I have been a bit of a PC Video Game enthusiast for years now.  Of course taking the inevitable breaks here and there and for varying amounts of time but I always find myself coming back to it. I don’t think that I will ever be too old – at least mentally; to play a video game now and again. Now anyone that has played on a PC knows that your set up is very important. Unlike your console games where you can play from your couch with a controller, you need to be sitting in your office chair and using your keyboard and mouse. Now I am not as young and resilient as I once was. So having a good set up is very important. Back problems are no laughing matter.

I used to use your standard office chair. That proved to be very uncomfortable and so I upgrade to a quite expensive full support high-end chair. Even that did not help with those binge weekends; sitting for hours on end. Though eventually I came across something that did; an exercise ball. Surprisingly it was very comfy to sit on and was great for my back. Gave me full range in motion and I would like to think – made me better at the game.

Wreaking havoc in an online game while sitting on an exercise ball is more satisfying than it should be. And definitely works far better than I ever imagined. I certainly recommend it!

In the beginning, flooring options were limited. There was dirt. Lots and lots of dirt. Maybe some rocks. If you were snooty, you had cave wall to wall grass. As we evolved, we started using wood with the dirt and rocks. If you were lucky you had some animal skins, sometimes still attached to the animal, and maybe some leaves that, hopefully, wouldn’t give you a rash. The next evolution of floor coverings was the woven rug, area rug, throw rug and herbal rug. Rugs were universally despised. This, therefore, is the origin of the term “cutting the rug”. NOBODY likes a rug, ask Trump.

We have grown past all of these inferior flooring products. There are now flooring materials that have been fine-tuned for very specific activities. Are you writhing in a pile of bodies on the floor? You may need one of our new, remnant or lightweight wrestling mats.  Are people getting tossed about like so much detritus in the wind? Some of our martial arts flooring options would work better, like the seamless floor option, interlocking floor mats, deluxe bi-layer martial arts mat or even one of these options with the addition of a throw mat for repeated impromptu flying lessons.

For the outdoor aeronautically inclined, we have the durable and popular bounceback playground tiles. These bad boys can cushion falls from up to 8’ in height, just the thing for highflying swingers without a self-preservation bone in their body. These will keep what bones they have, intact and ready to soar again.

When your website is named MatsMatsMats.com, you can bet we have a vast landscape of specialty mats and other floor coverings. From display floors to greetings at doors, from weight rooms to runners for grooms, from horse stalls to giant exercise balls, from mats that can heat to mats that provide aid to fatigued feet. If it fits on a floor, in front of a door, whether it’s one mat or more, come gather our lore, for we are MATSMATSMATS.COM!

There’s nothing more exciting than the first day of spring . . . what can I say, I need to get out more. The Ides of March are now safely in the rear view mirror and the onset of warmer weather rapidly approaches on fuzzy feet. Here in California, that means beach excursions are right around the corner. Surveying the bathing suit landscape has made me realize that unless I want to be mistaken for a wayward whale, I may need to shed a few pounds before venturing outside in something less than a hazmat suit.

MatsMatsMats has already supplied my household with a veritable plethora of fine choices for svelting down my ample Orwellian figure. (Orson Wells NOT George Orwell) and I have written in the past of such items as the exercise ball, the fitness flooring and kids carpet.

Today I would like to expound on the virtues of (pause for dramatic effect) the workout glove.

If you are delaying the actual choice of exercise till you find the motivation to begin said regimen, nothing tells your ever-loving spouse that you are committed to the process of slenderizing oneself than buying matching workout gloves. MatsMatsMats has a HUGE selection of gloves to choose from. Everything from a delicate pink to a more manly camouflage.

If you know me, you know I prefer products that can be multi-purposed or re-purposed and these bad boys have “batting gloves” written all over them. Maybe even James Bond-esque driving gloves! (“Yes, Miss Moneypenny, that’s shaken not stirred”)

The true purpose of these gloves is to use them in conjunction with weights to use a traditional approach to fitness. They also can be used to help cushion your hands when exercising, doing yoga, calisthenics or any other program that requires writhing on the floor gasping for breath.

Now that I have made that “first step”, I have decided to reward my efforts by treating myself to a martini and an exploding laser watch

Boy do I love to exercise, there’s nothing like the sound of these old knee joints popping and crunching as I  go through the latest Zumba/WII Fit/ Cardio Jam torture . . . er,  I mean routine. I especially enjoy my beloved spouse of 23 years glaring at me when I don’t show the same enthusiasm for this masochistic regimen of mindless agony that she displays:  “See sweetie, your gasping, moaning and sweating more than a politician under a recall vote is a sign that it’s WORKING.”

Bah. I would do almost any exercise if you could make it FUN. Make it fun AND competitive and you got me.  Make it fun, competitive and something that can be abused when not functioning as part of an exercise session and it becomes subversive and wildly desirable. I am talking about the Exercise Ball. There are legions of fun routines that engage the core (the trunk we used to call it in the old days before new math). Almost any standard callisthenic type of regimen can be altered to include the Exercise Ball. Sit-ups, push-ups, knee bends leg lifts all get much more intense with the giant ball o’ fun. There are a veritable plethora of videos online to incorporate into the workout. When you are first learning how to use the Ball, I would suggest purchasing throw mats or some type of thick exercise mat for softer landings. You may be wondering where the competitive /subversive pats come in.  It is along the lines of, “Two men enter, one man leaves.”

For this duel, you will need two of the large balls and two of the smaller balls. Using the larger of the two balls you lie belly down on the larger ball, your “second” helps position your feet on the smaller. Your worthy opponent mounts upon their own glorious steed of inflated rubber balls within arm’s reach. On the count of three you then attempt to knock your opponent off their perch OR lose control of the smaller of the two balls. This will get noisy. Make sure there are no electronic appliances anywhere nearby. Preferably you will do this outdoors, on rubber flooring out of view of the faint of heart. Variations include wielding various plastic weaponry and toy shields.

