What should I look for in puzzle mats?
 

I've been working out in the basement, carpet over concrete. The carpet might need to be removed and I'd like to replace it with puzzle mats. I would like it thick enough to cushion, but not too bouncy. My quick search shows them in thicknesses from about a half in to an inch. I'd love any suggestions for thickness, brands, or even other ideas for flooring. Thanks :)

I use these 1/2" thick puzzle mats for blocking knitting (basically they just serve as a surface to stick lots of t-pins into that stretches out your knitting piece into a desired shape while the knitting is still wet). I think I have 2 sets of them.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0050P218E/

They work perfectly for me as cheap blocking mats for my knitting but I WOULD NOT recommend them for working out on top of. I have never tried using them as flooring but I can't imagine they would provide much cushioning for an adult and I don't think they would be very durable if you were walking or twisting around on them with shoes. JMO.

Great blocking mats for knitting though!

I couldn't figure out why you were telling me about knitting :D I appreciate the "non" recommendation. I've learned a few things from online searches, so I hope I can find something in person to compare.

I recently ordered mats from Amazon and I find they work perfectly for me but I don't do much cardio any more other than kickboxing. They may be a bit difficult to pivot on or do any type of shuffles/sliding.

For some reason (probably operator error!) I can't get the link to work but here is the product number: B07CY26DQX

I work out in the basement too and my husband built a "floor" for me made of plywood that's about an inch high. He stuffed it with carpet padding and topped it off. I leave my mats on top of it. It's 64 square feet so I need 16 mats to cover. I think I've done the math correctly! :)

Mine are similar to this:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Fitit-1-2...ll&athena=true

I work out in an unfinished basement, concrete floors, so I have three layers of these.

I'm low-impact only, modified Cathe, the Firm, Leslie and Jessica for most cardio. This is enough cushion for me.

If you don't have them wall to wall, they can move around, but I have my daughter's old balance beam at the edge and that keeps it in place. I've also used a heavy dumbell on the corners and that works too.

I'm ripping up the carpet because of the heavy rain we had last week. My workout area is (usually) the "dry" corner of the basement so I'm really disappointed. My weekend workout has been ripping up and carrying out saturated bits of carpet and padding :(



I'll be putting them right on the concrete. I will have my bike and trainer on it, so hopefully that will prevent sliding. As I'm going through stuff, I figured this is a good time to get rid of equipment I never use. Maybe those heavy barbell plates can also be used as anchors.

I only do low impact, although sometimes just stepping off a step can be jarring if I'm not careful. Thanks for the suggestions.