What Type of Flooring Is Best for a Home Gym?

When it comes to creating a home gym, you might want something more than a treadmill conspicuously taking up space in your living room. And if you happen to have an extra bedroom, a finished basement, or even a pool house handy, there’s no reason you shouldn’t turn it into you mecca of exercise and outfit it to motivate your fitness exploits. Of course, you’ll probably be so gung-ho installing mirrored walls and selecting machinery, weights, and other equipment that you might not take the time to consider just what kind of flooring will work best for a home gym. As it turns out, you have several options to consider when it comes to flooring, as well as other elements that may factor into your decision-making process. Here are just a few things to think about when determining what type of flooring is best for your home gym.

The first thing you might want to think about is the type of flooring that is currently in your space, followed closely by how you intend to use your home gym. For example, carpeting might work out great if you want to create a yoga studio and the idea of extra padding under your yoga mat appeals to your desire for comfort. On the other hand, wood floors might work better to create the Zen space you’re seeking. And what about heavy equipment like a treadmill, Stairmaster, or elliptical machine, or a weight bench loaded with iron, for that matter? You don’t want to make dents in your hardwood or crack your tile. So while the flooring you currently have in place might work just fine, requiring no replacement as you create your in-home workout space, you should definitely take the time to consider what kind of wear and tear it might take in the process.

Of course, aside from your intended usage, some types of flooring are bound to work better in general, and perhaps the best common flooring option is hardwood. With proper padding under machinery (or your yoga mat) it is likely to offer you the highest level of function overall. Not only is it suited to myriad uses, including those that entail bare feet, socks, or shoes, but it is also fairly durable, perhaps more so than some other materials that might crack or tear under gym-related usage. Of course, there’s one other reason why wood flooring is an ideal place to start: it’s perfect for laying other flooring surfaces over.

Ideally, you want a surface that is soft, springy and sans slip. With interlocking rubber floor tiles you can create the perfect surface for your home gym. Whether you simply put them in certain areas (under equipment, for example) or you lay them down wall-to-wall, they’re likely to hold up best with wood flooring underneath. On a carpeted surface they might buckle at the seams, whereas they may slide on slippery stone or ceramic tile flooring. But these tiles are the most likely to stay put and serve their purpose when placed atop wooden floor boards. Although the products at Treadall Inc. may ultimately make up the surface of your home gym flooring, wood is probably the ideal material to use underneath.