In both a commercial and home gym, rubber floors are the most ideal flooring option when considering all other options out there—carpet, wood or ceramic tile. Amidst these types of flooring, rubber is the most versatile in function, it offers eco-friendly options, and for any athletic flooring or home gym floor needs, it certainly beats its competitors.

Compared with carpet flooring, which tends to wear quickly and absorb moisture, rubber is a resilient material that is also resistant to moisture. For a home gym floor, carpet alone would not suffice in terms of physical safety during workouts, and since they retain moisture, they can also develop mold and mildew damage. Generally, carpet requires more daily maintenance than rubber, especially for athletic flooring.

For home gym and commercial gym use, other pitfalls of carpet flooring include: balance, rug burn, cleanliness, and wear and tear. As a soft surface, carpet tends to indent more than rubber, and when exercises require kneeling, laying down, or other balance-heavy activities, carpeting disrupts this balance and footing. In any kind of gym, rubber floors are ideal for this reason. Its resilience and ability to return to, or even stay at its original shape makes it perfect for home or commercial gyms.

Another issue of using carpet for athletic flooring is potential rug burn. Any sort of skin-to-carpet friction or rubbing is just asking for pain. In contrast, the durability and simultaneous softness offered by gym rubber floors would lessen the possibility of abrasions from carpet rug burn.

As aforementioned, carpet can retain moisture more readily than rubber or even wood or tile flooring. It can also store stains and allergens more deeply in carpet fibers than can be seen by the naked eye. They require a deep clean more often than not, and carpet deep cleaning is not only expensive, but it’s further hassle. Gym rubber floors on the other hand, despite any sweat or dirt that might come in contact with the material, are fairly easy to clean and keep clean.

Not only is rubber flooring easier to maintain in terms of cleanliness, it is also resistant to wear and tear. Especially if used in a gym, carpet can fade, deform, and dip in places over time more quickly than gym rubber floors. One thing carpet and gym rubber floors might have in common is the quietness. They serve well to cushion the sound of impact, but because of rubber’s ability to rebound more readily, it surpasses the carpet surface for athletic flooring.

Gym rubber floors are also ideal in contrast to wood or ceramic tile flooring. As with carpet, hardwood floors are susceptible to moisture damage. Naturally, hardwood flooring requires occasional refinishing, but if your wood floors are being used for a home gym floor or for athletic flooring, it will need repair and refinishing more frequently. In comparison to gym rubber floors, hardwood floors are also noisier. Especially if you’re planning for your home gym floor, it is important to consider how your athletic flooring would fair during various types of exercises. Gym rubber floors allows for both durability and softness, resilience and easy maintenance.

Gym rubber floors are best even compared to ceramic tiling. For a home gym floor, ceramic tiles may be water-resistant, easy to maintain, and fairly durable, but they also do not allow for any give. They are incredibly tough and difficult to crack, which is good, but when exercise is involved, that can be painful to fall on and hard on the joints especially during high-impact workouts. Ceramic tiles are also not the most slip-resistant of flooring options, but gym rubber floors on the other hand, can come in a variety of different anti-slip patterns to aid in traction. The durability of gym rubber floors does not take away from any elasticity or softness.

Another feature of ceramic tiling that makes for less than ideal athletic flooring is its installation. Ceramic tiles are heavy, labor-intensive, and not the most DIY-friendly because of how much extra preparation is required before laying down the tiles. Rubber flooring and mats, however, have multiple options and interlocking mechanisms that are ideal for easy installation, especially depending on the amount of space you might be looking to cover.

While there may be quite a few flooring options for your at-home or commercial gym, rubber is the ideal candidate for any kind of athletic use. Gym rubber floors are durable yet elastic and resilient, so they are excellent for us accident-prone folks. They are water-resistant and feature anti-slip, high-traction options. Over time, there is less wear and tear to worry about with rubber flooring—not the mention perhaps the best part for gym-use: gym rubber floors are fairly easy to clean and maintain.