So, you’ve decided to take the plunge and build your dream home gym? Congratulations on taking the first step towards creating your fitness haven. Now, you might be wondering how to kickstart this exhilarating project and which essential equipment should take the spotlight. Here at Exersci, we firmly believe that the foundation of every home gym is quite literally what’s on the floor.

Flooring is often overlooked. The added safety, durability and protection of other pieces of equipment that having the right flooring brings is crucial. In this blog we will discuss 'The Best Flooring For A Home Gym'. This will include discussing the different options available, their properties and the best flooring to meet your needs.

Why Having Gym Flooring Is Important.

Having the correct flooring in your gym is essential to protect the flooring, improve your safety and enhance performance. 

Commonly within weightlifting, you aim to lift at resistances near your max (80% 1-repetition max according to the research) to induce greater physiological adaptations to strength and hypertrophy. Therefore, heavy weights are often dropped. This could easily damage general flooring, making it crucial to have specific gym flooring in your home gym. 

Additionally, adding specified flooring that is relevant to your needs, will improve overall safety of the gym. Here at Exersci, our high-quality floorings are all non-slip, helping to prevent falls that could lead to injury and enhance stability during lifts. This is of particular importance for those starting to perform more complex exercise movements, such as Olympic weightlifting.

Finally, adding gym flooring will take your home gym to the next level and add an aspect of professionalism that will leave people in awe. 

Considerations When Choosing The Best Flooring For A Home Gym?

It is important to consider a couple of things before choosing the flooring you want. This includes the material of the flooring and the activities that you will be performing on the gym flooring. 

We have multiple choices available for home gym flooring, such as:

• Rubber mats
• Foam mats
• Weightlifting platforms
• Artificial grass

Due to its easy maintenance, resilient feel, and exceptional durability, rubber flooring is the most chosen flooring in commercial gyms. However, although it is the preferred choice for commercial settings, it may not necessarily be the best fit for your home gym.

During your search for the optimal gym flooring for your home, it is essential to contemplate the specific exercises you intend to perform. If you are focused on activities like CrossFit, which involves dumbbells and barbells that may bounce off the floor, then rubber flooring could be the ideal option. 

Conversely, if you’re looking for space to practise yoga and Pilates, foam gym flooring might be the most suitable choice.

Considering these factors, let’s explore the best home gym flooring options tailored to your needs!

Large Space Gym Flooring

The flooring that is going to fill most of your home gym will likely be one of 2 types; Rubber or Foam.

Rubber Flooring

Let's begin with a popular choice among fitness enthusiasts: rubber flooring. Not only is it highly durable and easy to clean, but it also offers excellent shock absorption, effectively minimising any potential damage to your home floors.

Rubber home gym flooring is commonly available in the form of interlocking tiles or rolls. This provides convenient installation options for your personal workout space within your home gym. When it comes to versatility and reliability, rubber gym flooring truly shines, making it a strong contender for the title of the best home gym flooring option.

Out of the outstanding selections available in the market, we proudly present our own Exersci rubber and EVA jigsaw mats. These mats are designed with an extra-thick construction to maximise shock absorption. This ensures optimal protection for your floors during intense gym sessions. Similarly, our Exersci Heavy Duty Rubber Tiles are an excellent choice for weightlifting enthusiasts. These tiles offer remarkable durability and impressive shock absorption, effectively handling the impact from even the most demanding exercises like deadlifts.

Overall, choosing rubber flooring for your home gym comes with quite a few benefits. Its high shock and sound absorption, durability and ease of cleaning, make it an excellent choice for your home gym. 

Foam Flooring

Foam flooring provides a budget-friendly alternative, lightweight and cushioned option over the popular rubber mats. If you're transforming your garage into a workout space, outfitting it with foam mats is an excellent way to provide a comfortable surface and cushioning, especially if the original flooring is concrete or hard.

Opting for foam mats in your home gym is particularly advantageous if your workouts primarily involve activities like yoga, Pilates, or other low-impact exercises. The foam's softness helps reduce the impact on your body and joints, ensuring a more comfortable and supportive workout experience.

