The gym is a source of inspiration and irritation. On the one hand, you've got pumped-up gym goers doing the heavy-lifting. On the other, you have your neighbors and your landlord complaining about the constant hammering of metal on the floor.
Having no rubber gym mats always puts you on edge as a gym owner. You get too cautious about dropping weights on the ground, so you constantly tell gym goers to lay those plates down gently. As a result, you kill their vibe, and they take their business to a rival gym. It's a high cost to pay to keep your landlord from sending over the eviction notice.
The gym has to be a place where people build. So don't let those heavy plates demolish your gym floor. Instead, prevent it with some of the best brands that will solve your gym problems and make everyone in and around your gym happy and safe.
Factors That Make a Good Gym Flooring Mat
Taking the first step to solving your gym floor woes starts with establishing what makes a good flooring mat. That's because you're going to buy many of them, especially if you own a large gym. So, here are some factors you need to mentally note before buying a mat set that keeps your gym from literally falling to the ground.
Floor and Equipment Protection
Thickness and coverage area per tile are what you're gunning for here. The wider the coverage and the thicker the mat, the better it protects the floor from damage.
Noise Reduction
The material must have the ability to absorb the impact of heavy gym equipment as that is what creates the noise all around and underneath the floor.
Gym Hygiene
Mats have a reputation for trapping sweat and other liquids. When that happens, it leaves a bad odor. In general, the smoother the mat's surface, the better its hygiene capabilities are because you can sweep it easily.
Floor Grip
A surface as smooth as a slide is a recipe for injury. That's something you want to avoid if you want to keep your gym. So the grittier the surface, the better the grip.
Surface Stability
This measures how long the mat stays even on the surface after being subject to constant impact. The heavier and more voluminous the material, the better.
Recommended Rubber Floor Mats for Home Gym and Commercial Gym Spaces
Dinoflex
Protection
Six millimeters or 0.23 inches of thickness offers good protection from gym equipment impact. The 19" x 19" area coverage is also decent for a single tile piece, giving you a wider area for less.
Noise Reduction
Dinoflex's thickness and rubber material make this flooring an outstanding noise-reducing tool. You can drop a kettlebell weighing about 40 pounds, and the most you'll hear is a soft thud.
Hygiene
The gym flooring's recycled rubber is designed to keep liquids on the surface. Sweat and other liquid spills will not seep through and can be wiped off clean in an instant.
Grip
A smooth gym floor surface doesn't always translate to poor grip, especially if you're wearing gym shoes. The rubber tile’s texture will provide enough resistance against the soles of your shoes.
Stability
Weight is a good indicator of stability. It means there's more volume underneath the floor’s surface. And a package of 10 pieces weighing 12.42 kilograms says something about how stable this gym flooring is.
What Stands Out
Flooring stability. Dinoflex’s gym flooring weighs on the heavy side at 2.7 pounds per square tile. You can expect this flooring to stay even despite repeated battering.
What to Manage
Smooth design. Although it is made of rubber, it can still be a hazard if the gym floor gets too slippery. So be sure to mop up more than you think you should.
Xspec
Protection
A 24" x 24" tile dimension gives a wide coverage for impact absorption. Add a half-an-inch thickness, and you can do as many sets of deadlifts as you want without worrying about damaging your wooden or concrete flooring underneath.
Noise Reduction
Xspec's base material is ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA). This foam rubber effectively dissipates impact sounds caused by slamming bodies from contact sports such as judo or wrestling.
Hygiene
On top of the EVA foam is a rubber material that repels liquid and keeps it on the surface. So it's easier to clean. Rub it off with a towel or mop it up, let it air dry, and it'll be as fresh as when you first opened the gym.
Grip
The rubber surface makes it smooth, yet it also provides the necessary grip for most weight trainers, crossfitters, and boxers.
Stability
2.5 pounds per tile is an adequate weight to make a resilient gym flooring. But the biggest contributor to Xspec's stability is the EVA foam. As a result, you'll be sure to have smooth and even gym flooring that won't throw you off your form.
What Stands Out
The Xspec’s EVA foam. This amazing material takes impact and stress seriously. It will refuse to crack even if you pound it with heavy metal all day.
What to Manage
The rubber surface layer may hold up for those wearing shoes, but if you're going to use this flooring for Muay Thai, Judo, or other sports involving bare feet, you may have to think twice.
BalanceForm
Protection
BalanceForm offers many degrees of protection for your gym floor. With the wide 24" x 24" square tile comes that with three thickness variations ranging from ½ inches to 1 inch. Protection coverage goes from 24 to as wide as 144 square feet.
Noise Reduction
One inch of flooring foam thickness will be like a silencer on a gun's chamber. The thick EVA invites you to throw that weight plate on the gym mat freely. Not like we're encouraging you to.
Hygiene
As always, rubber materials do repel sweat and stains. On the other hand, the surface of BalanceForm is on the rough side. It may be hard to clean up after a sweaty workout session.
Grip
The gritty surface layout is a huge payoff for this set of heavy-duty rubber floor mats for the gym. It does amazing wonders for foot grip with or without shoes on. In addition, BalanceForm's grip design is awesome for martial arts training.
Stability
On average, the gym floor weighs about 4 pounds per piece. That's like walking on one of the lightest metal weights hanging on the gym rack. That's how stable it is.
What Stands Out
Protection coverage. BalanceForm offers superior coverage both in surface area and flooring impact.
What to Manage
You'll have to close shop for some thorough cleaning as these rubber foam tiles may need some scrubbing after a while.
ProsourceFit
Protection
This gym flooring excels in terms of coverage area. The brand, ProsourceFit, offers a variation of 24 square feet as an ideal set of rubber floor mats for home gym use. If you're running commercial gym space, you can get the 48 or the 144 square feet versions.
Noise Reduction
Half-an-inch is a decent thickness. It's enough to absorb the sound of gym equipment being tossed around. The thickness is also adequate for use in both home and public gyms.
Hygiene
ProsourceFit's gym floor surface is made out of liquid-resistant rubber. So it will be relatively easy to damp off liquids.
Grip
Doing a variety of exercises on this gym floor will be convenient. The floor's non-slip, textured design keeps your feet planted and avoids skids and slips.
Stability
EVA foams have always had a reputation for stability due to their volume and resiliency. ProsourceFit has made it a point to make their gym floor product out of this material.
What Stands Out
Grip design. The corrugated patterns on ProsourceFit's gym floor tiles mimic the ergonomics of industrial metal floorings, except this one has more grip.
What to Manage
The floor's intricate patterns can be hard to mop or wipe. So be prepared to do some thorough cleaning.
Our Pick for Rubber Gym Floor: BalanceForm
Our main priority is to solve the issue of flooring protection. That's why we're choosing BalanceForm as it offers the thickest black rubber mats for gym floors. It also has one of the widest coverage areas for the right price. We can let go of our worries of complaining neighbors or damaged property with these two outstanding features. BalanceForm has us covered.
If you still want to explore more gym flooring products, just explore our website. There will be more brands like BalanceForm that you can review. The most important thing is you choose the one that fits your preference, so take a look at our other featured brands now.
April 15, 2022
