GYM FLOORING

HIGH QUALITY SPORTS AND FITNESS SURFACES

TVS Gym Flooring specialises in providing high quality sports and fitness surfaces for use in commercial health clubs, weightlifting gyms, strength and conditioning facilities, public leisure centres, boutique fitness studios and multi-use games areas in schools and colleges. Materials are highly resilient, durable and simple to maintain.

TVS also helps health club operators to overcome unwanted noise and vibration issues in gym environments by providing highly specialised acoustic solutions. Examples include: anti-vibration pads for treadmills; impact absorbing isolation rings for gym equipment; and spring jack-up floating floors for free weight areas.

Acoustically-engineered elastic layers or shock pads can also be combined with performance surfaces, providing additional protection to the structural slab while further reducing the transmission of impact forces into the building structure. Floor finishes need to be practical and fit for purpose. However, aesthetics also play an important part in the member experience at fitness clubs and are therefore a crucial element in gym design.

That’s why TVS offers a broad range of gym rubber floor coverings in a range of colours and in a variety of thicknesses. By varying the concentration and colour of EPDM granules contained within each product, designers can create floor schemes to complement the interior of any gym. Optimising the use of space is also important and a prowler lane is easily integrated into the floor plan.

TVS Gym Flooring can demonstrate a wealth of experience and has built a solid reputation, providing solutions to some of the UK’s leading health club operators. For more information on our range of products call us on +44 (0) 1706 260 220 or download our brochure from this website.

Browse By Gym Flooring Types

Browse By Application & Usage

TVS offers a wide range of flooring solutions to suit any budget and application. Whether you’re looking for the perfect free weights area or functional fitness studio, we have what you need. Our floors are designed to be durable and easy to clean so that your gym can look its best at all times. And with multiple colours available, it’s never been easier to match your brand!

Gym Floor Tiles

Choose between 30, 40 or 70mm thickness

Gym Floor Rolls

Choose between 4, 6, 8 or 10mm thickness

Case Studies

TVS Gym Flooring has a proud history of supplying market leading products and has gained a wealth of experience by supporting projects at Pure Gym, The Gym Group, Virgin Active, Fitness First, LAX, The Reebok Club, Xercise4Less, Fit4Less, Lifestyle Fitness, Easy Gym, Primal Gym Leeds, Sheffield Hallam University, Derby University, Derby FC, England RFU and Chelsea FC.

In addition to some of the UK’S biggest gym brands, we also work with businesses, sports centres and hotels. The service we provide is all-inclusive, with design, installation, recycling and aftercare included. Get in touch for a quote today.

Recent Case Studies

Acoustic Gym Flooring

Acoustic gym floors are designed to significantly reduce noise and vibration so that workout activities do not impact other people. There is a perceptible difference in acoustic performance when acoustics are taken into account, as these surfaces create quieter workouts while also providing better results for those who use them!

Gym Noise

When it comes to gym noise, there are two types of sounds that will keep you up at night. The first is falling and dropped weights which can cause a lot more damage than one might think – their jarring impact on the floor could rip through your subflooring or even crack concrete! Not only does this make for an extremely unpleasant experience but also causes customer satisfaction levels in gyms drop significantly.

Vibration

The biggest challenge gym flooring faces is vibrations. How can we control these so that impacts are not felt on the other side of a room? The answer lies in gyms’ floor systems, which absorb different types of vibration and oscillation to reduce their effects across wide areas- making them more appealing for use.

The acoustic gym flooring you walk on is made from EPDM rubber, but the top surface is only one part of a multi-layer system. It typically consists of two or three layers consisting off an elastomeric polymer (EPDM) top plate; high rebound foam underlay to dampen noise and absorb vibrations; another thicker layer for isolation purposes usually with different density than both upper materials so they can be tuned differently based upon desired performance characteristics.

Gym Tiles or Rolls?

Investing in flooring for your commercial gym is an important decision. Rubber tiles and rolls provide a durable surface that protects against impacts while absorbing noise from weights being lifted overhead or other activities taking place nearby.

There’s no need to worry about durability since they are both incredibly resilient,  which means they won’t break easily even if you drop something really heavy and they are available in many different colors.

