New Foam Flooring in my Exercise Space

A little more than three months ago, I decided that I wanted to kick off an at-home exercise routine. I set aside some space in my unfinished basement, setup a table with an old console television, and got down to business. The space is dark, kind of cold at times, and isn’t very inviting.

Given the purpose of the room, I wasn’t all that concerned with the way it looked. As long as it functioned the way I needed it to, I would be happy. After all, it isn’t like I need mood lighting and doilies in a room where I was going to drip sweat on the floor and make my muscles scream.

As functional as the space was, I ran into one problem. The poured concrete floor was doing a number on my feet. No matter how gently I landed or how padded my shoes were, at some point in my routine my feet would begin to ache and my progress would suffer.

I knew that if the concrete floor was a problem during Focus T25 it would going to become a much larger problem when with Insanity (which is filled with high-impact exercises and no modifiers). I began shopping around for a solution and wasn’t overly impressed with what I turned up.

I passed on expensive foam tiles from Home Depot and too-thin cardio mats from Walmart. As I explored my options, some puzzle-type flooring caught my eye on Amazon. The seller claimed the material was ideal for programs such as Insanity and P90X.

Reviews on the product were solid and people claimed that the flooring held up well and offered a good balance between cushion and support. I took a proverbial leap of faith and ordered a 25 Pack of tiles (2-Feet x 2-Feet) for $130. My estimate was this would be enough for two people to work out side by side (or allow generous space for some of the Insanity exercises).

When my order arrived I was genuinely shocked at how little the packages weighed (my order was split between two boxes). I grew concerned that the tiles would be too thin and not offer enough support or cushion for high-impact exercises.

Later that evening I took to the basement with my daughter and we began assembling our new floor. The tiles went together easily and we were finished in short order. My daughter immediately had to test it out and, after jumping around for a few minutes, offered her seal of approval.

I’ve completed some Focus T25 and Insanity Exercises on the flooring and must say, I’m impressed. My foot pain has been relieved and getting down on the floor to perform exercises is actually comfortable now. My only complaint is that when things get hot and heavy and you begin dripping sweat, the liquid sits on the surface and can create semi-slick spots.

In the end, I’m pleased with my $130 purchase and would not hesitate to buy more of these foam tiles in the future.