[UPDATED in 2025]
When you’re strength training and weightlifting, you need the right flooring for a strong foundation. A home gym is a significant investment, and you need to create a safe workout environment by protecting the subfloor and your body. Weightlifting can take its toll on your joints, so it’s important that your weightlifting flooring is absorbing shock and impact. Lifting weights requires specific flooring to do it safely to protect the room, equipment, and yourself.
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Choosing the Right Flooring for Strength and Weight Training
For strength and weight training the go-to material for flooring is often rubber. This is because rubber is durable and offers plenty of beneficial properties for this type of fitness. You can find a range of flooring suitable for fitness like vinyl, wood, and foam. But when you add extremely heavy weights into the mix, it narrows down your choice.
Depending on your weightlifting and type of training, you will need to choose the best flooring to support your specific needs. With free weights flooring, you have several different options to choose from such as rolls, tiles, and mats. If you’re creating a permanent home gym rather than a temporary workout space, some options will be more suited to you than others.
Good quality flooring decreases the sound and vibration of falling weights. You must choose a floor that is tough enough to handle strength training and heavy weights. The best flooring features non-slip properties, plenty of traction, and shock-absorbing qualities.
Things to Consider when Choosing Flooring for Strength Training
3 Top Flooring for Strength Training and Weightlifting
It’s important that you look for gym rubber flooring containing high-quality materials. The quality of materials is essential to the experience and performance of the product. Here are four of the top options for strength training and weightlifting.
Sprung Rubber Antishock Gym Tiles
Sprung’s Rubber AntiShock Gym Tile range is available in a range of thicknesses from 30mm to a whopping 63mm. For hardcore weight training and Olympic weightlifting, the thicker options are ideal. It provides optimum shock absorption, sound insulation, and non-slip safety for the most extreme of weight training sessions. The studded base allows for additional stability and provides a superior foundation for high impact weight-based training.
Customer Feedback:
"the 53mm is ideal for deadlifts. If you're into heavy weights and olympic lifting then I'd definitely recommend these tiles. They are super heavy duty and look the business"
Stu, Manningtree
Sprung Konnecta Premium Interlocking Gym/Fitness Tiles
For those looking for a super simple installation process, the Sprung Konnecta Premium Self-Locking Tiles are a good solution for training areas and home gyms. They come with adjoining plastic connectors to keep the tiles in position for maximum stability. The tiles use quality HD rubber with simple assembly and maximum structural support for high impact activity. Available in 20mm and 30mm, these ultra-smooth tiles are ideal for medium to heavy weights, strength and conditioning, and functional training.
Sprung Rubber Heavy Duty Gym Tiles
Sprung Rubber Heavy Duty Gym Tiles are a popular choice for complete quality, affordability, and durability. These tiles range from 11mm to a huge 63mm thickness for the heaviest of weight lifting sessions. They feature ultimate sound insulation, shock absorption, and non-slip safety for a range of training capacities.
Final Thoughts
Home fitness all starts with your home gym flooring. If you’re looking to lift weight and make some serious gains, you need a safe foundation for exercise. You have several options from a huge 63mm AntiShock tile to easy to install self-locking fitness tiles. By investing in high-quality, durable and long-lasting materials, you can create the best home gym for your needs.
FAQ
Do you need thick gym mats for all strength training?
No you don't need extra thick mats for all types of strength training, it all comes down to the heaviness of the weights you plan to use. If you are doing very low impact training with some light weights a standard gym tile around 11mm to 15mm will be adequate. However, thicker gym mats are more versatile for all levels of training and will combat noise better as well as providing better shock absorption.
What would be the best gym tiles for a Free Weights area?
We would recommend using a gym tile no lighter than 20mm for a Free Weights zone. Depending on the overall weight capacity, you may require thicker mats from 30mm up to 63mm, especially for Powerlifting and very heavy weightlifting.
Looking to elevate your Strength routine? Opt for high performance strength conditioning flooring to maximise results.