A great example of an affordable, lightweight and non-slip foam gym mat for your home is our very own Exersci foam EVA jigsaw mats! Featuring soft cushioning and interlocking ridges to effortlessly join mats together for an easy installation process!

Selecting foam flooring for your home gym offers numerous advantageous qualities. It combines affordability, effortless maintenance, a plush and resilient texture, versatility, and a straightforward installation and removal process. However, as with any flooring option, there are certain limitations to consider based on your specific usage. It is important to avoid placing heavy weights directly on the foam flooring. This could lead to dents or tear the material more easily than other sturdier options.

Specialised Gym Flooring

In this section, we are going to dive into more specialised flooring options. The addition of these will likely come down to your specific needs and interests.

Weightlifting Platforms

In this section, we are going to dive into more specialised flooring options. The addition of these will likely come down to your specific needs and interests.

Weightlifting Platforms

Weightlifting platforms are essential for heavy-duty lifting and Olympic weightlifting. 

Olympic weightlifting includes performing 'clean and jerks' and 'snatches'. Most of which will include an Olympic barbell and bumper plates being dropped from a relatively high distance on the floor. Considering this, our 12mm thick Rubber Matting & 18mm high-density particle board will cushion the blow to ensure your underground flooring remains intact and protect the plates that you are using. With this, the design of our Premium Olympic Weightlifting Platform with EPDM Rubber & SBR Rubber Base Sides will reduce the noise of your weights being dropped.

To complete the typical 'snatch' or 'clean and jerk' you are required to perform triple extension. This refers to extension at your hip, knee and ankle joints. It is common that you will go on to your toes (or even have your feet leave the ground very briefly) to complete the movement. Because of this, regular rubber or foam flooring does not provide sufficient safety for this movement. Here at Exersci, our weightlifting platform comes with a heavy-duty hardwood solid centre. This will provide a stable, non-slip surface for you to be safe and excel in your weightlifting journey.

Artificial Grass

Artificial grass is popular within commercial gyms due to the increased popularity of Crossfit, Hyrox and HIIT training spaces.

Our Artificial Grass Rubber Topped Tiles have premium 2mm thickness, providing the same structure and effictiveness to our rubber tiles. This means it wont be damaged by heavy sleds, medicine balls and plyometric exercises. 

Not only will these artificial grass tiles add a pop of colour to your gym, but also add versatile options to your workouts, allowing you to perform sledge pulls and pushes, which is essential if you are thinking of competing in Hyrox events. 

Additionally, they are easy to install and maintain. 

How To Choose The Right Flooring For You.

The right flooring for you can vary on multiple factors. One of the most important is the training type you are deciding to commit to. 

For general weightlifting, using dumbbells, kettlebells and some lighter barbells, the rubber tiles are likely your best option. However, if you are completing more mobility-based exercise, with pilates and/or yoga, then the foam flooring style will be a lot more comfortable and pose less stress on the body. 

Further on from this, if you are starting to dabble in the world of Olympic lifting, we would certainly recommend considering adding a weightlifting platform to your gym space. Likewise, if you are completing weighted endurance exercises such as sled pulls and pushes, a small strip of artifical grass will go a long way. 

Another thing to consider is the space you have available. If you are converting your garage into your home gym, you likely won't have enough space to have a weightlifting platform or artificial grass whilst having enough space to carry out general lifting or yoga. 

Finally, flooring does come at a price, with some selections more than others. For new starters, you may want to opt for foam flooring. However, you must remember to not place heavy weights directly on the flooring, as this could lead to dents or tears.

Conclusion

Congratulations on reaching the end of this article! Now, it's time to decide which home gym flooring option suits you best: rubber, foam, or perhaps another choice that aligns with your preferences. 

If you have any inquiries or if you're interested in purchasing any of the products mentioned, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. You can contact us via email at contact@exersci.co.uk or give us a call at 0330 175 6260. We're here to assist you and provide the information you need.

View our gym flooring products here!