Its flooring is Essential to any gym—it is the base for everything! Flooring is certainly something that should never be overlooked. However, quite often, it is and becomes one of the last things we consider when planning or building a space such as a gym or studio. The primary reason is that we focus on the essential equipment and accessories, neglecting to think about flooring. According to fitness supplier Mirafit, this is a surprisingly common error for many owners, so you are not alone.
So why should we avoid overlooking flooring?
Primarily because it provides some pretty important functions for our home studio and commercial gyms, as outlined below.
Safety—Imagine you or one of your customers is lifting heavy weights and trips or slips—disaster! This would be a huge problem. Not only would you or your customer be injured, but you also have an obligation to yourself and your customers to ensure that the floor of your gym space or studio is appropriate for working out using equipment.
Sound—This can be an issue in commercial and home gym spaces. For example, in a commercial gym, multiple people lifting and dropping weights, such as dumbbells, barbells, and even machines, make noise, which bounces around the space. Choosing the right flooring can dampen much of this noise and make a gym more comfortable.
Whereas a home gym can share the same issues, dropping weights on a concrete, carpet, or laminate floor in a shed/garage with little or no insulation can make a big sound. If you want to fall out with your neighbors quickly, leave the flooring off your list. If you would like to remain everyone’s favorite neighbor, then decide to install gym flooring.
Aesthetics—Flooring can help the aesthetics of your gym with various finishes of floor tile. You can influence the feel of your gym by choosing different flooring finishes or color combinations. Some tiles contain colors alongside a black base; for example, some have grey, orange, or mixed flecks.
The benefit of including a fleck pattern in your gym flooring is that it will not identify dirt or dust as easily and will become a bit more hidden, which is the same principle as choosing the right carpets for your home.
The flooring patterns of gym tiles can also help. Big square examples, 1 m x 1 m, offer less visual break than 1 m x 50 cm. We will cover some important considerations around the size of the tile later in this article.
What should you look for in Gym Flooring?
Now that we have considered the main fundamentals, such as safety, sound suppression, aesthetics, and finish. What else should you look for in gym flooring? In the following paragraphs, we cover other essential functions of gym flooring and what you need to look for when purchasing.
Consistent material—Consistent material sounds like an obvious thing to expect. However, some gym flooring is inconsistent in its density or material content, which can make it feel a little less stable underfoot. The density of the material must be consistent to create stability for the equipment above and the user standing on the flooring.
Thickness is important. Shallow gym flooring will not offer the same protection to the equipment as thicker, more premium gym flooring. 20mm gym flooring is entry-level, ideal for gyms where lifting and dropping are not as common. If you are looking for premium gym flooring, this must be 40 mm rubber gym flooring, providing a much thicker and more stable surface.
Finish considerations
These flooring samples are essential because different flooring types have different finishes. Some are easier to clean, while others are more grippy, some feel spongy, some feel firm, and some have different textures that make cleaning more difficult than others. It would help to consider these angles when you purchase your flooring because it’s a significant part of your budget, and you do not want to get it wrong.
Choosing the right flooring tile size
Many Gym owners will assume that a square tile is best for them because it offers an ease of laying, which, in principle, is correct. However, it is important to understand that gym spaces often need to be more square. An example of this might be when an old shed or barn has been converted into a gym space, and inconsistencies in the floor area can mean many more cuts for your gym flooring. In a situation like this, using a 1 m x 50 tile is better than a 1 m x 1 m tile, which increases wastage and potential errors when measuring. It is also more helpful to be able to replace a 1 x 50 tile if it got damaged or heavily marked.
It is also important to consider using flooring clips when laying 20mm tiles because they are thinner and are more likely to move around. Other tiles use jigsaw puzzle-type interlocking mechanics to help you with the floor. You are lying in this situation. You may not need tile clips, but you need to consider What you are using space for, as these flooring types are typically 15 mm to 20 mm and more of a high density than EPDM flooring.
If you are laying on uneven flooring, a thicker tile will help hide the anomalies, but it is important to prep the floor first, as a smoother finish will translate to the levels above.
Summary
We hope that this article has been useful in explaining why a gym floor is often mission-critical and essential for safety, dampening sound, and protecting equipment. We’ve also looked at considerations when choosing your material type, the size of the tile, and its suitability to your space.
We’ve also flagged why the finish of the surface is important, especially when it comes to gym floor maintenance and keeping the floor dust and dirt-free. Gyms are especially sweaty places, so it’s important that the surface can be maintained using warm, soapy water to avoid dust and dirt buildup.
The best type of gym flooring is black because it hides dust and dirt particles distracting the eye. Also, the flat mat crumb finish flooring is the best because it provides a consistent surface that can be easily mopped and cleaned while maintaining a texture conducive to not falling over or slipping. The size of the tile does have a bearing. It depends on your gym space. Please remember the advice above, and if your space could be more square, consider a smaller tile to save space, waste, and money.