A few weeks ago I found myself hanging around with my little almost nephew.  I say almost, since I am technically not blood related.  He is the son of one of my friends sisters, however being like family that we are; I am his uncle.  Now that we have that cleared up; there I was sitting around with the little man and wondering what to do.  This guy loves his video games, and don’t we all? Boys and their toys, right? I thought however that I needed to get this guy up and moving, give him a little visceral interaction, he is a little dude and he should be running a bit wild at this point.  So I called my friend who works at a local kids gym.  Seeing as though he was working that day, I decided to take the little tike over to the gym and let him play and move and jump and what have you with the other wee ones this day.

Now if you have never seen a kid’s gym, you’re definitely in for a surprise.  It’s like the veritable playground that you would have dreamt of as a child; or at least I know that I did.   A whole wall of climbing rope all the way to the ceiling.  Gigantic exercise ball with kids rolling, and bouncing all over the place.  Even incline mats for rolling, and a whole floor of tumbling mats and crash pads for the little folks to jump and throw themselves around on…and for safety of course.

But it is not just all play, the kids do learn quite a bit while they are there.  My friend that works there is a coach. He groups the kids together and supervises them in exercises and even games, teaching them as they play. It great for many reasons,  it gets the little guys moving and learning about their health and bodies as well as giving you a little time to breath and take some time for yourself. Needless to say my nephew had a great time and he has certainly asked to go back again. So if you have a little gymnast or just want to have your little ones play and exercise is a good environment, definitely check out your local kid’s gyms…They’re loaded with many different types of kids exercise equipment.

Well it is a new year officially, no denying that now.  So as many of you out there I have made resolutions to become more active.  Give this working out thing the ‘ol college try sort of speak.  Now after taking the first week and a half of the new year sitting and watching TV contemplating my plan of attack in regards to my new found “motivations” to become more healthy and active; I finally ventured into the local gym.  I did my sign up, paid my fees, signed my Faustian deal in blood, and the inevitable sweat and tears and now I am on my way…hopefully.

Adjusting to a new environment can be unsettling naturally, especially to a gym with its variety of different exercise accessories, where you are the obvious “New Guy”.  Though I must admit, I love to see the people at the gym and their mannerisms when they think that no one is watching.  To see all these hyper-motivated people, dressed in their spandex and sporting their cross training exercise gloves, running, lifting, bending awkwardly over their exercise ball, over-posturing and in general just showing off; it is quite entertaining.  That is until you realize that you are hyperventilating and look like you just got hit by a semi-truck after 5 minutes on the treadmill.

So I decided after my 30 minute brush with death, thanks to the treadmill and elliptical that I would move onto some more strength based exercises.  So I grabbed some of the resistance tubes, which are essentially large rubber bands, and surprisingly very difficult to stretch and bend.  So definitely a good warm up that was to get on the larger machines.  Now there I was, camo-cut off shorts and old Metallica t-shirt lifting 80 pounds, and watching everyone else do at least twice that.  So with my spirit broken I decided to find the nearest yoga mats and catch my breath before calling it a night. Though I pushed through the first night, I am committed to many more.

No grand finale this time dear readers, no real climax, just grinding through and staying on track for now. So wish me luck and with a little luck and lot of work, in the next few months there will be less of me, yet more to write.

Summer is here, and it’s time to get that beach body! I don’t have a lot of time to work out and what little down time I do have, isn’t enough to get to the gym, and I certainly can’t afford crazy exercise machines. Here’s a few workout ideas I got from my sister, who has a crazy college schedule and still manages to be fit and healthy. I like all these workouts because I can fit them in between loads of laundry, or while I’m watching TV and I don’t have to spend a small fortune of equipment.  These are just a few examples:

Resistance Band Row

Sit on the ground or on an exercise mat and extend your legs out in front of you. Hold the ends of a long, flat resistance band in each hand. Wrap the center of the band around the arch of your feet. Sit up straight, and hold your hands out in front of you in fists, choosing either a horizontal or vertical fist position. Pull back on the resistance bands, bending your elbows as your squeeze your shoulders together. When your upper arms come in line with your back, reverse the movement and return the band to the starting position. Continue the exercise, repeating the movement 12 to 15 times. Try not to use your momentum to make you move- you’ll pull something.

Chest Lift (Exercise Ball)

Chest lift is a great AB workout. It works the upper and lower abs. You will also have to use your legs, and your butt muscles to stay stable.  First, sit on the exercise ball and walk your feet out and pull your abs in and up to roll down on the ball so that your back is supported by the ball. You will probably be a little less than even with the floor. Put your hands behind your head, elbows wide. Inhale (breathing is really important- I used to hold my breath and I would get worn out much quicker) Exhale: Pull your abs in deeply to curl your head and upper spine up. Do not tuck your pelvis. Leave your shoulders down.  Inhale: Return to start position. Repeat 3 to 6 times.

Resistance Tube Bicep Curls

This is by far my favorite item to workout with. There are so many different routines you can do to work various parts of your body. Start by bending your knees keeping your back straight when positioning the resistance tubes underneath the balls of your feet. Stand up and raise your hands slightly so that there is a small amount of resistance before starting the exercise with your palms facing upwards. This time you will be using one arm at a time starting with the weakest. Exhale as you curl the tube up keeping your upper arm strong and solid to your side squeezing your bicep at the top of the motion. Inhale as you lower the tube back to the starting position in a slow, controlled manner not allowing your arm to fully lockout or the tube to become relaxed before starting the next rep with the other arm and tube. Repeat this technique alternatively with both tubes and arms.

Hope this helps.  Have a great Summer!