When it comes to working out, motivation is massive and an awesome home gym set-up definitely helps!
Home gym flooring is initially easily overlooked but the right flooring not only looks good but more importantly it is absolutely essential to protecting your floor and your expensive equipment as well as reducing the risk of injury to yourself!
In this post, we review 5 different types of gym flooring options to help you make the right choice for your home gym!
5 Types of Home Gym Flooring
1. Rubber Tiles / Mats
Rubber flooring is pretty much the king of home gym flooring!
If you train heavy, you need a certain type of surface that will protect the floor beneath and avoid physical injury.
Rubber is an extremely durable material and a lot of suppliers recycle heavy-duty rubber to manufacture their floor tiles which can handle whatever you can throw or drop on them!
Rubber’s shock absorbent qualities are a great fit for heavy weight training and high impact workouts like Crossfit and can handle large cardio machines like treadmills/cross trainers and stair climbers.
Rubber floor tiles are generally sufficiently weighted to not require any specific installation adhesive and can just be placed on the floor and tiles cut to size to fit the space.
Maintenance is simple as well, a vacuum cleaner will be sufficient to keep the floor clear of loose debris and a mop and soapy water will be fine to use on more stubborn areas. Rubber can also just be wiped down at the end of a workout
The cost of rubber flooring varies base quality and thickness. Typically, rubber flooring is sold as tiles and approx 1m x 1m. You should ensure that the depth of the tiles is at least 20mm as this is generally the minimum required to adhere to manufacturer’s guarantees on Olympic bars and bumper plates and will ensure you have optimal shock absorption and sound insulation.
Thre are very few disadvantages really if you are working on a tight budget then the cost could be prohibitive. Furthermore, if you are embedding the gym into a room in the house then rubber might not be the best choice to blend with the rest of your home decor and the room could smell of rubber for a little while after installation.
From a pure gym functionality perspective though, you can’t really go wrong with a decent rubber surface!
Best For – Weight Training, Crossfit, Powerlifting, High Impact, Heavy Equipment
2. Foam Mats
Foam mats are a great option for anyone looking to start working out from home.
Foam is soft and cushioned so provides a great surface for yoga, stretching and lightweight low-impact training
Foam flooring is often supplied as mats or interlocking tiles and can be placed on top of most existing floor surfaces and requires no specific installation.
Foam is efficient for any multi-purpose room as the flooring can be laid and removed easily and packed away when not used.
The major drawback of a foam-based floor is that it is not suitable for heavy-duty training as foam provides little protection to the surfaces beneath and can dent under heavy objects.
Foam can also tear quite easily so is not a long-term investment but then the cheaper purchase price compensates for that.
Best For – Light activity / weights, Yoga, HIIT, Stretching, Bodyweight exercises
3. Vinyl Gym Mats
Vinyl looks good and is a practical choice for a home gym as the style and design can interchange nicely with a living space yet provide a durable surface to perform a range of workouts
A vinyl floor is relatively low maintenance and is a popular choice for basement gyms as the material is resistant to mould.
Where vinyl comes up short vs rubber is the lack of shock absorbance. The surface can be unforgiving for dynamic movements like plyometrics or HIIT and is not ideal for heavy weights-focused programs like CrossFit powerlifting and other heavy floor-based compound lifts.
Although hard wearing, sharp objects can puncture or tear the material so additional care needs to be taken when moving objects around the gym floor.
Best For – Cardio, HIIT, Circuits, Dumbbells, Cardio Machines
4. Wood Flooring
A wood flooring can look really quite stunning and is a popular choice for high-end home gyms
A wood floor can give that fitness studio look and is excellent for cardio and strength training equipment.
Wood flooring can now be manufactured with a foam backing, making the surface far more shock absorbent and, therefore, way more suitable for low-impact options like yoga/stretching and circuits.
Where wood flooring is a bit limited is heavy weight training. The floor would need protection to avoid damage but where budget permits this could be rectified by installing a lifting platform.
Wood flooring is also likely to be the most expensive option reviewed in this post as well as the trickiest to install and will likely need to be fitted by a professional. The surface will also require maintenance to keep it clean and protected.
Best For Big budgets, home gym, strength and cardio equipment, studio exercise
5. Astro Turf
Astro Turf is effectively synthetic/artificial grass and is popular for outdoor gyms and functional training rooms in large commercial gyms.
Astro is particularly suited to functional styles of training – sled pulls, conditioning, sprinting, strongman (tyre flipping etc)
Astro is extremely durable so should last a long time and requires very little maintenance
Artificial grass looks good in gardens as a substitute for a traditional grass lawn as well as a social space or children’s play area
Best For Sled work, Crossfit, Conditioning, Sprints, Strongman
Summary
Depending on the overall purpose of the gym, it is important to choose the most appropriate home gym flooring to meet your needs. There are different types of home gym flooring and each has its own pros and cons there are options to suit a range of budgets, training styles and design preferences!
To learn more about how to convert a garage into a home gym, see this post
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