9 Rubber Flooring Pros and Cons: What You Should Know

Thinking about building a home gym and wondering if rubber flooring is the right choice for your space? You probably know that rubber flooring is the gold standard in gym flooring, but maybe you&#;re concerned about potential drawbacks.

Guardwe contains other products and information you need, so please check it out.

The last thing you want is to make a purchase you regret. This guide can help! We&#;re taking an in-depth look at rubber flooring to find all the benefits and some important considerations. 

Discover the top nine rubber flooring pros and cons to help you make a smart shopping decision. 

 

What is Rubber Gym Flooring?

Known for its versatility and durability, rubber flooring is the ideal surface for your gym. Whether you&#;re trying to create a workout room or updating a commercial gym, you can find the perfect flooring to meet your needs.

Most rubber flooring is made from materials like recycled vehicle tires. This makes the flooring extremely durable and low-maintenance. 

Rubber flooring also comes with several DIY-friendly options. You can choose from interlocking tiles, rolls, mats, and sheets to fit your space.

Related Content >> Rubber Floor Tiles Guide

Pros of Rubber Gym Flooring

Rubber is the ultimate gym flooring option, and there are many reasons for this, from durability to DIY installation. Check out these advantages of rubber flooring that make it so popular.

Slip Resistance

Rubber flooring is unique because it becomes more slip-resistant when it gets wet. That means you have a safe, slip-free surface to work out on, no matter the conditions. You don&#;t have to worry about spills causing potential injury.

Plus, because it doesn&#;t get slippery when wet, rubber flooring is also ideal for outside use. Install it in your yard to create an easy outdoor workout area. 

Water-Resistant

In addition to being slip-resistant, rubber flooring is also water-resistant! 

To be 100% certain no water ever reaches your subfloor, you can seal the flooring with a rubber floor finish and sealer and also seal the seams with a seam sealer. Without a finish and sealer, there is still a chance water can get under the flooring.

Related Content >> Best Home Gym Flooring Options

Incredibly Durable

Rubber flooring is built with durability in mind. After all, it needs to handle heavy workouts and high-traffic commercial gyms. 

While the common misconception is that thicker rubber means higher durability, that&#;s not necessarily true. Durability is more about density. Dense rubber flooring is tough and durable. You can rip apart low-density rubber flooring with your bare hands.

Vulcanized and virgin rubber are the most durable. If you need superb durability, make sure to search for these options.

• Vulcanized rubber:

  During the vulcanization process, the rubber is compressed into a dense, ultra-durable, non-porous rubber. This option naturally has a significantly milder scent than non-vulcanized rubber.

• Virgin rubber:

  For the purest natural rubber, you can choose virgin rubber floor tiles, which don&#;t include any recycled material. Virgin rubber is guaranteed to have no additives or latex.

Absorbs Impact

Intense workouts can put a lot of stress on your joints, so you need flooring that can absorb the impact of your burpees, plyometric workouts, and dropped weights.

High impact rubber flooring can lessen the stress and wear on your knees, back, and hips, and protect you from injury.

For the best high-impact gym flooring, look for products made from recycled, lower-density rubber. You can also find flooring with waffle backings designed specifically to absorb heavy impacts.

Shop High-Impact Rubber Flooring

Related Content >> High Impact Flooring Guide

Easy Installation

One of the best things about rubber flooring is the ease of installation. Whether you choose rubber floor tiles, rubber rolls, or rubber gym mats, you can upgrade your gym in a single afternoon. 

Rubber tiles are the most DIY-friendly option. The edges interlock together like giant puzzle pieces, and they&#;re heavy enough that you don&#;t need to glue them down. 

Rubber flooring rolls are also extremely easy to install. You just roll them out, and you&#;re done!

Cons of Rubber Gym Flooring

Smell

Rubber flooring does have a distinct smell. This is caused by off-gassing from the glue that holds the flooring together and the rubber itself.

Some products smell stronger than others, depending on the type of raw material used or how the flooring was made. For example, virgin rubber flooring doesn&#;t really have a smell, so if you&#;re sensitive to the smell, this would be the best option for you.

When you first get your flooring, the smell will be the strongest, but after installation, it will become less intense after a few weeks. 

You can also mop a few times with a mild soap and water cleaning solution like Dawn or Tide, and then keep the room well-ventilated or leave the flooring outside to dry. This should alleviate the smell.

