t have anything to “buffer” my work area when I’m working on the house, you know?

I tell you, if you ever do any kneeling, walking, standing, or even squatting for extended periods of time—and especially if you’re over 35 years of age—you owe it to your self to buy something you can use to reduce the effects of gravity on your frame. I think I’ll click on over, right now, and order a kneeling pad and have it shipped in a day or two, as these home renovations

I’ve been working on our house the past few weeks, doing some home renovations, and I can tell you there’s been more than one occasion I could have used one of these anti-fatigue mats, such as a knee saver kneeling pad, while working on something lower to the ground! I realize some would say, “Ah, toughen up!” But I have since learned the better care you can take of your body in any situation, the longer you’ll last, and many more days to work—and be productive—you’ll see in the future, you know?

That’s what both commercial and industrial anti-fatigue mats are all about: reducing the effects of stress and strain on the human body, so as to increase productivity that would otherwise be lost to injury and fatigue, and kneeling pads are a great idea for preserving your knees. In fact, if you know someone who works a lot kneeling down, why not buy that person a kneeling pad for his or her birthday, for the holidays, or just because they’re not expensive, and are lightweight, making them hassle free for carrying along to the job.

If you’ve been browsing several types of mats offered here, do you know you can download the catalog for any an all of the mats and other such products offered here? So if you’re shopping only for anti-fatigue mats, you can pull up a PDF file [Adobe Acrobat] that shows all of variations of anti-fatigue mats; plus, you can download PDF files for all of our mats—too bad you can’t download the actual mats, right?

One of the great things about anti-fatigue mats is they come in so many styles, functions, and variations…from anti-slip mats that channel away liquids and grease, to industrial mats that have bubble top surfaces for exceptional comfort, called “bubble flex” mats.

While talking with some “old-timers” not too long ago, I noticed some of them still hold to some long-held beliefs that just because they did things a certain way, “back in the old days” their way was better.  I also noticed a few of them of scoffed at some of our modern technologies and advances, such as rolled rubber flooring or anti-fatigue mats.  But I tell you what: just have any such skeptic stand on some durable, stress-relieving anti-fatigue mats for very long, and they’ll be singing the praises themselves!

I wear some high-dollar, specially designed shoes that help with nerve pain associated with a back injury, and I can tell you,  “feeling was believing” in my case. I dare say the same will hold true for anyone you might know who might ordinarily jeer at something they [ignorantly] perceive to be silly or nonsensical.  The truth is today’s mindset of preserving our bodies with protective gear, such as spinal supportive shoes or anti-fatigue mats, is not only smart….but also wise.

Can you name the obvious benefits of anti-fatigue mats? Just thinking about the name, “anti-fatigue mats” makes that easy:

• Reduced foot pain while standing.
• Reduced joint [ankles, knees, hips, and back] from standing and walking on hard surfaces, such as concrete.
• Reduced injuries during falls on otherwise hard floors.
• Improved performance among workers due to less pain and stress.

Those are the benefits that most commonly come to mind when we think about benefits of anti-fatigue mats, but what do you think some other benefits might be, but not necessarily for people? Studies have shown one of the most touted benefits are reduced breakage of breakable items dropped onto the softer, absorbing surface of most anti-fatigue mats; and that just makes sense.

In fact, one national restaurant chain stated the use of anti-fatigue mats in their back preparation area and dishwashing area reduced glass breakage by 24%!   There are numerous others, but if you’re a business owner and this has been an issue or point of revenue loss, 24% is nothing to sneeze at!

Now you might think me a goofball for saying this, but I sort of wish I had a place to put down some camouflage trade show flooring, in my home or office space, like what’s picture here.  Seriously!  There is a reason why I say this, so give me a chance!  I have a bad back, and standing or walking on hard floors doesn’t help.  So I do wear expensive shoes to help, but having a more yielding floor would be helpful, too.

Maybe you know someone who could benefit from some of these tiles put down just in their immediate workspace to help reduce fatigue, particularly if they’re on their feet all day.  And if they—or you—are on their/your feet all day, you might want to look into using some anti-fatigue mats, which are specifically designed to reduce stress on body joints…like…bad backs!

I don’t work in an office where “business attire” would require me to wear hard-soled shoes, and so I have less of a need, at my home office, for anti-fatigue mats than, say, when I worked part-time at a printing facility that housed enormous printers.  We had to stay on our feet for hours, and I can tell you; we had anti-fatigue mats around the printers, and so I have experienced, first hand, how much easier on the feet, lower back, and joints it is to walk and stand on industrial anti-fatigue mats; the company even had “lighter”, non-slip mats in the break rooms and other areas.

Heck, they even had mats in the restrooms to prevent slippage due to water on the floors!  I can only imagine how much more relieving such mats would be to someone who has to stand in a very small area day in and day out, like a cashier, or someone who works behind a bar or concession stand.  My hat comes off for the person(s) who invented anti-fatigue mats.  Bravo!

I was talking to a teenager the other day that happens to work at a local amusement park, and he told me his legs were tired from standing all day.  I asked him if there weren’t anti-fatigue mats where he stood all day, and he replied, “Anti-what?” I proceeded to explain to him briefly the benefits of using anti-fatigue and other non-slip mats, all of which are expressly made to cut down on the effects of gravity to the lower back and legs, especially the ankles and knees.

I told this young man to go to his general manager and ask why they don’t provide anti-fatigue mats for every station, for every employee required to be in one spot for hours on end.  I told him he could “sell” the idea by saying the park could probably reduce its insurance premiums by reducing the potential hazards in the event of falls, as well as improve employee morale and performance by keeping everyone feeling better.  I think sometimes, we adults tend to think such benefits would only apply to us, but…kids are affected by gravity, too!