Aerobic Flooring/Plyorobic Flooring

J

Jody

Cathlete
We just moved into our new house and are trying to figure what to do for the flooring in our exercise room down in the basement. Hoping to get some advice, as obviously anyone who is reading this works out to Cathe and knows how important it is to have good flooring.

We aren't going to finish our basement for a couple of years, so we are working with a concrete floor. The majority of my dvds are Cathe, so shock absorption is key, along with the ability to do turns, etc. without ripping up the floor.

In our workout room in our previous house (also in an unfinished basement), we just used a carpet remnant on top of some cheap carpet padding. Surprisingly, that seemed to work okay, although upon taking up the carpet when moving, the padding was pretty much shredded! So I would like to upgrade a bit, since I'm not getting any younger, and I need to protect my body.

I liked having the carpet on top - it was just very simple no-fuss carpeting, not plushy so it was very durable, but good enough so I could lay on top of it to do floorwork and abs. I'm trying to figure out what I should put on top of it. I know some have mentioned puzzle mats...do you think these would work well under carpeting if put wall to wall? Do they offer enough shock absorption and do they shred during pivots, etc?

Another option I saw online was Plyorobic Flooring, was is supposed to be good for high impact. The flooring itself isn't horribly expensive (about $300 for a 12x16 room), however, the freight is extremely expensive - almost as expensive as the flooring itself because it is so heavy. I really don't know anything about this flooring, but it seems odd that rubber can be so effective for high impact? I do think carpet would work on top, which would be nice.

I'm leaning towards the Plyrobic flooring, but I hate to spend so much on freight. If anyone has used it, or puzzle mats, or has other suggestions for flooring, please let me know. I know some of you have the really nice flooring that is used in dance studios...I'm not there yet, maybe someday when the basement is finished. Something to look forward to!

Thank you very much in advance for your advice!
 
Hi I also workout in the unfinished part of our basement and I use puzzle mats on the concrete. I double them up for additional padding. I've had 3 knee surgeries so I'm all about protecting my knees! The mats work great. Chris
 
A while back snm posted how they did their floors in Cathe's gym. I wish I could find the link back. If I do I will post it. Our basement flooring needs to be replaced (carpet over concrete) so I am looking for the same info.
 
What thickness of puzzle mats did you use? I've seen them anywhere from under half an inch thick to over an inch.

Thanks!
 
Aerobic Flooring

Here is link to the Blog article we wrote on this subject. By owning a health club we have a lot of experience building shock absorbing floors. A wooden sub floor resting on small rubber blocks is the ultimate floor, but there are other alternatives too. Hope this helps you.
 
SNM Videos said:
Here is link to the Blog article we wrote on this subject. By owning a health club we have a lot of experience building shock absorbing floors. A wooden sub floor resting on small rubber blocks is the ultimate floor, but there are other alternatives too. Hope this helps you.
Click to expand...

Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply, it is greatly appreciated!

For SNM, I looked at the links you provided and one was to greatmats.com, which was a site I was also looking at. I saw the Plyometrics mat - do you think this would be a good option?

I was also looking at the SoftTiles 2x2 1 inch Interlocking foam mats at the following site:

Home Gym Flooring | Workout Room Flooring

SoftTiles 2x2 1inch Thick

I thought this may also work, but is 1 inch too thick?

Do you have any thoughts about either of these floor types? (We would lay a thin carpet over either option; I like having the carpet on top because it gives just enough traction and I can lay on it for floorwork).

Thanks for any additional comments you can provide!
 
SNM Videos said:
Here is link to the Blog article we wrote on this subject. By owning a health club we have a lot of experience building shock absorbing floors. A wooden sub floor resting on small rubber blocks is the ultimate floor, but there are other alternatives too. Hope this helps you.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I meant to also provide two different links for the Plyorobic flooring that I am considering and hoped to get your input. I think this flooring is similar to what is on the greatmats site?

Plyorobic Rolls - Plyometric Sports Matting

Again, I'm not very knowledgeable on the subject, so any comments are appreciated!
 
High Impact Aerobic flooring

Jody said:
Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply, it is greatly appreciated!

For SNM, I looked at the links you provided and one was to greatmats.com, which was a site I was also looking at. I saw the Plyometrics mat - do you think this would be a good option?

I was also looking at the SoftTiles 2x2 1 inch Interlocking foam mats at the following site:

Home Gym Flooring | Workout Room Flooring

SoftTiles 2x2 1inch Thick

I thought this may also work, but is 1 inch too thick?

Do you have any thoughts about either of these floor types? (We would lay a thin carpet over either option; I like having the carpet on top because it gives just enough traction and I can lay on it for floorwork).

Thanks for any additional comments you can provide!
Click to expand...

When it comes to flooring for high impact aerobics you need a floor that has a good energy return system. Too soft is just as bad and maybe worse than concrete. The best flooring you can use is a suspended wood floor on rubber blocks. Nothing else really compares IMHO, but there are plenty of rubber floors that will certainly work for you. The advantage of these floors is they can be installed in minutes and don't require any construction. It's best to talk to a company that specializes in aerobic flooring and tell them you want a floor that will work well for high impact activities. I've never used a Plyometrics mat so I can't offer you any advice on this product. It may be a great product that will work for you, or it may just be a fancy name for a rubber mat. But if you talk to one of the companies that specialize in this type of flooring they should be able to help you.
 
SNM - Can you clear something up for me since I am confused. In the blog link, it is stated:

In our own club and studio set you see in all of our videos we use a specially designed subfloor that consist of two thin layers of specialty plywood that is elevated on thousands of rubber energy return blocks. The result is an air cushion with the response of an air mattress that is almost therapeutic This type of flooring has a great energy return system. We have found this type of flooring to best for step and high impact aerobics. The entire subfloor is covered with a thin commercial carpet or vinyl.

In the videos I have, it looks like you have a wood floor, not commercial carpet or vinyl. Can you clarify please?

In the above post you also state your recommended best is a "suspended wood floor on rubber blocks". Do you have a link for that? I see links for rubber mats or rubber blocks, but not a link for the entire suspended wood floor on rubber blocks. Would I have to buy from 2 companies or is there a link/place that sells the system?

I currently have carpet with upgraded padding that is now shot. When you walk in the room, you can actually feel the flatness around where I do step or HiiT! So time for me to redo the entire room anyway and I have been thinking of getting the suspended wood with rubber, but just can't find where to buy the whole system.

Thanks!
 
Gobias said:
SNM - Can you clear something up for me since I am confused. In the blog link, it is stated:

In our own club and studio set you see in all of our videos we use a specially designed subfloor that consist of two thin layers of specialty plywood that is elevated on thousands of rubber energy return blocks. The result is an air cushion with the response of an air mattress that is almost therapeutic This type of flooring has a great energy return system. We have found this type of flooring to best for step and high impact aerobics. The entire subfloor is covered with a thin commercial carpet or vinyl.

In the videos I have, it looks like you have a wood floor, not commercial carpet or vinyl. Can you clarify please?

In the above post you also state your recommended best is a "suspended wood floor on rubber blocks". Do you have a link for that? I see links for rubber mats or rubber blocks, but not a link for the entire suspended wood floor on rubber blocks. Would I have to buy from 2 companies or is there a link/place that sells the system?

I currently have carpet with upgraded padding that is now shot. When you walk in the room, you can actually feel the flatness around where I do step or HiiT! So time for me to redo the entire room anyway and I have been thinking of getting the suspended wood with rubber, but just can't find where to buy the whole system.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

In our filming studio we use a suspended wood floor that is covered in fake wood laminate that you can find at any Home Depot store. As has already been mentioned the rubber blocks used in the sub floor can be purchased from
Stagestep.
You can cover the subfloor in wood, vinyl or carpet. Stagestep has plans a even kits that can help you build your floor.
 
Just wanted to put a plug in for this flooring (Stagestep). I put it in my exercise room and it is marvelous! It was really not that expensive and my DH and I could do it and we are pretty much novices when it comes to DIY projects. My room is only 10'x11' so if you have a bigger space it would add to the cost and time.

Also, one thing I wish I would have accounted for when I laid the floor is that the rubber cusions are not meant to support a rack full of weights. With all my dumbbells and weight plates, I have about 750 pounds of weights sitting on the floor. All that weight has caused the floor to sink. DH and I are thinking about pulling up the floor and removing the rubber cusions in the area that hold my weights and putting 2x4s under the plywood to hold that weight.

Hope that helps!
 
Jodi - Thanks for the pictures, that helps out a lot.

Jldx2 - I am so glad you posted that. I was wondering if it would hold my dumbbell rack. Maybe I will keep an exterior barrier in my current flooring or even do what you may do - put 2x4s underneath.

SNM - thanks for the clarification. I was getting confused because I kept thinking that "subfloor" was the portion UNDERNEATH the cushion and then the regular floor was on top of the cusion. I coudln't figure out why you would carpet, or do anything to the subfloor if it was underneath. doh!

If any of you have stagestep, can you please tell me which one you installed? I, II, III, IV, A, B, etc.....I'd like to know what Cathe uses also. On the website they have a key as to which one is recommended for your use. THey don't have "HiiT or Tabata" as an option. I was leaning towards Springstep IV-A, however, it doesn't have those big thick cushion squares, rather it has "L" shaped less thick foam.

Also - Does Stagestep just sell the cushion and you all bought plywood at a local store? I would think that was cheaper.

Thanks.
 
I did not buy the premade floor boards. I bought the 2” individual peel and stick foam and bought plywood at a home improvement store. This worked out to be cheaper for me and I don’t think it took much more time to put together. I found on the site where the 2” foam peel and stick cubes are $.60 each so I am guessing there is still an option for this. When I bought them, they had an installation guide that gave great details on how to put together the floor when just buying the cubes. I can’t find that now but I am sure someone at the company can help you with the details. Just to give you an idea of what is involved, here is what we did.