Style

Rubber flooring is very functional, but it&#;s not necessarily known for its style. For the most part, your flooring is going to be black. If you want a minimalist look, this isn&#;t a problem. 

One way to amp up the style is to introduce color. Some options will come with EPDM color flecks, containing anywhere from 10% to 95% color fleck. Virgin rubber flooring even offers full color for a more vivid look. Just keep in mind, more color typically means a bigger price tag. 

Price

As you consider rubber flooring pros and cons, price may be a big factor. Rubber is premium gym flooring. It&#;s ultra-durable with highly sought-after features like shock absorbency, a non-slip surface, and easy installation. This is an investment in your gym and your fitness, and the cost is worth it.

Heavy

The densest and most durable options are pretty heavy, especially if you&#;re installing a cumbersome rubber roll or a mat. 

If you want more portable gym flooring, consider something lighter like 6mm Energy Rubber Tiles.

Related Content >>

How to Clean Rubber Gym Flooring

Conclusion

Those are the biggest rubber flooring pros and cons. Now that you know the top pros and cons, you&#;ll have a better idea if this is the right home gym flooring for you. 

If you want to upgrade your gym with rubber flooring, get started with some free samples to find the perfect options for you.

Order Free Samples Shop All Rubber Flooring

We test and review fitness products based on an independent, multi-point methodology. If you use our links to purchase something, we may earn a commission. Read our disclosures.

The foundation of every home gym is quite literally what&#;s on the floor. Our team bought and tested some of the best home gym flooring options (as well as some obscure mats) to determine what works best for most people. We used an in-depth equipment methodology to assess factors such as:

• Durability: Can it withstand heavy, sweaty workouts?
• Performance: Does it protect your floors and your equipment?
• Smell: Does it give off a bad smell when first installed, and does it eventually fade away?
• Value: Is the price fair?

We have competitive weightlifters, CrossFitters, and many home gym owners on our team. We know that no two home gyms are alike. Some people lift weights in the garage, some do yoga in the living room, and some turn an upstairs bedroom into a high-intensity cardio studio.

We found the best soundproof exercise mats, tiles, and even vinyl planks so you can determine what works best for your workout space. You might be utilizing a yoga mat or whatever flooring you have in your home right now, depending on your setup. However, if you truly want to improve your at-home gym area, investing in a new gym floor can significantly improve your training results.

The 9 Best Home Gym Flooring Options

Best Home Gym Flooring Video Review

Best Rubber Gym Flooring Rolls: Flooring Inc 8MM Strong Rubber Rolls

Good for: People willing to spend a little more money on the best garage gym flooring

Best Rubber Gym Flooring Rolls

Flooring Inc 8MM Strong Rubber Rolls

GGR Score: 4.7

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Product Highlights

• 5/16&#; thick rubber
• Has a great high-end look and feel
• Fairly easy to install

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Doesn&#;t have the funky rubber smell some mats do
• Commercial gyms most often trust this type of flooring
• High-end look and feel
• Variety of fleck color options

Cons

• One of the more expensive flooring options at up to $3/square foot
• Use carpet tape to keep in place
• Installation takes longer than most other options

Bottom Line

If you want flooring that is consistent, comes with more options, and often less smell than stall mats for your home gym, then Flooring Inc Rubber Rolls around 8mm or thicker is a great choice.

If you want flooring that is consistent, comes with more options, and often less smell than stall mats for your home gym, then Flooring Inc Rubber Rolls around 8mm or thicker is a great choice. This is actually the flooring that I have in my latest garage gym build. Although it&#;s not going to provide any further shock protection over stall mats, it does move less, has less off-gas, and overall has a more premium look and feel.

Relative to other rubber mats, this flooring is 8 millimeters. That&#;s slightly less than the horse stall mats and interlocking tiles. However, after using them for almost a year in my personal garage gym, I&#;ve become a fan. They hold up against all my gym and cardio equipment and have enough cushioning to protect my floor. Also, these are the same mats most often used in commercial gym applications.

With a number of fleck color options, the Flooring Inc rolls have a very clean and professional look. That said, they are expensive, and the installation is pretty labor-intensive. They run between $2.25 and $3 a square foot and come in at least 15-foot rolls, which you&#;ll clearly need to cut. For the install, you&#;ll need to use carpet tape to hold the mat in place. In my opinion, it&#;s worth the work because of the eventual look and feel.

