Gym Flooring for Homeowners

 

Believe it or not, gym flooring is becoming a common concept in today’s homes. Americans are more health conscious than ever, and many homeowners are including a home gym in their house plans. Others are converting an extra room, an attic, or a basement into a home gym. If you’re planning on having a home gym, it’s important to have the right gym flooring.

 

Why is gym flooring important?

 

Why is it important to use special gym flooring in a home gym or workout room? Wouldn’t any type of flooring work? Sure, you could use any kind of flooring in your gym, but it won’t be nearly as effective.

 

Gym flooring is made to “give.” In other words, it springs back under pressure. What does this mean for you? Working out can be punishing for your joints while exercising and lifting weights. You want to give your muscles a workout, but you need to pamper your joints. Consider the difference in walking on a padded treadmill compared to walking on a hard treadmill. If you’ve tried both, you can easily understand the concept of gym flooring.

 

Typical gym flooring not only protects your body – it also protects your subflooring and your gym equipment. Imagine dropping a heavy dumbbell on another type of flooring. That could do a lot of damage. Gym flooring, however, would absorb the impact to decrease the likelihood of damage both to the floor and the dumbbell.

 

Another important feature of gym flooring is that it’s incredibly slip resistant, even when it’s wet. Sorry, but when you exercise hard, you’re going to perspire, so gym floors can get wet.

 

Types of gym flooring

 

The most popular types of gym flooring are made of rubber. The rubber flooring usually comes in large square tiles. Some types fit together with interlocking pieces.

 

Virgin rubber or recycled rubber gym flooring?

 

Consumers have a choice between virgin rubber and recycled rubber gym flooring. Each type has its advantages and disadvantages.

 

Virgin rubber has no odor. The color of the tiles permeates the entire tile, so the color is steadfast. Because virgin rubber flooring is made of closed cells, they’re easy to clean and maintain. The tiles are impervious to sweat, dirt, and water. On the downside, virgin rubber gym flooring is significantly more expensive than recycled rubber tiles.

 

Recycled rubber is made from many different sources and types of rubber products. Gym flooring made of recycled rubber is an inexpensive choice, but some inferior products have an inherent “old tire” smell. Also, if you’re not careful in your selection, you might find that the floor tiles have slightly different thicknesses and don’t fit together as well as tiles made from virgin rubber. Some recycled rubber flooring tiles have to be glued together.

 

Some companies offer high-quality recycled rubber gym flooring. These have little odor, and they interlock instead of requiring glue. If you choose high quality recycled rubber tiles, you can be assured that they’ll be of uniform thickness, just like the virgin rubber tiles.

 

Where to find gym flooring

 

To see a wide variety of gym flooring, your best source is online stores.