The best home gym flooring can protect your garage or basement flooring from excessive wear and tear, help your gym equipment last longer, provide cushioning, dampen sounds, and more. While it may seem more exciting to plan your favorite squat rack and barbell combo, choosing the right type of flooring can elevate your entire workout experience.
Gym flooring comes in all shapes and sizes, which can make choosing the right flooring thickness difficult. Many popular options range from 0.25 inches to more than 1 inch. Thankfully, pondering over questions like, “How thick should gym flooring be,” can be a thing of the past with help from our GGR experts.
In this guide, we’ll help you determine exactly how thick your gym flooring should be for your individual needs, and help you find the best option for your home gym. So, let’s gather our materials and ensure you’re equipped from the ground up for safe, effective lifting in the near future.
Why Do You Need Gym Flooring?
Before we get started, you may be wondering why flooring matters in the first place. I know, I had a similar thought when I began assembling my simple garage gym, but getting the right flooring has significantly improved the quality of my home workouts.
Here are a few reasons why gym flooring should be one of the first purchases for your home gym, rather than the last thing you consider:
Flooring and Equipment Protection
Even though flooring comes in a variety of patterns and colors, the primary reason you want to install home gym flooring is to protect both your home and equipment, as dropped weights can potentially damage both the floor and your training tools.
Strength training, in particular, can cause a lot of wear and tear, especially if you’re regularly dropping your dumbbells or barbells. Even if it’s unintentional, dropping heavy equipment from even a foot or two off the ground can lead to cracked foundations or tattered gear; both of which can be costly to repair or replace.
Noise Dampening
For those of us who have neighbors in close proximity, proper gym flooring can absorb quite a bit of sound, especially if you practice CrossFit or Olympic lifting, which involves regularly dropping loaded barbells onto the ground.
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If you don’t want to fill your neighborhood with the sounds of clanging barbells, the right kind of gym flooring can absorb some of the sound from dropping a weight.
For those who have roommates or partners who don’t want to hear each of your reps clanging on the ground, this can also maintain a peaceful house, especially if you’d otherwise be training on a hard surface.
Cushioning and Traction
Protection aside, good gym flooring can also provide a softer workout surface, especially if you’d otherwise be training on a cement floor. Not only is this more comfortable for ground-oriented exercises, but it can also add an element of safety.
Research shows1 that cushioned gym flooring can help reduce impact forces when landing from jumping, such as during plyometric exercises. This may help reduce stress on the body, which can help reduce the risk of injury.
In addition to shock-absorption, gym flooring can provide better traction and grip. If you’re training on a wood or cement floor, the surface can become very slippery with collected dust and sweat. A good rubber or turf surface can provide better traction and reduce excessive slipping and sliding.
Of course, though, your footing can be very dependent on your shoes of choice, too. Be sure to wear a high-quality pair of cross-training shoes if you plan to partake in resistance training.
How Thick Should Gym Flooring Be?
Now that we’ve covered why you should be using gym flooring, let’s look at how thick the flooring should be for your desired purposes. To help me out, I asked GGR Senior Staff Writer and former gym owner Caine Wilkes, OLY, CNC, USAW-L1, to share his thoughts after years of experience training atop a variety of gym floors.
Caine regularly performs overhead Olympic lifts with more weight than I’ve ever deadlifted, so if there’s anyone who understands the importance of proper flooring for the sake of protecting your underlayment and foundation from heavy weight impacts, it’s Caine.
Gym Flooring for Weightlifting
If you’re primarily interested in strength training, whether that’s powerlifting, Olympic lifting, or simply general strength training with an Olympic barbell, you’ll generally want thicker rubber flooring.
“If you’re planning on heavy lifting, or dropping weight from overhead, I’d recommend a half-inch-thick rubber mat, at the minimum,” Caine told me. “That said, I typically prefer 3/4-inch flooring. This should be thick enough to help prevent damage to your floors or equipment if you drop weight.”
If you’re between two sizes or types of flooring, we suggest going with the thicker material to be safe. Caine notes, “I’ve cracked enough concrete floors to know that it’s always better safe than sorry; if you’re unsure about what thickness your gym floor should be, err on the side of caution and go with the thicker, more durable flooring option.”
Gym Flooring for an All-Purpose Gym
If you don’t plan on regularly dropping weights, you might not need the thickest flooring. For example, bodybuilders or general fitness enthusiasts may prefer to fill their gym with machines, functional trainers, and cardio equipment, and won’t regularly be dropping heavy weights.
For those who aren’t into heavy lifting and simply want something below their feet that’s not wood or cement (or something to place under a treadmill or elliptical), lighter types of flooring may work very well, such as lightweight rubber rolls or tiles.
Some brands, particularly cardio machine brands, may even offer equipment-specific mats that can provide some additional cushioning without having to redo your entire floor. For example, many users purchase treadmill mats to place under a treadmill, rather than dedicated gym flooring.
Gym Flooring for Bodyweight Exercises
Maybe you’re not into strength training at all and prefer to focus your fitness efforts on ground-based exercises like yoga, Pilates, martial arts, stretching, or other bodyweight-focused movements.
In that case, you should choose what’s comfortable; you probably don’t need to worry about heavy-duty rubber flooring. Light interlocking tiles may work very well, and even one of the best yoga mats can suffice if you’re looking to save money and don’t want to cover your entire floor with padding.
Additional Considerations
Caine also noted that the type of flooring you currently have in your gym should influence your decision.
“The appropriate thickness of your gym flooring can also be determined by the flooring and any subfloor you have underneath,” he explains. “If you’re in a garage or basement gym, you’re probably on top of reinforced concrete, meaning that the concrete has been embedded with steel rebar to help with durability. If your flooring isn’t reinforced, you’ll likely need a thicker flooring to protect it from any wear, tear, or drops.”