Best Rubber Interlocking Tile Flooring: Living.Fit Gym Mats

Good for: Home gym users who want interlocking mats to prevent shifting while lifting

Best Interlocking Tile Flooring

Living.Fit Gym Mats

GGR Score: 4.1

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Product Highlights

• Heavy-duty black rubber

• 1m x 1m squares (40&#; x 40&#;)

• 10mm thickness (0.4&#;)

• Interlocking edges

• Spike resistance

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Spike resistance
• Interlocking pieces
• Heavy-duty rubber
• Free shipping

Cons

• No reviews
• Odd dimensions if combining with other gym flooring

Bottom Line

With interlocking pieces and free shipping, Living Fit Gym Mats are an excellent choice for gym flooring. Made of a heavy-duty black rubber, the mat is spike resistant and durable enough to last, backed by a three-year warranty.

We tend to not recommend puzzle-piece gym mats, as they are often made with a high-density EVA foam, and those foam tiles don&#;t stay locked well and also get dirty easily. That&#;s not the case with Living.Fit Gym Mats. Made with a heavy-duty rubber, these square stall mats have jigsaw edges that stay locked together even through heavy lifting.

Garage Gym Review&#;s Head of Content, Kate Meier, tried these mats at her gym and was immediately impressed: &#;I didn&#;t expect such high-quality mats. They have a great thickness and the rubber is fantastic. It has a great grip to it&#;three of us walked on it and were shocked.&#; At almost a half-inch thick, these mats will give a good amount of cushioning for your flooring underneath.

At just under $50 for a 40-inch-by-40-inch mat, this is an inexpensive option for your gym space, whether for storing exercise equipment or for dropping heavy deadlifts. It can handle a solid drop from an Olympic barbell; it&#;s actually spike-resistant, meaning it can hold up against most damage you&#;d expect in a home gym.

Kate does warn that the gym mats arrive rolled up, so it&#;d be wise to let them lay out to settle, perhaps with some weight plates on top to speed it along. With the mats flat, they&#;ll be easier to interlock. They aren&#;t the lightest gym mats, but shouldn&#;t be a problem if you are okay with moving weight. If you can be prepared for the fresh rubber smell, then these interlocking tiles can be a great addition to your home gym.

Best Soundproof Home Gym Flooring: SecondSkin Stomp Mat

Good for: Those who want to reduce noise in their home gym or for their downstairs neighbors

Best Soundproof Home Gym Flooring

Second Skin Stomp Mat

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Product Highlights

• 4&#; x 6&#; dimensions

• Black recycled rubber

• Sound isolation floor mats

• 0.25&#; or 0.5&#; thickness

• R-value per square inch: 2.0

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Durable
• Soundproofing capabilities
• Can be used in multiple settings for many uses

Cons

• Pricey compared to other gym flooring options, but comes with free shipping
• Fairly heavy, especially the thicker mats

Bottom Line

The Second Skin Stomp Mat is a great choice for gym flooring, especially for those who need the ability to soundproof their gym. Coming in two different thickness options, these mats can provide noise reduction for home gyms, as well as for drum sets and laundry machines. Although a bit pricey, its noise reduction might well be worth the price.

If you&#;re tired of the sound of clanging barbells or don&#;t want to upset your downstairs neighbor, the appropriately-named SecondSkin Stomp Mat is a perfect choice. These mats have even been trusted by laundromats for silencing machines that tend to cause a lot of noise&#;so they can work for your loaded barbell and bumper plates, too.

RELATED: Rogue Competition Bumpers Review

We haven&#;t personally tested this home gym flooring, yet, but we&#;re so enticed by the specs that I&#;m actually installing it in my mother&#;s home gym (shhh, don&#;t tell her &#; it&#;s a secret). Here&#;s why we&#;re confident in recommending them: both the 1/4-inch and 1/2-inch thickness options have an R-value of 2.0 per square inch. (R-value is how thermal temperature insulation is measured).

Each mat is 4 feet by 6 feet, which is more than enough to cover a weightlifting platform, that wobbly exercise bike, or anything else where you want the best soundproofing.

Best Artificial Turf for Gyms: Flooring Inc Performance Turf Rolls

Good for: Athletes looking to minimize pressure on the joints

Best Artificial Turf for Gyms

Flooring Inc Performance Turf Rolls

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit Gym Rubber Flooring.

