Is it okay to exercise on hard / cement floor?

[velmakelley]

Hello Cathe,
I hope that you are your family are having a pleasant holiday season. I love your step workout videos. Especially IMAX 3. I just moved to a 3rd floor apartment and feel that I should not do the workouts (jumping up and down) to be considerate of the people below. So I came up with this idea. I could use a portable dvd player and do the workouts outside in the clubhouse area. It is a cement floor though (basically no cushion for my joints) and I wanted to know if you thought that was okay? I am thinking it is but I was hoping that you could give your expertise. Thanks so very much for all of your time and efforts. Have a happy and safe holiday!

 

[feelgood]

Oooh not good for the joints, can you get some of those mats that are interlocking rubber to put down?

 

[darli ann]

I sure wouldn't recommend it. Cement has no "give" which means your knees and ankles will take a beating and after a while you'll feel it. I exercise in my basement and used to do it on just a carpet-covered floor. My knees let me know they needed more protection so I added an additional large area rug with padding underneath. That worked for me but I WISH I could afford to put down a nice wood laminate aerobic floor someday, which would be even kinder to my knees. Put "something" down on the cement to work out on.

 

[ageleg]

Ummm....I may be in the minority here, but I don't think cement is that bad. I did it for more than a year and in several apartment buildings and had no leg or knee problems. In fact, I think it may be strengthened my bones, as they got used to the hard floor. Wear good athletic shoes though. But, I would say that if you try it and don't like it --- STOP!

 

[lesliew]

I worked out on my cement basement floor for a year and paid for it with a bad back and aching knees. I then purchased interlocking foam blocks and they helped a lot. However, recently I noticed problems with my feet aching despite new sneakers. I took the advice of some on this board and purchased a second layer of foam blocks. The extra padding has helped a lot. I really think you should use two layers not just one.

 

[tygra]

Hi - are these interlocking foam blocks the ones from Target for @ $15 for 4 of them? I just got some and want to make sure they are the same that people are using, the picture shows it under a weight bench.

TIA

 

[eminenz2]

My puzzle mats are about as thick as my forefinger and an area of about 5x6 mats seems to do the trick for all Cathe's workouts. They are black on one side and all different colors on the other.

Definitely a very good investment! Why risk hurting yourself?

Susan L.G.