Floor Mats

[denver]

I am looking for some good floor mats but don't want to over pay. I will probably go with 2 - 4'x8' mats and was guessing 3/8" thick should do. I will use them over a cheap tile floor for dropping blobs, plates and various other pinch apparatus. I need something pretty tough, but I won't be dropping heavy barbells or anything.

Thanks for your help.

[showlarson]

I bought some mats from walmart a while back, I have everything from an Airdyne, blobs and Rolling thunder on them and they have held up well. I think a section of them cost around 15.00

[jad]

I have some of those rubber fatigue mats from Home Depot. I don't remember the cost but they weren't by any means expensive. I've dropped my Blob50 from waist high and just kind of made a dull thud and didn't damage my basement floor at all.

[climber511]

Try Tractor Supply - they have 4' x 6' x 3/4" thick for around $35 or so.

[OldGuy]

I like the Home Depot mats.

[Steve B.]

I have also heard where they sell stuff for horses they sell the 4x6 rubber mats.

I have my garage 3/4 floored with this type of mat.Very good and durable.

[denver]

I just bought 2 of the Home Depot heavy duty 3'x3'x1/2" inter-lockable floor mats. They are pretty good and the price is definitly right, but they can't handle hard drops from the blobs...not exactly what I was looking for. I just tried them out with my smaller 25 lb blobs and caused some damage to my floor. If the blob hit square on there was no damage, but when I dropped it from waist height and it hit on the edge it damaged the mat and the floor. I am really looking for mats that will handle blobs dropping repeatedly with no issue what so ever. I am currently using a network of phone books on the floor. They stop any drop, but they are by no means ideal. If I were to buy some of the expensive matting from Weightlifter Warehouse or the local places, would 3/8" do the job?

Thank you all for the help.

[underdawg]

I've gotta recommend the stall mats too. They'll hold up to pretty near anything.

[DAN PRAYDIS]

try a concrete plant or stone quarry they throw away the old conveyer belt 3 1/2 foot wide by what ever you cut if you find some one nice enough to give it to you and that stuff is heavy

[HawkSC]

I've got a stall mat (4x6x5/8). If that is laid on top of concrete, can I do deadlifts on and drop the weights without fear of damaging the concrete?

Thanks,

Jim

[climber511]

HawkSC - I'd say NO. It's not just the padding that saves the floor. The idea is spreading the impact force over a larger area. For that reason, It's best to make a plywood etc platform with rubber inserts it you plan to drop weights onto it on any kind of regular basis.

[HawkSC]

Climber,

Could you explain what you mean in a little more detail. I don't understand what you mean by rubber inserts.

Thanks,

Jim

[lightcycle]

Why would you need to drop a deadlift? There isn't a reason that this is necessary. If you're doing DL's till your grip gives out, buy a set of straps and use them till your back/legs is the failure point and you progress far enough in gripping ability, that it is no longer the failure point.

[chrlslee1]

Its very difficult to let a very heavy deadlift down in a controlled manner.

[mikebuck]

A stall mat from tractor supply will work for a deadlift mat. Setting a deadlift down in a controlled manner simply means that you didn't drop it and kept your hands in contact with the bar during the descent. You can still set the bar down pretty hard and a stall mat should be able to take an occasional dropped deadlift, mine has.

The price on those is $35-40.

[climber511]

HawkSC

A thick rubber mat will work fine for deadlifting if you set the weights down but you said drop. I don't believe a simple rubber mat will protect a concrete floor from that on a regular basis. In very simple terms, impact on the floor comes down to pounds per square inch of floor affected. A weight dropped onto a bare floor has a very small concentrated impact area and therefore high # per Sq In impact. A rubber mat adds a lot of cushioning but does not spread impact forces over a much larger area than the bare floor ( some but not a lot).

The addition of some plywood etc under your rubber mat cushions and spreads the impact forces over a larger area of floor due to the stiffness of the plywood. What I was refering to is the normal construction for an Olympic lifting platform - where they drop the weights on a regular basis and spreading the force out is critical to protecting the concrete floor underneath. A normal platform is 2 pieces of 3/4" plywood crossways on top of 2 pieces of 3/4" thick with 3/4" rubber down each side and another piece of plywood down the middle. Now this is not necessary if you set your DLs down in a normal fashion but you said drop and if that is something you feel you will do for whatever reason, then maybe you maight think about it. You might go to my website and check out my platform for both Olympic lifting and the band dead lift platform. It's had 130Kilos (thats 286# from about 7' high) dropped from overhead (bumper plates) and the concrete has NO cracks in it. Try this link and go to the platforms.

http://www.stylesdevelops.com/climber511/default.htm

It all comes down to what YOU plan on doing and how you think you'll do it. Personally, I'd throw a sheet of 3/4" plywood under the rubber and use that - and lower your deadlifts under some kind of control.

Blobs, blocks, Inch Dumbells, V-bars, heavy DLs, heavy (for me) clean and jerks - you name it, it's been dropped on my platform (on the rubber) and no damage anywhere. You could make a 4' x 8' platform with rubber on each side with 2 1/2 sheets of 3/4" plywood and 2/3s of a stall mat for about $100 that will take ANYTHING you can throw at it.

Edited March 18, 2005 by climber511

[HawkSC]

Thanks for your help, Climber.

I've been using kb's for a year and am going to add some DL's to my regimen and I don't want to damage the concrete in my garage. That would be the end of my lifting in the garage as my wife would kill me at that point and probably wouldn't ok any more money outlays.

Jim

[LAHotSauce]

I bought mine at sams. 3x3 honeycomb anti-fatigue mat. costed about 27 bucks.

[t_rex]

Lay some ply down before the rubber.

[chrlslee1]

Great post climber!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now if only the gym near my house would take your inexpensive advice!

[chrlslee1]

I just checked your site climber and thats a really great gym! How much did that stuff cost you minus the grip stuff.

[climber511]

chrislle1

I built the biggest part of the equipment 2-3 years ago before steel prices started jumping. I have just a little more in all the homemade equipment together than I would have had in the most expensive single piece bought retail. It's amazing how much money you can save doing it yourself. Sure, it's a lot of work but that's kind of enjoyable - at least to me. Anyone who wants a really good home gym and doesn't have a bunch of money to spend should look into the do it yourself route. As far as the rest of the weights, bars etc - remember I've been at this for a long time. A little here, a little there - a decade here - a decade there - it all adds up. The website should be updated in the next couple weeks, including a bunch of older Olympic photos and rewritten articles. I hate to say how much the whole thing cost in case my wife ever reads this - that might be bad. But it probably cost a tenth of what you think.

[chrlslee1]

chrislle1 

    I built the biggest part of the equipment 2-3 years ago before steel prices started jumping.  I have just a little more in all the homemade equipment together than I would have had in the most expensive single piece bought retail.  It's amazing how much money you can save doing it yourself.  Sure, it's a lot of work but that's kind of enjoyable - at least to me.  Anyone who wants a really good home gym and doesn't have a bunch of money to spend should look into the do it yourself route.  As far as the rest of the weights, bars etc - remember I've been at this for a long time.  A little here, a little there - a decade here - a decade there - it all adds up.  The website should be updated in the next couple weeks, including a bunch of older Olympic photos and rewritten articles.  I hate to say how much the whole thing cost in case my wife ever reads this - that might be bad.  But it probably cost a tenth of what you think.

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thnx for the reply