GGR Score: 4.8

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Product Highlights

• Highly versatile for high-impact work
• Come in cushioned and non-cushioned options
• Can be used inside or outside

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Excellent shock absorption
• Fairly easy install with carpet tape
• Cleans easily
• Excellent durability to withstand explosive exercise as well as heavy weights
• Able to use inside or outside

Cons

• Cost is around $2.79/square foot
• Not ideal for weightlifting
• Not as gentle for floor exercises as other materials

Bottom Line

The Performance Turf Rolls are a great choice because of their versatility. They work well inside and outside, and if you choose the non-cushioned back option, there are holes for drainage.

Synthetic and artificial turf has become a staple in athletics over the last 50 years1 and more, and it definitely has its place in home gyms, under the right circumstances of course. Flooring Inc has several gym-specific turf options. The Performance Turf Rolls are a great choice because of their versatility. They work well inside and outside, and if you choose the non-cushioned back option, there are holes for drainage.

Unlike some other options, the Performance Turf Rolls aren&#;t nylon; they are polyethylene, which makes them softer and a better choice for floor-based movements (though turf is still fairly abrasive to lie on). I have turf in my gym and love it for really high-impact exercise. Turf is well-known for its ability to minimize the joint shock effect of activities like box jumps and bounding jumps. I also love turf for sled drags.

Turf is pretty easy to install, especially if you can just roll it out. Carpet tape easily secures it in place and keeps it from moving while you&#;re doing sled drags or pushes.

The downside to turf is that it tends to be expensive. I don&#;t recommend outfitting your entire gym space in turf, either, because it isn&#;t designed for weightlifting. However, a small turf area looks great, is easy to maintain, and is useful to protect your joints.

Best Budget Stall Mats: Tractor Supply Rubber Stall Mats

Good for: Any home gym in a basement, garage or even outdoors

Best Budget Stall Mats

Tractor Supply 3/4&#; Rubber Stall Mats

GGR Score: 4.3

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Product Highlights

• Multi-use rubber mats with a textured surface
• Shock- and sound-absorbent
• Affordable

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Great durability for any exercise
• Anti-skid surface
• Good noise reduction for dropped barbells
• Less than $60/piece (less than $2.50/square foot)
• Five-year warranty from Tractor Supply

Cons

• Heavy, weighing around 100 pounds for each piece
• Some people don&#;t like the rubber smell
• Surface is not smooth; these have raised bumps
• May be harder to clean than smooth surfaces

Bottom Line

These horse stall mats from Tractor Supply use recycled rubber, are 3/4" thick, 4 'x 6' in size, and weigh upwards of 100 pounds. You can find horse stall mats at other farm supply stores, and they will be similar in dimensions. The thickness makes this flooring sound-absorbent.

The absolute staple for most home gym floors and especially garage gyms the world over is the horse stall mat. For most people, the easiest and cheapest place to buy these is from Tractor Supply. You can order online or simply go to the store to pick them up (as long as your vehicle is big enough to transport them).

These horse stall mats from Tractor Supply use recycled rubber, are 3/4&#; thick, 4 &#;x 6&#; in size, and weigh upwards of 100 pounds. You can find horse stall mats for home gyms at other farm supply stores, and they will be similar in dimensions. The thickness makes this flooring sound absorbent.

These mats withstand literally any exercise: If you&#;re into powerlifting or CrossFit, using powerlifting barbells or CrossFit barbells for deadlifts, squats, bench press, clean and jerk, situps, etc these mats withstand literally any exercise.

RELATED: Best Weight Benches

At around 100 pounds each, the mats themselves can be moved, but it may require more than one person, just depending on your strength. A hundred pounds doesn&#;t seem like a lot, but it&#;s an odd object, so it can get a little clunky. However, these are relatively easy to cut to accommodate odd dimensions and small sizes.

It&#;s important to note that these do not have a smooth surface. That can be great for grip, but some people find it harder to clean. Also, horse stall mats are notorious for the, um, funky rubber smell. I, personally, don&#;t mind it because that&#;s what a garage gym smells like to me, but keep that in mind when choosing this option.