Gym Tiles 

Gym tiles are an excellent choice for people who want to install floors quickly. You can get tiles that have thickness up 70 mm, making them ideal as your flooring material! The click-together design also makes it easy to install. A key advantage to floor tiles is that they tend to be available in greater thicknesses than rubber rolls. Tiles can be very heavy duty, allowing you power lift and bounce weights off the ground with ease! For example we offer 15mm through 70 mm for general use – just what your gym needs!

Gym Rolls 

Gym Rolls are a great option for installations with very little waste and thickness from 4mm to 10 mm. As the name suggests, rubber rolls come in rolls that you cut lengthwise. This means there’s less wastage material on your flooring when installation is complete! Since rolls are rolled out, they are quicker to install than tiles in larger spaces and you can cut the material to suit odd shapes like curves and corners. The downside to rubber rolls is they are heavy and require professional installation. They are also less suited to free weights because the thickness typically only goes up to 10mm.

How To Soundproof a Gym Floor?

Gyms generate a lot of noise. When left unchecked, noise can negatively impact user experience, reducing revenue and increasing customer turnover. The last thing you want is to lose customers. Another reason to reduce gym noise is if you share a building; if gym activities impact others, this can damage your reputation, generate complaints and sour your relationship with people.

The biggest generator of noise in gyms is the floor, which has to absorb impacts and sounds sufficiently. When gym floors don’t do this, every little activity adds up, creating a wall of noise that travels across the gym.

Soundproofing Your Gym Floor

The most important thing to know is no single material can absorb vibration and noise better than multiple dedicated layers. A layered system is the only way to soundproof a gym floor to deaden impacts.

Consider a Sprung System 

Sprung gym floors isolate vibration and sound from the subfloor with middle and bottom timber spruces. The spruces support the layers, creating an air gap. This air gap provides the best soundproofing effect for gym floors. The top layer of a sprung floor can be hardwood, plywood topped with an elastic, or ply topped with foam underlay and rubber tiles. Heavy zones should have a rubber top, while HIIT and functional zones can be topped with elastic.

Layer Up With Various Densities 

While a soft top layer will compress underfoot to prevent injuries, it won’t stop a weight from thudding into the subfloor and bouncing. This is where a rigid rubber layer comes in and shock-absorbing foams. Every gym floor has to have a few layers to maximise soundproofing. The top layer should be semi-rigid, so it is hard underfoot but compresses under load, and under this should be a soft, shock-absorbing underlay.

There’s No Replacement For Thickness In Lifting Zones

Squat racks and deadlift zones need 50mm+ impact protection slabs to absorb the sound and vibration from slammed bars. This is necessary to reduce sound, protect the subfloor, and minimise the impact on others. Impact protection slabs help spread the load of heavy drops and are extremely durable, with a grippy top layer suitable for Olympic lifts.

Recognise The Limitations 

Ultimately, you cannot soundproof a gym floor completely, but you can get it to absorb impacts and sounds to a high level. ‘Sound reduction’ should be the goal, and the only way to achieve good results is by layering up correctly.

What Kind of Gym Floor is Best For Free Weights?

Free weight zones experience a lot of footfall and punishment from dropped weights, dragged benches and functional fitness activities. Because of this, they need to be durable and impact-absorbing to prevent injuries.

Rubber Tiles 

The best flooring for the job is EPDM rubber floor tiles. They absorb impacts from the heaviest weights at 30mm to 40mm thick and reduce the bouncing effect. When paired with foam underlay, rubber tiles also dampen sound and vibration, helping reduce noise in the gym for a better customer experience.

The most popular brand is SPORTEC. SPORTEC tiles have become the industry standard with proven performance, durability and longevity. Another reason to choose EPDM rubber tiles is EPDM rubber is 100% recyclable, so it can be used to make more tiles in the future.

Underlay 

While rubber tiles will protect the subfloor, they won’t provide optimal impact absorption on their own. A 3mm to 10mm foam underlay makes an enormous difference by giving the rubber tiles something soft to compress into. Underlay is always necessary for commercial gyms, though home gyms can usually get away with a top layer of rubber tiles only.

The sound is deadened when heavy free weights are dropped on a gym floor with tiles and underlay. There’s a ‘thud’ but not a crash. Vibration from the drop is minimal, ensuring that heavy activities do not impact others.

