What can you do on an AirTrack? Top 4 exercises for at home

by Joost Nusselder Updated on: July 26, 2021

Is your son or daughter suddenly talking about it? AirTrack exercises, don't think he/she is talking about a new PlayStation game or driving a hoverboard.

AirTrack exercises are about gymnastic and physical activities on an AirTrack mat. You can read below what this means and what it looks like!

I've picked out some really fun exercises for each level, including video so you can see how, read on.

De mat designed by AirTrack Factory for your home or garden (more buying options here) for home use is lightweight and compact when the mat is rolled in.

All mats use the same materials and technology, so the quality of this product is equivalent to the product that is recommended for, for example, a school.

But once the mat is ready for use, you can start with safe exercises. This video briefly shows what the possibilities are:

Is there any training that can be done at home to improve your child's natural athletic ability?

Gymnastics is a natural sport for most children. Many children like to jump and tumble.

It is a matter of practice and training to train those first movements in the amazing walkovers, flips and balance exercises.

Gymnastics is a sport that almost anyone can try. This is a sport that both girls and boys can not only participate in, but also excel.

What gymnastic training can you do at home?

If your child starts bouncing up the walls and is constantly climbing and rolling, chances are you have someone who needs to expend some energy with home gym.

Make sure there are no furniture or hard surfaces in the area where your beginner gymnast will practice and avoid movements that can strain young muscles or joints.

Incorrect exercise for young children can cause serious injuries, so make sure your prospective gymnast adheres to a simple exercise regime and increase the difficulty very slowly once the muscles get strong enough to do the work.

Here are some helpful tips to get you started:

Roll over

Grab the airtrack mat and give your child exactly that space to roll over within those lines. Give them a piece of paper to put between their chin, and if they practice it properly, it should stay put.

When that skill is mastered, shorten the width, an inch at a time, for example by putting some tape over the air track to where they are allowed to roll.

The cartwheel

If your child is already cartwheel, you can try adding that gymnastic skill to the mix and also give them a little less room to improve their form each time.

handstand

Stand at arm's length from your child as she practices rising to a handstand, a basic entry-level gymnastic skill.

Gently catching an unbalanced movement can keep her from falling to the floor and so they get used to the balance. 

Luckily the air track is nice and soft so let them try it for themselves, but a little help in the beginning can help find the right balance.

And before you know it, they can walk back and forth across the mat on their hands.

Roll backwards: practice towards somersault

If you want to do a little more, you can start practicing a back roll and eventually improve your skills for a somersault:

Once you start doing home gym exercises, you'll find yourself coming up with lots of ideas for fun, injury-free home gym exercises.

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Practice safely on the AirTrack mat

Not every daughter is a semi-professional gymnast.

But many children like to practice a handstand or to create their own Freerunning course.

By making this mat part of the course or by letting them practice on it, you can save yourself and your child a lot of headaches! 

An airtrack training set has blocks that you can attach to various places on the mat with Velcro to give an extra dimension to the exercises.

A nice addition to the standard use of the mat!

Correct air pressure and surface

You should never feel the surface when you land during use. Then there is clearly not enough air in it.

You also have to take into account that temperature can influence the air in the mat.

So check the mat regularly before use and do not just leave the mat outside in the sun or rain. 

In addition, the manufacturer points out that you have to look carefully where you place the mat. Make sure the surface is free of sharp stones, for example.

Or use an undermat to protect the AirTrack mat. 

In addition, the manufacturer points out that you have to look carefully where you place the mat. Make sure the surface is free of sharp stones, for example.

Or use an undermat to protect the AirTrack mat. 

Due to the resilience, the mat gives you more momentum to your tricks and flips. You can also regulate the spring force by adjusting the (air) pressure.

Test for yourself what the ideal pressure is: would you like a hard mat, or as a beginner would you prefer one that feels softer?

Experiment yourself and find the most comfortable way to train for yourself.