Best Heavy-Duty Home Gym Flooring: PLAE Forge

Best Heavy-Duty Home Gym Flooring

PLAE Forge

GGR Score: 4.8

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Product Highlights

• 12 mm-thick rubber flooring
• Grippy
• 5-year warranty
• Easy maintenance

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Exceptionally grippy
• 12 mm thickness absorbs shock well
• 5-year warranty
• Easy to maintain

Cons

• Only comes in one color (black) and thickness option (12 mm)
• Labor-intensive installation process

Bottom Line

A high-performance gym flooring option that provides grip, noise and shock absorption, and protection for your floors.

If you&#;re looking for a gym flooring option that can withstand continuous high-performance training, we recommend the Forge rubber flooring by PLAE. We actually installed this at our Garage Gym Reviews headquarters, along with their Achieve flooring in an 18mm thickness (the Forge is a more affordable version of the Achieve). 

This flooring has held up beautifully despite our reviewers sweating on it, dragging heavy treadmills and exercise bikes across it, and slamming heavy barbells on it. The 12-millimeter thickness also provides excellent shock and sound absorption, not to mention the fact that you feel secure on it thanks to its super-grip technology. 

To be clear, these aren&#;t removable mats but actual flooring that will be installed on top of whatever&#;s currently in your garage gym. The good news is it works with just about any type of subflooring (such as wood, plywood, or concrete). 

PLAE typically works with fitness studio owners, but that doesn&#;t mean you can&#;t install this in a home gym (just make sure you&#;re going to be there for a while). In fact, their white glove design and installation service sets them apart. Expect to get royal treatment with Plae.

If you own a gym of any kind and want to go for extra protection, opt for Achieve. But for home gym owners looking for high-caliber flooring, the Forge is our pick.

Best Cheap Home Gym Flooring: AmazonBasics EVA Puzzle Exercise Mat

Good for: Home gym owners on a budget who need to protect their floors under heavy equipment

Best Cheap Home Gym Flooring

AmazonBasics EVA Puzzle Exercise Mat

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Product Highlights

• Use EVA foam
• Easy to install
• Affordable

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Just a little over a dollar a square foot
• Interlocking flooring tiles are easy to connect and install
• Ideal for placing under heavy exercise equipment
• Highly portable and easy to move

Cons

• Not as durable as rubber
• Porous and not as easy to clean
• Not as slip-resistant as rubber flooring
• Will wear down quickly

Bottom Line

These are best for low-impact home workouts because heavyweights will cause them to break down easily.

If you&#;re on a bare-bones budget and need something quick to protect your floor, you can opt for AmazonBasics Foam Interlocking Exercise Floor Mats. These are best for low-impact home workouts because heavyweights will cause them to break down easily. (Amazon has many high-density EVA foam flooring options, like IncStores, as well.)

RELATED: Building a Budget Home Gym on Amazon

For example, if you want to have something softer under you while doing yoga or lightweight dumbbell exercises, foam might be okay. They are also great under heavy equipment like a treadmill or rower because they can provide some protection for your floor.

We do not recommend foam mats for high-impact activity, like CrossFit, plyometrics, or heavy lifting.

RELATED: Best CrossFit Equipment for a Home Gym

Keep in mind that in socks, you might slip easier on a foam mat. Sometimes, foam mats even slip on the concrete itself and would definitely slide around on the hardwood. If you need a non-slip surface, rubber would be the way to go. However, foam mats can get the job done for certain exercises and certain workout spaces.

Best Carpet Tile for Home Gyms: Feather Peel and Stick Carpet Tiles

Good for: Very low-impact workout spaces featuring high cardio and lightweights

Best Carpet Tile for Gyms

Feather Peel and Stick Carpet Tiles

GGR Score: 4

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Product Highlights

• Easy peel-and-stick installation
• Multiple design options
• $2.67 per square foot
• Free Amazon Prime shipping
• Great for lightweight exercises
• Stain shield protection

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Easy to install
• Lightweight
• Free Amazon Prime shipping

Cons

• Different designs are the same basic color
• Not many customer reviews
• Not great for heavy lifters

Bottom Line

Feather Peel and Stick carpet tiles are a budget-friendly and easy-to-install home gym flooring option that feels like carpet.

Not all home gyms are in garages. Living rooms, spare bedrooms, and basement areas also double as workout spaces. Depending on your activity, the carpet may be just right. Feather Peel and Stick Carpet Tiles are great because they are easy to install, look great, and are fairly easy to maintain.

