carpet help please!

[LisaMarie]

I'm having new carpet installed today in my basement, which is where I work out. I'm worried about what my shoes will do to my carpet. Any ideas on what I can do to limit the wear? I was thinking about cutting out a piece of our old carpet and flipping it upside down on the carpet (so it's carpet on carpet) and using that when I do step and kickboxing. Crazy?

I did a search and saw some suggestions for puzzle mats and something like greatmats, but I also read they don't work very well on carpet.

Anyone have anything that works?

thank you!!
lisa

 

[Stephanie0523]

I'm not a big fan of the puzzle mats. They come undone and are easy to trip over. I workout without shoes on, so I don't know about wear on the carpet. But I'm thinking it wouldn't do too much damage to just workout on the carpet. Or, if you have an old rug you can put down in your workout area, that might do.

 

[NRGWoman]

I have a puzzle mat from Greatmats and it has certainly done its job however...it is such a non-slip surface that your shoes "stick" to it when you are working out. Whenever the choreography gets interesting and there is any sort of turn or pivot your shoe stays in one place while the rest of your body turns. Ultimately you end up torquing your knee enough to cause an injury any time you try it. I am currently in the process of replacing my mat with a workout surface that has a more appropriate "friction coefficient".

 

[maddiesmum]

An additional piece of carpet stuck over the carpet in the place where you do your step and kick boxing sounds fine to me. But, make sure it is "close crop" carpet and nothing deep pile or you will be turning your ankles very soon now.

Clare

 

[Momto5boys]

In our exercise room I have a commercial-style flat, tight loop style carpet but it still has too much friction for aerobics, although it wears well. I bought puzzle mat pieces from Target that I found in the sporting goods area and made a 6x8 area. I ended up duct-taping the backside so they won't come apart. Underneath I put the carpet-to-carpet non-slip mat that you buy to put under area rugs that are over carpet. I also put a 10lb weight on one corner so it doesn't gradually slide backwards as it was tending to do. It works pretty well. We are building a new house and in that exercise room I'm having a rubber flooring installed which is popular at commercial gyms. You can buy it in puzzle-pieces or tiles, too.