Rubber gym floor

[AliG]

Hi,

 

Just completed a lockdown project.

 

We have a downstairs bedroom for when we get too old for the stairs, but for the moment it is the gym. If I had known it would be a gym it may have been a little larger. There is a lot of space given over to an en suite and a wardrobe. One thing we are finding, if anyone plans a gym, is that the French doors make a massive difference. You can open them to cool down and take stuff outside to work out there. Also we have a path all the way round the house, so can run laps, it is about 120 metres.

 

It wasn't used much until the lockdown. My wife and daughter go to a Crossfit gym and they roped me in about 18 months ago to do it too.Must admit I feel a lot better for it, although no lighter.

 

As we cannot go to the gym, the trainer now does Zoom classes with us.

 

We were finding the wooden floor was too slippery and prone to being scratched by the weights.

 

After a bit of research I reckoned the best combination of cost and function was to get a roll of rubber flooring and cut it up.

 

I got 12sq metres of 8mm rubber for £175 delivered. Rubber tiles would have been at least twice the price and foam seemed like it would not last. We already had 2 ticker rubber tiles under the big machine.

 

Anyway, three hours later here is our new gym. It was hard going, the floor weighs around 8kg a square metre.

 

I have double sided tape to fix it in place, but I am going to let it settle for a bit first.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 22, 2020 by AliG

[Jilly]

Have you thought about putting big mirror on one wall?

[Mr Punter]

Does it smell like @pocster's bondage den?

[AliG]

8 minutes ago, Jilly said:

Have you thought about putting big mirror on one wall?

 

I often see this in gyms, but I don't know why, I guess maybe you can watch your form.

 

It breaks my rule though of never attaching things to the wall if it can at all be avoided as it is a pain to change it in the future.

 

To the left of the rowing machine is a large window onto the pool room.

[Ferdinand]

1 hour ago, AliG said:

 

I often see this in gyms, but I don't know why, I guess maybe you can watch your form.

 

It breaks my rule though of never attaching things to the wall if it can at all be avoided as it is a pain to change it in the future.

 

To the left of the rowing machine is a large window onto the pool room.

 

It lets you see your movements and how well they are working if there is no one training you. An alternative or supplement is a video setup say using your iPhone and a tripod. if you are doing particularly weights it may be important because bad technique can cause nasty injuries if you have not been well trained. But am sure you know that.

 

It also lets you judge the elegance of your plié when you are practicing Swan Lake.

 

(For non-ballet-dancers Plié is a ballet dancing version of Dixon of Dock Green’s Allo Allo Allo. In a tutu. ?)

 

 

Edited May 22, 2020 by Ferdinand

[Ferdinand]

Not sure how much feedback you want suggesting  potential issues with this given that it is finished ? . But ... writing as part owner of a Crossfit Gym (about which there are a few threads) there are a few things it may be useful to say. I hope everything has been considered and this is unnecessary.

 

What is the floor surface under the rubber matting? If you or anybody start dropping kettlebells or weights on it, I do not think that 8mm will be enough and it may well die if it is at all delicate. Even porcelain tiles may get chipped. One issue is that sometimes the reason for dropping weights is safety, so you cannot say you will never do it.

 

And I am not sure that 8mm will be enough for your comfort or to protect your joints if you are doing stretching or eg burpees on it or things that involve knees such as types of scaled pressups and so on. Depends on how hard the floor surface underneath is.

 

Though rowing, assault bike and the torture machine on the right will be fine.

 

The normal floor of a Crossfit Gym would be more like 18mm dimpled horse matting over a concrete slab. (Last lot I bought cost about £45 each for 10 6x4s delivered, 2 years ago - we have about 5000 sqft of it, and yes it does feel expensive when you are the one stumping up.) We also do our weights on inserts made from 8x4 18mm plywood. But that has to cope with people throwing 100kg+ barbels down from shoulder height, which is perhaps not you (or me). You could loose lay a sacrificial tongue and groove click-fit under the matting if you have problems. We use the thinner stuff on rolls where we walk around the weights area, but not where we do things on the floor.

 

I think you could probably make your stretching etc more comfortable by using some of the jigsaw foam mats they make eg for putting on the floor of child playpens. Or a yoga mat. I find it helps my sit bones. If you need a weights area with heavier mats then one option might be a gazebo or veranda outside. 

 

My best suggestion would be to review it with your distant trainer, so that he is aware what you have so you do not end up doing anything that is unsuitable or may cause problems, and take the advice on what is most appropriate. And see how you go.

 

@jack may have some useful comments, as a Crossfitter.

 

Nice project.

 

Ferdinand

Edited May 22, 2020 by Ferdinand

[AliG]

Thanks. Some good info there.

 

The floor underneath is 15mm engineered walnut floating on a thin layer of foam.

 

We don’t have any heavy weights in the house as we used to have them at the gym. The heaviest we have is an 18kg kettle bell. If we get something heavier I will get more mats to protect it. The main issue so far has been it is easy to scratch

 

I will find out how much better it is on my joints when we train tomorrow. The wooden floor was a total non starter and the soft yoga mats are too small in a lot of instances. The wood is also very slippery and the mats move around on it, often we end up taking them outside. It was effectively making the room smaller as there were lots of spaces that weren’t comfortable to train. It doesn’t feel like it has a lot of give if it is not enough I could see how it is doubled up.

 

At the moment my wife doesn’t ever want to go back to a gym but that will probably change with a vaccine. So I am trying to make the gym more usable without spending a fortune until I know the long term situation. The equipment in there is refurbished stuff we got a good deal on.

Edited May 22, 2020 by AliG

[Ferdinand]

Sounds good. When I do stuff at home (currently just doing cycling and a bit of yoga) I only have a wall ball and a skipping rope.
 

But I need to work mainly on mobility, so when I am stronger after my winter illness I will start doing just the warmups.

[AliG]

I couldn't skip before starting Crossfit