Carpet tiles may be a good option for you if you tend to do lower-weight exercises, cardio on a treadmill or exercise bike, stretching, yoga, and pilates, for example. The peel-and-stick carpet tiles give you the ability to mix and match colors to create a cool-looking space.

Where I wouldn&#;t use carpet tiles is in a home gym where you&#;re using heavy weights and barbells. The carpet is just too thin and will not provide the shock absorption necessary to protect your floors or foundation.

RELATED: 10 Most Important Budget Home Gym Tips

Best Vinyl Gym Flooring: Flooring Inc Modular Grid-Loc Tiles

Good for: People who want their home gym to be aesthetically pleasing

Best Vinyl Gym Flooring

Flooring Inc Modular Grid-Loc Tile

GGR Score: 4.1

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Product Highlights

• Multi-purpose design
• Interlocking system for ease of installment
• Nice-looking, low-maintenance option

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Water- and moisture resistant
• Resistant to mold and mildew
• Aesthetically pleasing
• Easy to install
• Low maintenance

Cons

• Hard floor that offers some durability but little shock absorption
• Won&#;t withstand extremely heavy lifting
• Expensive at around $6.50/square foot

Bottom Line

This is a good option if you want nice-looking flooring in your home gym and you don't drop weights or do high-impact activities.

Not all home gyms are in garages and basements. If your space is in an area where you need it to look a little less dungeon-y and a little more presentable, Flooring Inc Modular Grid-Loc Tile could work. It has a vinyl top and gives you the look of hardwood or even tile without the porous and breakable nature of either material. It&#;s often water-resistant and staves off issues like mold and mildew.

RELATED: 10 Best Budget Home Gym Setups

Now, if you&#;re doing heavy deadlifts or dropping weights from overhead, steer clear of vinyl. That&#;s a recipe for disaster. But if you want a good-looking workout room to do some cardio, dance, HIIT training, yoga, or pilates, vinyl suffices. Some basketball and sports courts also use vinyl planks.

Generally speaking, vinyl flooring can be affordable when you&#;re looking for something that looks nice. It&#;s definitely cheaper than hardwood, for example, but it&#;s going to run you more than simply throwing down some horse stall mats. Flooring Inc Modular Grid-Loc Tile costs about $6.50/square foot.

RELATED: Best Budget Home Gym Equipment

Other Home Gym Flooring We Researched

ProsourceFit Puzzle Exercise Mat: This flooring option has countless positive reviews on Amazon, with people using it for home gyms and even bars. Customers warn, however, that you should order all the flooring you need at once, as the company sometimes changes the interlocking mechanisms that result in new flooring not connecting properly with previously ordered installments.

IncStores Tough Rubber Roll: Good for easy cleaning, though customer reviews state the initial rubber smell is strong (but goes away with time).

Stamina Gym Flooring: In our Stamina Gym Flooring review, we gave high marks to this eco-friendly rubber flooring.

What to Look for in a Home Gym Floor

Before investing in some high-quality gym flooring, take into account a few considerations:

Material

There are a few basic types of material to choose from:

• Rubber: For the type of workouts I do, rubber gym flooring is really the only viable option. It&#;s the most durable material, easy to clean, easy to install, and protects your floors. I&#;ve used it with barbells, free weights, conditioning equipment, and more.
• Plastic: In my experience, plastic usually ends up cracking under big weights. (See Swisstrax: I dropped kettlebells from 5 feet on it.) However, plastic can look nice and be easy to clean, it just depends on the floor exercises you&#;re doing. I don&#;t recommend this for weight training.
• Foam: There are some great uses for foam, like sitting under heavy exercise equipment. It&#;s essentially like a yoga mat: Foam can provide some comfort, but it ends up being unstable for squatting, and it is not water-resistant.
• Turf: I love turf for certain workouts and exercises, especially for athletes who do a lot of high-impact activity. However, it is cost-prohibitive and not the best material for weightlifting and barbell exercises.
• Vinyl: I would reserve a vinyl floor for someone who is really into aesthetics because it has the look of hardwood floors. However, this is not ideal for using free weights and doing weightlifting. This is more of a pilates or yoga studio feel, and you would have to certainly have a yoga mat to be comfortable doing floor exercises on it. Vinyl can be moisture resistant and resistant to mold and mildew as well, which is a bonus.