Impact Protection Slabs

For additional protection in powerlifting/deadlift/rack zones, impact protection slabs are what you need. These are 60mm to 80mm thick, made from a robust rubber crumb that is designed to maximise grip even when wet. Slabs can have a textured top surface or a smooth surface with a vinyl coating. It depends on the types of activities that will be performed.

Impact protection slabs are installed over the gym floor. When heavy weights crash into the slab, the slab absorbs most of the impact, preventing the vibration from travelling. This is the best way to deaden sounds in power zones.

Summing Up

Free weight zones should have a minimum two-layer system, with a foam underlay and 30mm-40mm rubber tiles. The rubber tile will absorb impacts while the underlay absorbs more energy, stopping dropping weights from  bouncing. EPDM rubber tiles are preferred because they have extreme abrasion resistance (ideal for heavy footfall, dragged benches and functional fitness). Avoid rubber rolls for free weight zones because the matting is too thin.

What Is The Best Multi-Use Fitness Flooring?

Multi-fitness gyms have to perfectly balance cushioning, support and impact absorption to accommodate the widest range of activities. As you can imagine, yoga and strength training have different flooring requirements, but a middle ground exists that accommodates both light and heavy activities.

Multi-use flooring, a jack-of-all-trades, is very popular in commercial gyms because it delivers the safety and durability required for years of use. Here’s a run-down of the main types of multi-use fitness flooring:

Sprung Floors

Best for: Impact and sound isolation, cushioning underfoot. 

Sprung floors are built on a concrete base, consisting of middle and bottom timber spruces with a top layer of fitness-grade engineered wood or a plywood top layer finished in elastic (can also be topped with rubber). Sprung floors isolate sound and vibration very well and are most suited to functional fitness zones, including HIIT, machines, dance classes and sports.

Polyurethane Floors

Best for: Sports halls and large surface areas.

Polyurethane is a seamless flooring solution for large spaces. The multi-use surface is suitable for indoor hockey, 5-a-side football, basketball, badminton and many other sports. Polyurethane always performs perfectly with excellent grip. It can be paired to elastic layers to improve cushioning around fitness zones.  

MUGA Flooring

Best for: Outdoor applications and contact sports. 

MUGA (“Multi-Use Games Area”) is best for outdoor applications. It has mixed elasticity for contact sports, racket sports, gymnastics and HIIT. MUGA flooring comprises a subfloor, high-performance underlay and a vinyl topper. The top surface is non-permeable and extremely hard-wearing.

Interlocking Tiles 

Best for: Commercial gyms with lots of free weights. 

Interlocking tiles are made from EPDM rubber. When paired to an elastic or foam underlay, they deliver outstanding performance in strength training zones. Interlocking tiles are a good choice for multi-use fitness flooring because they have no gaps and offer optimal grip for all types of activity.

Rubber Rolls 

Best for: Commercial gyms with lots of machines. 

Rubber rolls are thinner than tiles but no less durable, delivering grip, impact protection and safety for the user with moderate cushioning. With a thickness of up to 10mm, rolls are not ideal for free weight zones, but they can cheaply cover a large area for functional fitness.

Summing Up 

A sprung floor is an optimal solution for isolating sound and vibration in a building, and it can be topped with tiles, rolls and vinyl to provide the necessary cushioning. The other listed options are good for directly covering a solid subfloor.

What Is The Right Gym Flooring For Treadmills?

Commercial treadmills are typically categorised as heavy gym equipment, weighing anywhere from 30kg to over 130kg. That might not sound like much, but the contact area on the floor is usually small, pressing into the floor, which can permanently damage a soft surface. Because of this, it’s essential to specify the right flooring for treadmills.

Flooring For Treadmills 

Treadmills need a hard, rigid surface that won’t compress under zonal load. The best surfaces are timber (hardwood or engineered), PU (polyurethane) and vinyl. All these options have the desired point elastic performance for treadmills.

PU Flooring

PU flooring is the cream of the crop for treadmills, delivering extreme point elastic performance with outstanding durability and grip. PU is grippy when wet and load-bearing, making it ideal for commercial gyms.

