Building a Home Gym

So now that you've got the Powerblocks in the corner of the room how much have you really used them? One of the problems with the home gym is the floor surface. You can't really push yourself if you won't lift heavy weights for fear of dropping them on the hardwood. The good news is that you can replicate the rubber floor of a gym at home without dropping a lot of cash.

You can go to a fitness equipment supplier to get yourself the mats, but you'll be paying more than you need to. The truth is that the rubber mats that are used in the gym are the same that are used for horse stalls to protect the hooves of our equine friends. And their feet are worth a lot more than mine. A company called Northwest Rubber is the foremost manufacturer of all of these rubber flooring systems.

Find a local horse feed and tack store and call them up to find out if they have the rubber stall matting. In my search, I found a supplier in Rockford, Ontario that sells the Red Barn mats made by Northwest Rubber. The 4' x 6' pieces are $49 CDN and the 5' x 7' are $79. One of the great things about these tiles is that you can afford to build your floor one large tile at a time. You can buy more pieces as you expand your home gym and put in more equipment or you can just use one piece for a small space in your apartment.