Durability

Are you going to be dropping weights like adjustable dumbbells or kettlebells? Are you worried about the flooring underneath the gym floor? If you said yes to either of these, then finding a durable material, like rubber flooring, is a must. Rubber and turf are among the most shock absorbent, whereas vinyl and carpet won&#;t do much.

Type of Exercise

For intensive activities like jumping rope or weight training, use rubber or foam flooring&#;it will absorb impact better than carpet, vinyl, or grass. These materials are more suitable for yoga or serve as a foundation for exercise bikes or treadmills.

Noise Dampening

If you&#;ve ever dropped a barbell from overhead, you know the kind of noise it makes. Putting in a thick rubber floor can dampen that sound. Some people even pad deadlift areas with extra mats to absorb the sound.

Cost

Foam is easily the cheapest home gym flooring you can find, and turf tends to be on the more expensive end. Within the world of rubber flooring, there is variance in price. And be aware that companies and e-sellers like Amazon all list the price differently: per foot, per roll, per 4×6 piece, etc. Figure out what each cost per square foot for a good comparison.

Your Space Dimensions

If you have a perfectly square or rectangle space, then your options are wide open. However, most garage gyms have uneven walls, water heaters, and other items to work around. If that&#;s your space, find a material that you can easily cut and move around, like rubber flooring.

The size of your space will also factor into your cost, since you&#;ll obviously have more flooring to cover. Depending on your budget, you may need to consider a more budget-friendly option for a larger garage gym, but you may be able to afford a more premium flooring for a more compact space.

RELATED: Best Compact Exercise Equipment

Benefits of Home Gym Flooring

The biggest benefit of home gym flooring is that it protects the foundation of the garage, room, or wherever else you may be working out. It should go without saying that a loaded barbell is a heavy object and when dropped (whether intentional or not) can cause significant damage to concrete, wood, and other surfaces.

Other than that, home gym flooring can also reduce the noise a barbell makes when it hits the ground.

How We Picked and Tested The Flooring

Home gym flooring is relatively simple, at least when compared to finding the best Olympic barbell or best trap bar. There are really only a few different materials used as flooring for a home gym: rubber floor, vinyl flooring, foam mats, carpet tiles, and artificial turf.

To begin my search for the best flooring for a home gym, I ran out to the garage gym to see all of the samples I had on hand. What I&#;ve done in the past in building different home gyms was order samples from most manufacturers to feel and see the difference between all of the options they make.

What becomes clear rather quickly is the fact that most rubber flooring varies primarily on aesthetics and thickness, unless you go with a really high-end option like Plae Flooring that uses multiple laminated layers to suppress sound and vibration.

After training on all the different types of mats, I weighed the thickness versus the price of rubber matting. Thicker is almost always better. It will suppress sound, protect your foundation, and protect your equipment better than thinner matting. However, it requires more material, often uses special molds, and is, therefore, more expensive.

Here are the specifications we judged the matting on to decide how to rank the various options:

Material Used

There is a wide range of materials used for home gym flooring, but, by and large, the best is rubber. Not all rubber is the same. Some are recycled while others use virgin rubber. In most cases, avoid foam and plastic, go with rubber.

Thickness

The thicker the flooring, the better (to a degree.) Thicker flooring will suppress sound, protect your foundation and protect your equipment.

Sound Suppression Abilities

Suppressing sound in a home gym is an often-requested feature of flooring. However, most flooring that is designed specifically for sound suppression is very expensive. They use unique molds and a lot of material.

Grip

Potentially slipping during a deadlift is something that simply should not ever happen. You should feel secure on the floor during all movements with both shoes on and off.

Compression Under Foot

The ideal gym flooring should not compress underfoot. Compression leads to instability and is the same reason it&#;s not recommended to wear thick-soled running shoes while squatting.

Compression Under Load

Although flooring shouldn&#;t compress greatly while underfoot, it should compress under a heavy load. Compressing under a barbell and plates will protect your equipment.

Value

The features and quality should be reflected by the price. What we&#;re looking for is the best value, not just the best without considering the cost.

How to Clean Home Gym Matting

The best method to clean horse stall mats is with a Simple Green cleaner and a deck brush. Both can be found at your local grocery or hardware store for less than $10. If the smell lingers, you can try baking soda or essential oils (tried and tested).

