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Excessive noise from your home gym can not only be a problem for you, it can also be a problem for neighbors and other members of your household. Not only can it be disruptive, it is just plain annoying and could be grounds for noise complaints depending on your local laws and ordinances. It can also be a difficult subject for those who like to work out in their home gym early in the morning but have family members sleeping in other rooms of the house or have shared walls with neighbors. Taking proactive steps to dampen or eliminate loud noises caused by your equipment hitting other equipment or dropped weights can not only make your workout more pleasant, but could also help those around you be more accepting of your hard time put into your home gym.

Do you find yourself having to apologize to neighbors and family about your home gym noises? Instead of giving up your workouts, consider some of the following tips on dampening your home gym noises without having to compromise on your weight training.

Put down thick, rubber mats in your home gym

If you haven’t done this already, this should be step one in preventing excessive gym noise. Rubber mat flooring can help absorb the vibration from dropped weights and can also help protect your flooring from damage. Rubber flooring can be purchased in rolls, interlocking sections or mats, such as the Ironmaster Rubber Mat. The heavier your lifting, the thicker flooring options you should look that still maintain a firm surface.

Build a weight lifting platform

For the more advanced lifter performing deadlifts and Olympic lifts, building a platform in your home gym is fairly necessary. Throwing down the heavy weights involved in these movements can easily crack concrete floors, even through rubber flooring, and the sound is deafening. Weight lifting platforms can be purchased or built yourself with basic materials easily found at your local hardware store. The idea behind a weight lifting platform is to provide a solid surface for your footing while also providing “drop zones” reinforced with wood and rubber that protect your floors and the ears of those around you. By building your own weight lifting platform, you can completely customize the design and size to your home gym space.

Use rubber coated Olympic weights

Rather than using traditional painted iron weight plates, consider investing in a set of Ironmaster Olympic weights. Our rubber encased Olympic weights are not only inherently quieter than iron weight plates, they also help protect your floor and equipment from damage. Bumper plates are also an option if you want the quietest experience possible, but they are very costly and not very space efficient. Rubber encased weights give you the best of both worlds as they are quiet, space efficient, and help protect your floor from damage.

Use dumbbells more in your workout routine

Just because you want to lift in your home gym doesn’t mean that you have to always use barbells and throw them on the ground. Dumbbells can provide an effective alternative to some barbell exercises while providing additional benefits including better range of motion in movements, less space needed for storage and use, versatility in different workouts and increased safety in that you can easily drop dumbbells without as much risk of injury or damage to your surroundings. Don’t have the room for a full dumbbell set? Adjustable dumbbells provide an excellent solution to space efficiency and can be expanded to fit your weight lifting needs with additional weight plates.

Line bars and racks with cloth tape

If the majority of the loud noises coming from your workout are the weight plates hitting each other or bars, a simple solution to lessening those loud clanks could be lining the bars with cloth-based tape. This inexpensive solution can be done on barbells, rack bars and weight trees and won’t have a negative impact on your workouts.

Add sandpits to your weight lifting platform

While not the most common sound dampening solution for a home gym, some serious lifters have found a creative solution. You can reduce gym noise by building a weight lifting platform with sandpits as the strike zone. Sand will absorb the vibrations from dropped weights extremely well without causing them to bounce after impact. Only downside? It could be very difficult to prevent the sand from getting outside of your platform and making a mess.

Improve your weight lifting technique

This could be the most cost-efficient strategy to lowering your gym noise and provides the additional benefit of preventing injury. If you find yourself having to constantly throw down weights mid-movement because of pain or discomfort, chances are there is something wrong with your form. Watch yourself perform the exercise in front of a mirror and make sure that your movements are controlled. If you are unable to complete the workout with proper form, consider lowering the weight on your equipment and slowing down. Not only will those around you be thankful - your muscles and body will, too.

Having your own home gym can help you take your training to the next level. However, you can achieve the next level of your fitness while still being considerate of those in close proximity to your workout space.