On those days when driving to the gym or yoga studio for a workout feels like the last thing you want to do, having a high-quality fitness area in the home becomes extremely valuable and convenient! Designing a home gym allows you to maximize your space to the fullest and helps eliminate the likelihood of skipping your fitness plan on unmotivated days. As a result, regular fitness will help energize your days and help keep your body in great shape to be your most productive self.
If you have a ‘flex’ room, basement, or unused corner of the house that you can convert into a home gym, you will need to make sure it is prepared for high activity and remains easy to clean. By choosing a resilient, durable home gym floor, you can better achieve your goals without ever leaving the house!
Whether you have an entire room or just a portion of room that you can devote to fitness, creating a home gym is an outstanding use of space. Do you have a flex room in your home? A flex room is a room that often changes in function, capable of being repurposed as an office, a nursery, a bedroom, or in this case, a fitness room! Basement home gyms are extremely common and often offer extended open space. A corner of a mudroom can work well and keep equipment out of the general eyesight of guests. You can even use a finished attic or garage for home gyms, just make sure the floors are adequately braced, that there is adequate airflow and AC, and that there’s no exposed insulation. For an ideal home yoga studio, you can easily craft a tranquil corner in any room with large windows that let plenty of warm sun rays in.To resist heavy workout equipment, weights, active foot traffic, and moisture from sweat and drinks, the best home gym flooring options will offer durability, scratch resistance, and moisture protection. Rubberized fitness floors are durable, shock-absorbent, slip-resistant, and quiet underfoot. In fact, Centaur rubberized flooring systems are constructed with commercial spaces in mind, so you really can bring home the durable, heavy flooring from your favorite gym! Easy to maintain, rubber gym flooring puts a bounce in your step during activity and supports heavier workout equipment with ease. Whether you prefer rubber flooring tiles that do not require adhesive and can be moved from room to room or the seamless look of rubber fitness floor sheet, these styles are also ideal for home gyms in basements located below ground level.To easily convert a home gym back into a stylish space for a different function, versatile luxury vinyl tile or planks , as well as sheet vinyl , can provide the resilience, inherent water resistance, and easy maintenance of vinyl to support exercise, while the realistic wood and stone visuals support the décor theme of the home. Laminate and waterproof hardwood offer superior durability if you anticipate high foot traffic or gym activity, want the solid feel of wood, and give the realistic look you love. Make sure your laminate is warranted for the level of water resistance you need, as well as below-grade suitability and floating floor capability if desired. No matter what type of flooring type you prefer, high-character, multi-shade, and reclaimed looks are savvy styles that help camouflage scratches, scuffs, and wear and tear.Spilled water bottles and sports drinks, falling sweat beads, as well as the scruffs and marks from footwear, are all common flooring offenders in a home gym. It pays to have easy-to-clean home gym floors that will inhibit moisture absorption and only require paper towels to soak up liquid spills and standing puddles. With waterproof hardwood, laminate, luxury vinyl, sheet vinyl, and composition rubber flooring, your regular maintenance routine is simply dust mopping, sweeping, or vacuuming all abrasive debris from your floor, and spot-treatment as needed. Depending on how many times you work out during the week, clean your floors afterward at least 1-2 times a week and check with your flooring manufacturer for more thorough cleaning and disinfecting guidelines.
After you finish installing home gym flooring, it’s time to personalize your space for supreme inspiration! Think of your favorite motivating colors, even a subtle nod to your alma mater or favorite sports teams, to customize the design scheme. Invest in high-quality gym mats to support your footing, support workout equipment such as a Peloton bike, and protect your floors. To liven up the walls, consider mounting a television for streaming music and programs, hanging up sports memorabilia, and adding wall decals, neon’s, or framed motivational scenes or posters that will give the room a fun energy.
