Home Gym Recommendations

[naperthrill]

Started SS about 1-2 weeks ago. I have a SS Coach and excited to start this process!

I am in the process of finishing our basement. We have allotted a 10x19 space for an exercise room. In this room I am planning on putting in a rack.

Question about flooring. Would you guys recommend plywood with horse stall mats over the whole room? Or should I just put plywood under the area where the rack would be (essentially an 8x8 platform). The only issue I see with this is that the rest of the floor would sit a bit lower and so it wouldn't all be flush.

Just wanted to hear how other people have designed their home gym areas when considering flooring. Also would you do plywood underneath with horsestall over the entire area of the room or would you use a higher quality plywood in the middle of where the rack would be (as is shown in a lot of platform diy videos such as alan thrall or art of manliness) with stall mats surrounding?

Appreciate your input!

[sbrl_19]

532 pages of velvety gooey gold home gym sauce in the thread below.

For my home space I have 2x2 foam tiles for most of the room (prior owners had finished it that way), with a 7x7 platform I made of layers of plywood topped with horse stall mats on the outside and hardwood in the middle.

https://startingstrength.com/resourc...-gyms-532.html

[naperthrill]

are there ever any issues of anyone tripping in the area where the 7x7 platform is compared to the foam tiles?

[naperthrill]

https://startingstrength.com/resourc...-gyms-532.html

thanks! I saw this and am slowly working my way through it!

[sbrl_19]

are there ever any issues of anyone tripping in the area where the 7x7 platform is compared to the foam tiles?

Probably has happened a few times but it hasn't been an issue. I had thought about putting yellow duct tape around the edge but never did.

[iamsmuts]

What's on the floor now? Is it dry, bone dry? (Tape some plastic to the floor for a couple days to see if there is any condensation if you have any doubts.) Do you have decent clearance? How thick is the concrete in your basement? (Some old basements have very thin concrete.) . . . .

I've been in two houses where the basement concrete cratered from deadlifts with just stall mats on top. (Power cleans in the first place made some serious holes, but deadlifts can do it too.)

If you have new concrete and don't plan on power cleaning, then stall mats alone might be fine if the floor is dry. You don't need a wooden center section unless you are doing split jerks. Stall mats are fine to lift on. They do not compress under foot. Not at all.

If your basement floor isn't dry, make it dry. If you can't for sure, then don't put plywood down. Treated plywood will likely warp unless it is secured, so that's not really an option. Besides, you'll still get mold.

I'm building a lifting section in my garage. I can't seem to control for all moisture, so I'm putting dimpled plastic down, then plywood, and then stall mats. This is an experiment. I don't think the plastic will fail given the deflection of the plywood. We'll see. (I'm not sure if I'm going to seal the concrete first. I might need it to dry outward. But I plan on most of the drying to occur via evaporation us the sides. I'd like to prevent as much water coming up as possible, so I'll probably seal it. . . .

This solution will eat headroom. I'm going to lose 2 solid inches, at least. I have room to spare in the garage, not the basement.

If you don't cover the entire floor of your basement, it's not tripping that you have to worry about, it's the exposed floor. I have painted asbestos tiles directly on concrete in the lifting area of my basement. Dumbbells scratch the paint and rubber feet mar. I'm going to cover the entire lifting area to reduce ugliness. I don't give a shit about the tiles. I just don't want it looking dirty.

[Sharon Edoard]

Use Rubber Floor Tiles

[naperthrill]

It is a new basement (house is 1 year old). The entire basement will be getting finished, but only 10x19 space is allocated for home gym. everything else will be living space, bathroom, etc.

I have a C5-C6 disk herniation, am 35, and am doing this more for building strength than for competitive sport so I don't think I will be power cleaning. Sounds like I should be fine with stall mats. I might consider adding a wooden center section.

Of course part of this is, even if I don't think I am going to do anything now, who can predict what I might be interested in 1 year from now. Just trying to plan for the long run.

there will be no exposed floor. Appreciate your help!

[Charlie Davies]

You don't mention ceiling height.

I'm of average height and no room in my house is tall enough to overhead press in, except the garage. I had my home gym in the basement for a while, but all my workarounds for pressing sucked (doing it seated, doing it in the back yard).

I moved my setup to the garage.

[naperthrill]

ceiling height currently is about 103 inches. if we add drywall to the ceiling (not necessary for this room but could do it and flooring im sure that would take about 5 inches top and bottom so should be left with 95-98 inches or so. I think that should still be enough to OHP?