Polyurethane floors are superior to vinyl floors because the polyurethane coating is significantly more durable, and they look better. However, they are more expensive. If you are on a small budget, a vinyl floor could be what you need.

Vinyl Flooring 

Vinyl flooring is rigid, durable, and load-bearing, ideal for treadmills. It lacks the extreme durability of PU but still lasts a long time. Vinyl won’t break or compress under the weight of a treadmill or most other heavy equipment.

If you need a cheap solution for treadmills, vinyl offers the point elastic performance you need. Thousands of commercial gyms use it. PU is a worthwhile upgrade, though, so do consider PU if you can spend a little bit more.

Timber Flooring

Timber flooring, be it hardwood or engineered, is ideal for treadmills so long as a treadmill mat covers the wood. Without a protective mat, treadmills can irreparably damage timber floors, and running activities can also be noisy due to no shock absorption. Wood marks happen because the treadmill’s contact points press into the wood.  

Timber is the classic choice for treadmills because it looks fantastic. If you go down the timber route, you want timber sports flooring (not standard flooring) because sports flooring has a more durable coating that resists abrasion.

Avoid Soft, Squishy Surfaces!

Treadmills easily mark surfaces like foam, rubber, carpet and artificial turf, and some treadmills are heavy enough to penetrate them. It is always best to use a rigid floor with a protective mat for extra protection.

Overall, you can’t go wrong with PU or vinyl, but PU is best.

The Difference Between Commercial and Home Gym Flooring

The most significant difference between commercial gym flooring and home gym flooring is the construction and overall thickness of the floor. Commercial gym floors have more layers and greater thickness, and they also make use of a broader range of materials. In this article, we’ll explain the key differences with a few recommendations for your gym so you can choose the right flooring.

Construction 

Some commercial gyms have a sprung floor. A sprung floor is built on the subfloor, with timber spruces that provide a platform for the flooring. This creates an air gap between the subfloor and gym floor, isolating vibration and sound.

Home gyms flooring is usually built over the subfloor directly. For example, the underlay is stuck to the concrete, and rubber tiles are stuck to the underlay. This doesn’t isolate impacts from the subfloor but does provide moderate protection.

Materials

Typically, commercial rubber gym tiles are 30mm to 40mm thick, while home gym tiles are up to 20mm thick. Sometimes, home gyms use foam tiles instead of rubber; these are softer and not suitable for commercial applications.

Commercial gyms also have thicker floors because they take more punishment. For example, a 20mm home tile won’t do in a commercial gym. Commercial gyms need thicker floors to support a wide range of heavy machines, racks and activities. Commercial gyms also have access to polyurethane, vinyl, timber and multi-use surfaces to provide optimal fitness zones for different people.

Types Of Tile 

Home gyms nearly always have interlocking tiles (rubber or foam) because they are simple to install and easy to replace. Commercial gyms tend to have standard-fit tiles, such as the SPORTEC range.

EPDM rubber is the material of choice for home and commercial applications, but some home gyms use high-density EVA foam instead. EVA foam tiles protect subfloors well, but they can’t handle the footfall of a commercial gym.

Types Of Matting 

Commercial gyms invest in a high-quality shock-absorbing underlay with point elastic performance if rubber matting is preferred over tiles. Home gyms tend to go for a soft and pliable membrane, and in some cases, there is no underlay at all.

Rubber matting can quickly cover a large surface area, but you can’t replace small sections without ripping it all up. For this reason, it is most popular in commercial gyms, which have a larger budget to purchase better quality matting.

Latest Project

Chapel Wharf Complex

Thanks to TVS Group, a new build to rent development in Manchester is assured of staying ultra-calm despite its vibrant state-of-the-art fitness facilities. 

Like all its build to rent developments, the company behind the scheme has incorporated the latest fitness amenities within the city’s Chapel Wharf complex.

Earlier this year, TVS Group, a market-leading specialist in high performance shock pad underlay systems and highly durable surfacing, was approached to source, supply and install a range of floor finishes and acoustic solutions for the new development.

For example, in the area designated for weightlifting, TVS installed its heavy-duty impact-resistant SPORTEC Style Tiles, offering protection to the concrete sub-base and a reduction in potential structure-borne noise often associated with weightlifting activities.

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