The 5 Best Home Gym Flooring Ideas | Family Handyman

By D.G. Sciortino

Updated on Sep. 17, 2024

Here are the best home gym flooring ideas to help you find the best option for your space.

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Having a home gym is a great way to maintain fitness and health. An important part of creating the perfect home gym is to incorporate home gym flooring that will support your workout and exercise needs.

While you’re at it, also check out these fantastic options for home gym paint colors.

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Well, that depends on what surface the flooring is going over and what kind of exercise equipment and routines you partake in. According to Men’s Health, it’s critical that all gym flooring surfaces are durable, have proper traction and have impact shock absorption. Otherwise, you run the risk of slipping, injuring yourself or incurring chronic joint pain. This buyer’s guide will help you figure out what the best home gym flooring is for your home.

Rubber is the ultimate home gym flooring option because it’s great for covering any surface, including hard concrete floors, and can support even the heaviest exercise equipment. Rubber is popular for home gym flooring because it offers maximum durability and shock absorbency.

You can buy rubber flooring in rolls, mats or interlocking tiles in different thicknesses and sizes on Amazon. American Floor Mats has 4-foot x 6-foot rubber rolls for less than $100. Those looking to cover a larger area can check out RevTime’s 8-foot x 6-foot rubber floor mat for around $150. For interlocking rubber tiles, consider IncStores 23-inch x 23-inch interlocking tiles made from recycled rubber at $70 for four tiles.

Foam home gym flooring is like having exercise mats laid out all over the floor. Foam floor tiles interlock for easy installation and are portable. They offer comfort for floor exercises like yoga and Pilates. Foam is a lot cheaper than rubber, at $1 to $4 per square foot, but its also a lot less durable. It generally isn’t suitable for heavy equipment, super-intense workouts or to be placed over hard surfaces like concrete.

Amazon has all sorts of different options that come in a range of sizes and thicknesses, from colorful foam tiles, foam tiles that look like wood, and foam tiles that are topped with rubber, for extra durability.

Vinyl flooring is another great option for home gym flooring. It’s water resistant, easy to clean and helps your gym blend nicely into your living space. Rubber Flooring Inc. touts vinyl flooring as the best option for a garage or basement gym.

One reason for choosing vinyl for garage and basement gym flooring is because it’s mold, mildew and moisture resistant. It’s also extremely durable and can handle the weight of your heavy gym equipment. However, vinyl isn’t the greatest when it comes to shock absorption.

Amazon sells vinyl mats that are great for placing under heavy equipment like a treadmill. This GOPLUS PVC Vinyl mat is 6-1/2-feet x 3 feet and costs less than $40. Or, you can grab a 40-pack of 6-inch x 36-inch self-adhesive vinyl floor planks by Achim Home Furnishings for around $70 if you need to cover a larger area. They also sell 12-inch x 12-inch self-adhesive vinyl floor tiles that look like wood and are $11 for 20 vinyl tiles.

Carpet is also popular for home gym flooring. You can have wall-to-wall carpet installed or use carpet tiles for easy DIY installation. Just make sure you select low, commercial-grade pile for good traction and stability.

Carpet can seamlessly blend in with your home decor and will likely support the weight of your exercise machinery. Most carpet, however, tends to trap sweat and moisture, and has low-shock absorption, though carpet pads can help. Anti-fatigue carpet tiles that have higher shock absorbency, too. A 20-pack of self-adhesive Nispora heavy-duty 20-inch x 20-inch carpet tiles sells for $70.

Cork flooring offers high shock absorbency and support through intense workouts. It’s also an eco-friendly option that’s resistant to fire, mold, mites and mildew, making cork flooring a good choice for basements. That, plus the fact that cork is prone to fading in direct sunlight, makes a floating cork floor a fine choice for home gyms in the basement or garage, especially.

If you need your flooring to support heavy machinery or free weights, try doubling up with glue-down cork tiles on top of a floating cork floor, or choose another flooring style.