Finally, if you’re outfitting a space that will be working with athletes, like a large garage, warehouse, or commercial gym, you may want to consider adding a turf section to your floor plan. While not necessary for most smaller home gyms, this can be useful for working on sprinting and agility work, or pushing a sled without dragging it on rubber or concrete.
Gym Flooring Options
OK, so we’ve got the thickness covered. Now, here’s a quick look at the various types of flooring, and why you may (or may not) want to consider them for your home gym.
Interlocking Tiles
If you’re outfitting a smaller space, like one corner of your garage or basement, interlocking rubber tiles can be a fantastic choice. They’re typically made of thick rubber, sold in smaller sizes like 24-inches-by-24-inches, and come with interlocking edges for a secure fit.
Gym floor tiles are typically much easier to manage, especially if you’re working with a smaller area. However, if you’re planning to cover your entire garage or basement floor, flooring rolls may be a more efficient option.
Rolls
For larger spaces, it’s hard to beat rubber flooring rolls. Since they’re designed for larger spaces, they can often be custom-ordered to the length you need, though it’s not uncommon to see minimum lengths of 15 feet.
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While this is much easier when working with large spaces, the rolls are often quite large and bulky, so you may need some help when getting them installed. If you need a custom shape, they can also be a little more difficult to cut to size.
Artificial Turf
While not common in home gyms, artificial turf rolls are also available and serve as a great pick for commercial purposes. As a former strength and conditioning coach, many athletic training facilities I’ve worked in rely on turf surfaces for sprinting drills and exercises. I’ve seen many commercial gyms have a turf area for sports performance training, as well.
That said, adding turf to your home gym can be viewed as more of a luxury construction decision. If you don’t need a dedicated spring or sledding area, you can save money by sticking with rubber materials.
Foam Mats
If you just need something to keep you comfortable while performing bodyweight exercises at home, gym floor mats and lightweight foam tiles can be a great choice. While they don’t offer as much durability or longevity as rubber mats designed for high-impact, they can provide plenty of cushioning for your body, making it significantly more comfortable to lay on the ground.
Foam mats aren’t meant to withstand heavy loads, however, so we don’t recommend them for strength training purposes, only bodyweight exercises.
Horse Stall Mats
A favorite among home gym owners, horse stall mats are affordable and extremely durable, making them a fantastic choice to protect your floor from heavy weights. They’re often sold in 4-foot-by-6-foot squares, though other sizes can be found. These can be quite heavy, too, so installing these floor mats isn’t as easy as throwing them into place.
A word to the wise: Horse stall mats regularly feature a strong rubber odor when new. You likely wouldn’t notice it in their intended use (barns and horse stalls have plenty of other scents floating around), but it can absolutely overwhelm a home gym if you don’t take precaution. As such, it can be wise to air out your stall mat flooring options before placing them in a closed environment like a basement or garage.
Deadlift Platforms
While deadlift platforms aren’t exactly like your traditional gym flooring, they may be well worth the investment if you regularly partake in this foundation strength training exercise.
“If you lift significant weight, I’d consider a deadlift or lifting platform to further protect your flooring,” says Caine. “The thickness varies, but generally, they’ll fall between 1 and 2 inches. I’ll typically DIY my platform with 1 layer of 3/4-inch plywood underneath a layer of 3/4-inch rubber, making it 1.5 inches thick.”
RELATED: DIY Weightlifting Platform
How Thick Should Gym Flooring Be: Final Thoughts
While the best gym flooring thickness for you depends on your specific needs and preferences, we think most home gym owners will be best-suited with rubber flooring, which is often 0.25-0.75 inches thick.
Ultimately, any type of flooring is better than nothing to protect your home and equipment, but the right thickness depends on your individual needs and training styles. When in doubt, err on the side of caution and opt for a thicker option, as you can never have too much protection for your home and equipment.
- If you’re a strength athlete who regularly drops or slams a barbell on the ground, we recommend thick rubber mats at least 0.75 inches thick, and you may want to consider a deadlift platform, too.
- For those outfitting a general-purpose gym who won’t be dropping weights, lighter materials should work fine, such as thinner rubber rolls or tiles. That said, you’ll likely never regret choosing a thicker option.
- If you primarily focus on bodyweight training and don’t drop any weights at all, you can go with a thinner foam material as you really only need cushioning for your own body.
How Thick Should Gym Flooring Be?: FAQs
Is 10 mm gym flooring enough for a home gym?
Yes, 10 mm gym flooring should be plenty to protect the flooring in a home gym. If you’re going to be dropping or slamming heavy barbells on a regular basis, you may want to consider something a little thicker, but 10 mm (roughly 0.39”) should be plenty for general fitness training.
How thick should gym flooring be for deadlifts?
For most lifters, deadlifts will be your strongest exercise, and the exercise involves regularly slamming a heavy barbell on the ground. With that in mind, we recommend choosing the thickest flooring you can afford, aiming for a least 0.75 inches in thickness. If you’re particularly strong, you may want to consider a dedicated deadlift platform, which can offer even more protection underfoot.
How thick is standard gym flooring?
There’s no real industry standard for what’s good or bad, but we’ve noticed that gym flooring is mostly commonly sold in 8-mm rolls, which is roughly 0.31 inches. This can be great for most gym spaces where you won’t be slamming weights on the ground, but if you regularly drop a loaded barbell, you may want to consider something a little thicker for your workout space.
References
- Malisoux, L., Gette, P., Urhausen, A., Bomfim, J., & Theisen, D. (2017). Influence of sports flooring and shoes on impact forces and performance during jump tasks. PloS one, 12(10), e0186297. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0186297
