When it comes to creating a modern, state-of-the-art commercial gym environment, the importance of flooring can often be overlooked. But choosing the right gym flooring is a crucial decision for lots of different reasons, as our Co-Founder and Director, Ben Steadman, explains. 

Over the past two years, we’ve delivered some huge projects for private gyms, local authority leisure centres, hospitality venues and educational institutions. And in every single one of them, the flooring was one of the most important aspects. The reason for that is because no matter where a gym is being installed or who’s going to be using it, the safety, resilience and durability of any gym flooring will always be paramount. 

That’s not to say other things like the machines and equipment, lighting and AV aren’t as important. We’ll be the first to tell you that any successful commercial gym needs to have all of these different components working together in harmony so that the end-user receives the best all-round experience. However, flooring could be considered the unsung hero of the commercial gym as it’s required to do so much but doesn’t always get the necessary credit. 

Putting safety first 

You can have the best cardio machines or free weights in the world, but if the flooring underneath is cheap and of poor quality, it won’t perform to the required standards and will undermine the overall experience of users in your gym. Commercial gym floors take one hell of a beating, from people dropping weights to jumping up and down and general footfall throughout the day, so it’s vitally important that you invest in high-quality commercial gym flooring to protect your equipment and your users. 

The most important reason you should prioritise installing the best commercial gym flooring possible is for the safety of your end-users. Your gym flooring needs to be highly absorbent to withstand heavy impacts and non-slip so that people don’t end up hurting themselves or others during a workout. The flooring has to prevent your end-users suffering from injuries, slips or falls without fail. 

Maintenance and mood 

In addition to safety, there are other considerations to make when it comes to choosing the right commercial gym flooring. Opting for materials like commercial-grade vinyl and rubber, as we use in most of our projects, makes it much easier to maintain and clean, meaning the floor is less likely to carry bacteria. Whether it’s sweat or spillages, a quick wipe down is enough to keep your floor clean and hygienic. 

Materials like vinyl and rubber don’t just absorb impact, they also absorb sound too. This means they’re great at creating extra sound insulation in your gym to reduce noise, which will help to improve the atmosphere in the space and ultimately have a positive effect on the mood of your end-users. It’s incredibly important we consider the acoustics and vibration reduction when we look at every flooring job. What sits below the area? What will the space be used for? Do we need to consider bounce back or rebound when dropping heavy weights? 

Effective use of colours, shapes and patterns is also another way of influencing the mood of people using your gym, so finding flooring that is versatile and adaptable is important. Flooring should be incorporated into the gym planning for the wider interior decoration from the start so that consideration is made for the atmosphere and mood you want to create in specific spaces. 

So as you can see, there’s quite a lot to consider when it comes to choosing your commercial gym flooring. This is why our clients love working with Inspace, as we not only specify the right flooring from our own range to meet their particular needs, but we also employ the best installers in the industry to fit it for them too. We also offer advice and solutions on acoustic issues or sub-flooring protection or preparation. 

To find out how flooring played a crucial part in a recent project we completed for Caerphilly Council at Newbridge Leisure Centre, read the case study.