Workout room flooring suggestions?

[lisacohen]

I workout in my basement and was looking at getting some better flooring down there that would be better for high impact workouts. What do you guys use or suggest for flooring material?

I do my Cathe workouts down there and my hubby is doing T25 now and since I just sustained a knee injury from overuse and have been in crutches/cane for the last 2 weeks and I am doubtful that I'll be able to make the July Cathe road trip. I'm wondering if my flooring could have something to do with my injury (since I wasn't actually doing intense stuff the week I started feeling pain). The accumulation of doing exercises for 10 years that we've lived here... where the carpet is old, the carpet padding is probably nonexistent at this point, and there's likely concrete under that has me wondering if there's a better way.

Thank you for your help.

 

[gonnabea5]

I workout on basement floor too. Mine is straight concrete. I bought those rubber type flooring pads from SAMS club for 21.00. I ended up buying two sets cause one didn't allow enough space for some of the workouts. They are 8 squares in each set had 8 tiles in them (2 red, 2 green, 2 blue and 2 yellow ) It's a great investment except the disks don't work well on it -- with of without the covers. It feels good for the high impact moves for me.

Good luck.

 

[desertambrosia]

Puzzle mats, as Shereta suggested. Concrete is so hard on your body. (literally) I just throw a small piece of carpet (5x8) over the mats, for use with gliding disks. Works great!

 

[JeanneMarie]

My workout room floor is tile. I have wall to wall puzzle mats over the tile, but I have two layers of them. If you're worried about high impact and injuries, one layer isn't enough!

 

[Cafelattee]

My workout room is also in the basement and I purchased the High Impact puzzle mats. They are about a inch think. They do well for high impact. I throw down my heavy dumbbells and they bounce off a bit so I know that its taking some of the impact from my exercise. I keep stuff lower impact. I'll do some pylo stuff now 3 years post my ankle injury but at my age I'm all about protecting my joints

I don't have a rug over mine and still use side/glide disc but keep them polished so they will glide easier. I like the idea of a rug over the mat. I may need to go shopping.

 

[Katerchen]

I just replaced my foam puzzle mats with anti-fatigue interlocking rubber mats from Lowes. They Shop Blue Hawk 36-in x 36-in Rubber Door Mat at Lowes.com
are more comfortable on my joints that the foam mats ever were.

Additionally, I like these mats better for step and a heavy punching bag, because these do not move an inch. I like to do yoga on these because the surface is less wobbly. Furthermore, my cats do not use the mats to sharpen their claws.

 

[Jason Clark]

I recently remodelled my house and added granite flooring but after that I realised the need for workout room so I installed rubber roll on granite flooring. And it is very comfortable. My original home flooring can be seen here http://www.houzz.com/pro/yoni-atar/omicron-granite-and-tile.

 

[Gibbee]

Maddiesmum,
Are the mats flat on the surface?

 

[Gibbee]

Also do your tennis shoes grip the mats when you do twisty movements?

 

[~Elsie]

Laying sheets of a dense cork underlayment can make quite a difference in terms of being kinder during impact. When I can afford to, I am going to put some down.

 

[Lucia A]

I use:
http://m.samsclub.com/ip/body-solid-tools-4-piece-puzzle-mat-set-black/prod5280519

When I bought these they were $25 per set of 4, I got 4 the first time and another 4 again. Since mine are all black they match. I've doubled them up in the past really soft under the feet. Now I have an area rug on top of them which makes it easier for cardio.