RELATED: How To Clean Rubber Gym Flooring

In addition to that, I suggest getting a leaf blower and blowing the mats off periodically. If you&#;re not in a garage gym, a vacuum can work well too, although it will take longer. Personally, I use both a battery-powered leaf blower and vacuum so I don&#;t have to deal with cords.

Why I Generally Don&#;t Recommend Foam Home Gym Flooring

A lot of people immediately think of foam home gym flooring when weighing their options. It may be a cheaper alternative to most commercial grade flooring choices, however, it is not ideal.

Less Durability

When choosing gym flooring, you want something that will last for years to come, protect the floor or foundation of your home (garage, basement, bedroom, etc.), and be easy to clean/disinfect.

Imagine deadlifting or dropping a weight onto the foam. That foam will decompress over time, which may result in damaging the floor underneath. The cracks in between can also cause smaller items to become lost. Unfortunately, I learned this too late and now have some small cracks in my basement floor from heavy deadlifts.

Not Water-Resistant

Next, even if you&#;re the only person lifting in your gym, the foam tiles are porous. They absorb any type of liquid, whether it&#;s an all-purpose cleaner, sweat, a sports drink, or that whey protein shake you made minutes before it fell to the ground. As you move quickly to mop up the excess liquid, it will be too late.

Not Non-Slip

Foam tiles are even more of a potential injury nightmare when they become wet because they become super slick. When I reinstalled my tiles, I thought most of them were dry and began to install and walk on them, which was a huge mistake. I nearly wiped out some of the tiles still holding on to water, even after hours of drying time outside.

Foam flooring may be cost-effective, but the potential risks outweigh the price. You don&#;t want to be liable if someone slips or falls due to faulty flooring. Your best bet is to spend the money on our top pick and install the correct flooring the first time.

Best Home Gym Flooring FAQs

How thick should home gym flooring be?

Home gym floors should always be sturdy enough to withstand strenuous exercises and the use of weights or equipment. Increased cushioning will also be gentler on joints and will protect an existing floor below. Shock-absorbing foam is ideal for home gyms with weight machines and cardio equipment. To offer floor protection and traction, this puzzle-like material should be 0.32 inches thick or thicker.

The most common thickness for home gym flooring is 8 millimeters. CrossFit exercises and Olympic lifting, on the other hand, require at least 3/8 inches. If you intend to drop very heavy dumbbells and/or kettlebells on a regular basis, we recommend going with the 1/2 or 3/4 inches just to be cautious.

What is the best rubber flooring for a home gym?

Depending on how much wear and tear you expect from your home gym use (dropping weights and dumbbells), the thickness you may want or need might vary. Most rubber flooring is about 8 millimeters thick, but there are thicker options for lifters who will be dropping weights routinely.

Our favorite pick for rubber flooring is the 8-millimeter rubber rolls from Flooring Inc. However, for a thicker flooring, you can opt for PLAE Forge or for budget horse stall mats from Tractor Supply.

Is foam or rubber better for gym flooring?

Foam can often be an inexpensive alternative to rubber flooring for a home gym. It&#;s great for using underneath home gym storage, or as padding for bodyweight exercises. However, if you&#;re looking to lift and drop weights, dumbbells, and kettlebells, you&#;ll want something a bit more durable, like a rubber floor.

What type of flooring is best for a home gym?

The ideal type of flooring for your home gym will protect any subflooring underneath it and also provide you with the durability and protection to go through your typical workout routine. Rubber tiles and rolls are some of the most common types of gym flooring due to its durability and protection for lifting and dropping weights, but foam, turf, vinyl, and other types of flooring can be used for different purposes and modes of training.

References

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Kate Meier, NASM-CPT, USAW-L1, CF-L1

Kate has nearly two decades of experience working in both the fitness and content industries. On the fitness side, she has worked in a number of settings: youth athletics, owned a CrossFit affiliate, personal training, weightlifting coach, CrossFit coach, and fitness floor consultant at a YMCA. Personally, Kate enjoys competing in weightlifting and stores her barbell in her bedroom.On the content side, Kate&#;s background is in newspaper journalism. She branched into public relations for the American Red Cross for about five years and then moving into content marketing.Today, her work at Garage Gym Reviews blends her excitement for fitness and love of writing. If she isn&#;t reviewing fitness equipment, you can find her working out or spending time with her two children.Certifications:NASM Certified Personal Trainer CrossFit Level 1 Trainer USA Weightlifting Level 1 Trainer

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