Do handle the AirTrack mat safely

Always handle the mat as carefully as possible and do not use it to land on, for example, if you want to jump from a high distance. This mat is not made for that. 

Sports you can do with an AirTrack

As described above, the AirTrack mats can be used for various types of athletes and sports.

Below we give you some extra useful information about the AirTrack per sport.

AirTrack mats for school gymnastics

Various studies have shown that gymnastics is the best sport for children to practice and improve body coordination.

It is important that schools take this seriously, only it appears that many sports teachers have difficulty with this because they experience fear when teaching with conventional sports equipment as it is often made of hard materials.

Think of the wooden cabinet and wooden beam, or even metal products.

AirEquipment such as AirTrack mats are therefore a perfect solution that ensures that children can develop and train safely and at the same time have a lot of fun.

This is also beneficial for the teachers, so that they can teach with peace of mind.

Children will also be less afraid of challenging themselves on this type of sports equipment. They will land softly and feather high. 

The very first AirTracks were intended for and designed by real gymnasts.

Where you used to do gymnastics with foam mats, beams and a wooden cupboard, nowadays you have AirEquipment in all gyms.

AirEquipment is safer, more exciting and provides better training of all types of skills.

Training on an AirTrack mat also brings a lot of fun while training.

Who doesn't remember dragging carts with the long mat?

And then try to dive in pairs or do a handstand with a transfer without seeing asterisks?

Well all those problems during gym class are a thing of the past when the AirTrack mat is used. 

Children can exercise more safely. This will definitely make them dare more and have more fun during gym classes.

The mat is ideal, because it is quick to set up, put down, but also tidy up. 

The mat has some suspension and you can do different exercises on it.

Whether it is used to teach the basics of gymnastics exercises to children or used during the best gym class of the year: monkey cages!

It doesn't matter, the mat is ideal for all these uses. 

Here you can take a look to see the different uses during a gym class:

Freerunning and parkour on the AirTrack mat

The AirTrick is the first training surface specially designed for tricking and freerunning.

With its large and resilient surface, this mat is ideal for starting tricks as well as advanced movements.

The AirBox and AirStep are the best products for parkour and free running. Individual parts can be used individually or stacked on top of each other.

The high resilience and soft properties of these products lower your anxiety level and big tricks can be performed on these mats!

A large mat has been developed for freerunning and parkour tricks and tricks.

This mat has therefore been given the name AirTrick and has an extra resilient effect. This makes it friendly for advanced and novice users. 

The price tag is slightly higher than with other Airtrack mats.

There are even battles to see who can do the best AirTricks! For example, watch this video of such a battle in Russia:

Cheerleading on the AirTrack mat

AirTracks are also the perfect cheerleading training kit.

The mats feel soft on the body when you need to stretch, are resilient for beautiful jumps and also stable enough for pyramids!

Improve your tumbling skills on the AirTrack P2 or P3, or choose an AirFloor for various cheerleading exercises.

The mats are all very small and handy in storage and super fast to set up.

Optionally, you can add another 35 mm carpet-bound foam to an AirFloor to create a portable mat for a spring floor.

In addition, you could connect multiple AirFloors with each other using AirTrack's seamless connection method.

This way you can create a real competition floor. Such a large competition floor can be set up in less than 45 minutes. 

In the Netherlands it is not yet as popular as in the United States, but that does not make the use of the mat for cheerleaders any less good.

In essence, cheerleaders are often performing the same acrobatics as gymnasts and so the use of the AirTrack mat will often be the same as for professional gymnasts.

But besides being perfect for practicing jumps, the mat is also perfect for making living pyramids.

Now the top cheerleader can rely on the mat for a smoother landing in the event of a fall. 

Trampoline parks with AirTrack mats

As we had discussed before, you see more and more trampoline parks nowadays.

It is quite a job for the owners to find the right products that, in addition to bringing pleasure, are also innovative, safe, last a long time and of course not too expensive.