Consider bringing in plants to enhance the mood as well as provide fresh air and aromas, reduce carbon dioxide and dust, and serve as natural humidifiers. If you have any medals or trophies from competition that you are proud of, find a way to display them for added motivation. Before investing in large, heavy equipment, start small with purchases like free weights or kettlebells to assess what you need for training. Then, you can decide if pieces like a treadmill, bike, climbing wall, row machine, or speed bag are necessary for your fitness goals.
---
Not only will creating a home gym allow you to save a little extra money each month by canceling a gym membership, but you can also potentially improve your home’s value with fitness-minded homebuyers. Complete our Floor Genius Quiz to receive flooring style recommendations that fit your preferences and receive an exclusive code for free flooring samples of your quiz results! Get your fitness area started today– the sooner your home can help you reach personal goals, the better.
Planning out a home gym can be a lot of fun. You can choose new equipment, weights, decor and more. Flooring is one of the most critical aspects of a home gym’s design.
You want to choose home exercise room flooring that is beautiful and fits in with your overall gym design but is also durable and will stand up to the rigors of regular workouts. Thankfully, many different types of flooring are great for home exercise rooms. This guide covers several exercise room flooring ideas to help you choose the best option for your home gym.
Before selecting the flooring for your exercise room, you should consider some crucial aspects. The right home gym flooring for you depends on the types of workouts you typically do and how you will use the space. However, some common characteristics to look for in home gym flooring options include the following:
Beyond the individual characteristics of the flooring options, you’ll also want to consider just how your family will use the room. You’ll want extra protection for your flooring for heavy workouts with weightlifting or large equipment. For lighter fitness routines, you can use more aesthetically pleasing options that make your home gym look like a studio. Consider whether heavy sweating will be a concern in your home gym and if you need extra shock absorption for joint protection.
Take Our Quiz to Find Your Flooring Style
Depending on what room you plan to put your home gym in, you can choose different floors to complement the space and location. Some living areas can withstand certain temperatures and outside elements, which impacts your decision. Take a look at two circumstances that can influence your choice of home gym floors:
While you can do a workout in just about any room of the house, if you exercise regularly, you should have a dedicated space for these activities and design a room for this use. Choosing the right type of flooring will better protect your subfloors, equipment and health. For any home gym or workout room, consider these top flooring options.
For a versatile and affordable option, luxury vinyl flooring is excellent for home gyms. This flooring type is available in tiles or planks and comes in various colors and styles, even mimicking the look and feel of wood floors. Luxury vinyl flooring resists mold, mildew and moisture, making it an excellent choice as a durable gym floor. It’s also very easy to clean and maintain.
Below are some of the advantages of using luxury vinyl flooring for your home gym:
No matter what style of flooring you choose for your home gym, you may also want to consider extra protection for your flooring, equipment and yourself. Add some quality rugs or rubber mats, depending on your style and type of exercise, to use during your workouts and your flooring will last even longer.
You may not think of carpet for this type of room, but it is one of the most popular choices for home gym floors because of its comfort, continuity and flexibility with the rest of the home. The best carpet for exercise rooms is low-pile or commercial-grade style. Carpet provides excellent shock absorption to make workouts easy on the joints, good traction for cardio workouts and good sound-dampening qualities. However, regular carpet cleanings are a must with sweaty workouts.
Read through the benefits of installing carpeting in your home gym:
For an attractive and affordable flooring option, consider laminate floors for your home gym. This flooring provides hardwood’s beauty at a lower cost and can work very well for certain workouts like dance, aerobics, yoga and more. However, we don’t recommend laminate floors for weightlifting or other workouts using heavier equipment, as they can easily scratch and dent.
Some advantages of choosing laminate floors for your home gym include:
Hardwood flooring is perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing option for many home gyms. Wood floors give exercise rooms that professional studio look while providing long-lasting durability. If you plan to sell your home in the future, hardwood floors can increase the value of the home. This type of flooring is ideal for several different types of workouts, including dance and yoga. However, if weightlifting is your preferred exercise method, note that dropped weights can splinter, crack or dent the wood flooring.
Take a look at a few pros of choosing hardwood for your home gym: