Kim,
Kim I am feeling better. I was able to go to my Jazz dance class tonight. Tomorrow I'll be using my workout room to a) practice my dance routine and b) do a Cathe workout (the dilema is which one).
In my workout room the bottom in concrete (it is in the basement), the subfloor is wood, with a layer of old linoleum, our contractor put down special cushioning and then the laminate. The laminate is 8 mm Kraus Newport Strip. It is gorgeous and super easy to clean. It has a special locking system so that the laminate strips stay together regardless of how much leaping I do. The underlay was recommended by the flooring store. The one side keeps moisture from the concrete from going up and the other side is extra cushioning. They made a mistake and didn't order it so I was upgraded to the top quality underlay (with no extra charge). The advantages I've discovered with the laminate is pivot turns are now a dream (compared to puzzle maps on top of carpet on top of concrete). I used to do all power moves (jumping jacks, tuck jumps, etc) on top of the step. Now I do them on the floor, can focus on the move and not have to worry about falling off the step.
Tile is very hard. We have it in our kitchen and I find it exhausts my legs (just standing on it while cooking). I suspect that you'll need a subfloor or a special layer before you put down the laminate (otherwise there'll be no cushioning for your joints). I'd talk to a floor expert. A floating floor might be an option (although they are expensive). Make sure you let them know what use you'll be putting it through.
They were trying to talk me into thinner laminate until I explained how much cardio and leaping I'd be doing. They also asked if I drop my weights...which I took offence to (to the amusement of my hubby)...but the fact is a dropped weight can break laminate. The thickness of laminate I went for is usually used in high traffic areas in a house. There's some good information on the web on how to install a laminate floor to prevent problems. We used it to make sure the contractor installed it correctly and didn't take shortcuts.