AirTricks fits perfectly into the picture, with hardly any maintenance costs involved and custom AirTricks can be designed. 

However, AirTricks are not a substitute for trampolines. What they do do is offer a wide variety of options for any park, more than a trampoline.

AirTracks are resilient to bounce on, soft enough for a pleasant landing, but also stable to run and play on.

You can optionally apply line markers to create a football or basketball court, for example.

AirTricks provide fun and limitless play possibilities.

The pressure to stand out from other facilities, services and activities

Park owners must ensure that the parks remain fun and innovative. The AirTrack can certainly play a role in this.

The most important feature of the AirTrack is its flexibility, in various ways.

First, the flexibility of activities that can be performed on the mat.

Think of fighting tricks for the martial arts athlete, beautiful jumps performed by acrobats or cheerleaders and crazy jumps for the parkour athlete.

This also provides flexibility in the customer base that can interact with the mat.

Finally, the flexibility of the physical placement of the mat in or around the facility.

This great flexibility gives your facility, staff and your services the ability to adapt in ways that steel or timber structures cannot.

In this way, these types of new customers can bring their skills to the parks, which was previously impossible due to the trampolines.

The athletes could not train their skills on it.

Thanks to the AirTrack mats, various athletes have more opportunities to train outside and can even give a show for customers of the trampoline and freestyle parks every now and then.

That will certainly be appreciated!

No, that's right, an AirTrack is not a trampoline. Yet for many trampoline parks it is a nice addition to the park.

The AirTrack offers something different than a trampoline, even though it of course has a little less suspension. 

The suspension of an AirTrack is just enough to be able to jump, do tricks and land properly.

That is why we can recommend the following video! You are amazed at how these people can fly!

Recreational home use

The AirTracks can also be used for pure entertainment.

Think of acts that use acrobatic arts.

The AirTracks are resilient, flat, guarantee a soft landing and are silent.

Even well-known acrobatic groups such as Cirque du Soleil use AirTracks!

AirTrack for gymnastics

The AirTrack mat was developed for the gymnastics world. The idea was to develop a product that would reduce the impact on the body when landing.

In addition, this product is lightweight and can be folded into a small package. This makes it easy to use and handy when moving. An ideal instrument for the gym! 

Tailored to the wishes of gymnasts

Because the manufacturer has worked with gymnasts all over the world for years, it is clear what the gymnasts' wishes are.

This has ensured that not only the mats for the professional gymnasts but all mats developed by AirTrack meet the highest standards. 

Would you like to see how you can use the mats, but also the AirRoll, in the gym, watch this video:

Tricking, Martial Arts and other combat sports

AirTrack Factory has developed various options for these types of sports. The 10cm thick AirFloor is ideal for exercising stability, maneuverability, strength, endurance and speed.

Connect multiple AirFloors to create a light and portable floor for training.

With the AirFloor you are able to perform controlled roles and you always fall safely.

Would you like to take a grand approach? Then consider the 30cm thick AirTrick.

What makes this product so special is the unprecedented height it gives you. Perfect for performing large jumps and movements.

Great leaps are also often made within the martial arts. The people who practice martial arts are often not averse to some acrobatics.

The AirTrack flat mat can be used for "normal" martial arts exercises, when extra suspension is appreciated. 

Here are quite a few home karate exercises:

AirTrack and senior gym

The advantage that the AirTrack mat provides a light load for joints and muscles is very nice for everyone, but especially for the elderly.

Elderly people who exercise are often limited by stiffness and (rightly) do not dare to put a lot of stress on their joints.

With the AirTrack they can do more than just exercise on an exercise bike or chair. 

Watch this video to see how the mat is recommended for use during senior gym:

Joost Nusselder, the founder of Speelkeuze.nl is a content marketer, father and loves trying out new toys. As a child he came into contact with everything related to games when his mother started the Tinnen Soldaat in Ede. Now he and his team create helpful blog articles to help loyal readers with fun play ideas.