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Explore home gym flooring ideas that fit your home decor –and can withstand the heavy wear and tear of a daily workout

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These home gym flooring ideas will help you choose the flooring that best accommodates your taste and exercise needs. And you actually have much more choice than you may think – it's not all about a nondescript black floor. 

Home gym ideas are heavily reliant on the quality and look of the floor – after all, apart from the walls, it's the main thing you'll be looking at while working out, so it makes sense to invest in an option that's both good-looking and functional. 

Where it comes to the design considerations of your in home gym flooring, you have quite a few options. A home gym floor doesn't have to be black, and it doesn't have to look like a commercial gym. 

In fact, in-home gym flooring can look just as sophisticated as the floors throughout the rest of your home. From Scandi-inflected blond wood looks to colorful options, you can have pretty much any look you want, but there will be some practical considerations. 

First of all, as our gallery of ideas will show, engineered home gym flooring tiles will be more appropriate than the very expensive real wood flooring you see in older homes (although this can be accommodated – we explain how later). 

You can even have a soft floor in your home gym – so long as you are prepared to regularly clean it. Health & Fitness expert from FitKit (opens in new tab) Iveta Bernane explains that choosing the right flooring for your home gym is largely down to personal preference and the type of exercise you're planning to do: 'carpet flooring helps add a layer of soundproofing for high-intensity workouts, yet hardwood and tiled flooring allows for a stable workout base.'

Be prepared to protect fancier flooring types from the increased wear and tear in a workout area. Iveta advises 'laying down a yoga mat no matter which flooring you choose as the cushioned layer helps reduce impact on the joints.'

There is probably no trendier flooring type than blond wood at the moment, and if you are style-conscious, this may be the best type of wood flooring for you home gym. Designer Taniya Nayak (opens in new tab) has created an impromtu home gym in a stunning room in her home. The whole look is minimalist and uncluttered. You may be able to get away with similar if you only have relatively light-weight equipment. 

If you're planning on acquiring heavy-weight home gym equipment, real wood is not recommended. Go for a hardworking laminate alternative. You'll still be able to achieve the same blond look, just minus the damage you'd cause to real wood.

Of course, going for a darker laminate floor is better from the purely functional perspective. 

You'll not see the scuffs and marks that will inevitably form with the daily use of your home gym. However, dark floors can also look cool, as proved by this dramatic look created by KTM Design (opens in new tab) . 

Still worried you'll damage your nice floor? A rubber mat underneath the heavier equipment is your answer. 

Alex Gwilliam, Sales Manager at Green Retreats (opens in new tab) , recommends 'choosing hardwearing oak laminate options and installing a quality third-party rubber matting to protect it further from heavy machinery or weights.'

There's a reason why rubber is the preferred flooring material in professional gyms. Not only is it hardwearing and won't show any marks, but rubber flooring also gives you great bounce. If your preferred form of workout is HIIT, gymnastics, or boxing, rubber is a must. And it can look good, too, especially paired with crisp white walls. 

Of course, not all homes will suit rubber. If your home gym or yoga studio is in an upstairs room of an older home, you'll want something a bit softer. 

This gorgeous yoga studio was designed by DeGraw & DeHaan Architects (opens in new tab) on the attic level of a historic home. The floor-protecting natural sisal mat is much more appropriate here than rubber would have been.

Don't like the traditional gym look at all? We hear you. There's really no reason why you can't have an ornate floor in your workout area. Just make sure you go for tough, engineered wood flooring, not real parquet! 

Peter Keane, Director of The Natural Wood Floor Company (opens in new tab) , believes that 'for flooring that works hard in the home gym, engineered wood flooring can’t be beaten. Parquet flooring creates a striking impression over large spaces, with a variety of woods that can be combined in a number of ways to achieve an individual look.'

If yours is a garage gym, you can really experiment with your flooring. You don't have to stick to neutrals – garage spaces are naturally quite bland, so a pop of bright color can really bring them to life. 

We love the strong pairing of royal blue and orange in this garage home gym design by Garage Flex (opens in new tab) . Vinyl tile or resin flooring will be your best bet if you're going for color.

Home gym experts tend to agree that rubber is the best material for home gym flooring. Mark Reynolds, founder and CEO of WeMakeGyms.com (opens in new tab) , hails the rubber-composite option as 'always' the best – it 'can come in loose lay tiles (we recommend with an undermount system) or in rolls which provides a seamless finish at the expense of more involved and costly installation involving adhesive so is also permanent.'

Katie Thomas, founder of KTM Design (opens in new tab) , agrees and adds that 'Rubber flooring is best for your home gym because it’s easy to install over any existing flooring and is durable so can support all the heavy machinery that you may have.'

Mark says that with rubber flooring for home gyms, 'thickness depends on the product but usually 20mm-30mm is the sweet spot.'

Katie adds that 'if you use weights over 40kg you should consider a thickness up to 80mm.'

Anna is Content Editor at Real Homes. She moved to the world of interiors from academic research in the field of English Literature and photography. She is the author of London Writing of the 1930s and has a passion for contemporary home decor and gardening. At Real Homes, she covers a range of topics, from practical advice to interior and garden design. 

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