Here are the items we used:

From Stagestep:
  • Vapor Barrier
  • Vinyl Tape
  • 2" peel and stick foam cubes
From home improvement store:
  • 1/2" thick underlayment grade plywood
  • 1 1/2" wood deck screws
  • Laminate Flooring underlayment
  • Laminate Flooring Planks

Here are the steps we did:
  1. Covered the floor with the Vapor Barrier and used the Vinyl Tape to seal the vapor barrier edges together.
  2. Put the peel and stick cubes on one side of the plywood.
  3. Laid the plywood down over the vapor barrier so the foam cubes sit on the vapor barrier. Leave a ½” gap along the perimeter between the plywood and the wall.
  4. Laid a second layer of plywood on top of the first layer overlapping seams (again leaving the ½” gap). Did not use the foam cubes on this step.
  5. Screwed the plywood together spacing the wood screws about 3-4” apart.
  6. Covered the plywood with the laminate flooring underlayment.
  7. Laid the laminate flooring.
  8. DONE! Time to get jumping!

It has been a few years and I don’t remember how many foam cubes I bought. I think we bought 8 pieces of 4x8 plywood.

Also, I did not put trim around the perimeter after installing the laminate flooring. Since it is my workout room, I didn’t care that it didn’t have it. Plus it helps the flooring breathe underneath.

You could probably not cover the plywood and it would still work but I wanted the floor to be smooth. You could also use peel and stick vinyl tiles or linoleum but I wanted the wood floor look.

One other thing to consider. I filled my entire room with this. Where the floor meets the doorway to the hall, the floor in the room is raised about 3" off the hallway floor now. I cut a piece of my laminate floor and glued it along the flooring (perpendicular to the floor) in that section and put a laminate stair nose there to keep it looking kind of nice. I actually don't have a door to the room. If we put a door up, we will need to cut off the bottom of the door by 3" so it will work in the room now. Or we will have to put the door on so it swings into the hallway instead of the room.

Along with this, since the floor is raised 3" off the floor, you will lose that in height. Something to consider if you have low celings or are very tall. I am not even 5 foot and with my low ceilings, it was not a problem for me to lose 3" of vertical space. If I was taller, I would have a problem with my arms hitting the ceiling when raising them above my head and jumping.

This seems like it would take a long time but DH and I were able to do my 10’x11’ room in 2 half days. We did steps 1-5 in about 3 hours on one day and steps 6-7 in about 2 hours the next day.
 
Oh Julie,

Thanks so much for the detail, this is exactly what I needed - step by step directions!

I saw that the flooring is actually removable and I was hoping I could just install it over my current carpet in case I sell the house. I was thinking I could do the peel and stick cubes "upside down" so it sticks upwards and not to the carpet. I may be able to get away with it if I do this flooring wall to wall so it doesn't shift. But I decided against that since I don't want to risk mold underneath. I will probably try to salvage the carpet and hang onto it in case I need it in the future. Or maybe even put the carpet above the stagestep floor since I prefer working out on carpet rather than hard floor.

Thanks for the tip because I am tall. I do have 14' ceilings, but there is a large drop down ceiling fan that I can hit on my high step. I may have to shorten it.

I was also thinking of your 2x4 idea because I have a spin bike and a very heavy TV console along with my dumbbell rack and am thinking those are too heavy without support

I am going to get this project started hopefully soon. Thanks again.
 
Glad I could help!

The peel and stick cubes do stick to the plywood not the floor. The floor can be taken up if you move which was a selling point to me and DH. We put this flooring over ceramic tile so I wasn't too concerned about mold but do see that could be a concern with carpet. Plus reusing your carpet to be the top covering instead of laminate would help save in the cost.

You will love the floor once it is done!
 
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plyo flooring

I researched the heck out of this when I wanted to set up a small basement room for working out. I finally decided on horse barn stall mats that I bought at my local Tractor Supply Company. They are 3/4" thick mats and look like they are made from recycled tires or something similar. They are also less expensive and the exact same product that I found on some of the "gym/aerobic floor" sites. I think I paid about $40 apiece for 4x6ft mats. They can be cut with a utility knife and a little patience and muscle. When I went to purchase them, the guys that helped me load them up said that they sell the most to gyms and weight rooms. They are definitely not cushy, but I was on a concrete floor and this was a great improvement. Hope this helps.
ps These are HEAVY (100 lbs apiece), so they don't shift around much. They also had a thinner version, maybe 5/8" thick or so for less money.
 
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We are taking up the carpet in our exercise room and putting in fake wood looking floor. Well my husband thinks the padding under the carpet, leave it there then put the laminate board over that carpet padding should make it good for high impact. I wonder if it will work? Anyone thought of doing that?
 
@ReneePruitt

I have just seen you post above and wish I had seen it at the time!
I worked out on Laminate flooring for years without any issue. Now I want to change for plyo cushy flooring .
How has working on laminate flooring been?
 
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