What flooring for home gym
This is an overview of example designs and ideas for building your own home gym. Each one is unique and special. This article was originally posted under "the ultimate guide to building a home gym".
Example designs
Attached you will find two example designs which you can use as a blueprint. I have also done many variations on those. Start with the floor space you have available and design your gym into it, as the available space most likely will not change. The few exceptions are new builds in the garden. Here I would also start with the available shed / room options and work from there.
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What flooring for home gym
Flooring can get very expensive if you do it wrong. If you want to do gymnastics with a bouncy floor you will need a special manufacturer to size it for you which won’t come cheap. For sprints and sled work you also might want to have the right surface. However, most home gyms will be focused on weights and cardio machines. For these scenarios, you can have the following flooring.
Horse mats
Horse mats are relatively cheap, compact and protect the floor. If your main interest is lifting and you won’t be crawling around on the floor a lot this is a great option to save money and still have enough grip and density on your floor.
Gym flooring
If you get it custom made or martial arts mats you are sorted. Recently there has been a rise in gym flooring which can be stacked together like a puzzle. Stay away from that stuff as it is expensive and low quality. It might look good at the beginning but it rips and cracks easily and is hard to clean.
Concrete
Concrete is robust and relatively easy to keep clean. It is not great if you fall on it so if you intend to drop a lot or have people who are likely to face plants, get some horse mats. With concrete, you should also take care to get bumper plates. Steel plates won’t last long when they are dropped on concrete.
Wood
Wood is relatively cheap and easy to form. It also has a natural bounce to it and is a bit more forgiving when you fall on it than concrete. Make sure that it is sanded properly if you do a lot of ground so that you don’t have splinters in your knees. Constant beating from weights is likely to deform wood and keep it in that shape when it is on the floor. Again, horse mats will do the trick.
Platform
If you only need a space to lift and do not want to redo the entire flooring, getting a platform can be a great option. Once assembled you have a great spot to work out while having a relatively small footprint.