I would recommend selecting a dedicated exercise "area" that is pleasant to be in. Of the options you mentioned, I like #2 for a few reasons. It puts the bike in a place you won't feel like you need to cover it. Having it near a window (or sliding glass doors in your case) gives the exercise place a positive pleasant feeling. I find myself much more motivated to exercise when I get natural light. I often get very warm while exercising and nothing is more pleasant than being able to open up a window (or a sliding glass door) and bring in a nice cross breeze. What I'm doing while exercising all depends on the exercise. But if I'm running on a treadmill or elliptical machine or on a bike, I enjoy watching TV. It helps distract me from the exercise and allows me to do an otherwise very unproductive thing (TV) while doing something productive. I love the idea of reading while exercising, but I tend to exercise too vigorously to be able to read (might fall off treadmill or bike or make myself very motion sick). If you hate to exercise, choose an activity that you truly do enjoy (maybe it's TV, or movies, or reading, or knitting, or talking on the phone) to help pass the time and make the activity more pleasant.

I have an elliptical machine in the living room:and I use it almost every day that I am in Los Angeles. I use pool weights when we are in Cathedral City, or else just swim. I felt bad about putting this in the living room, but we almost never have guests any more, and I think I use it more where it is than I would if it were in the office. The office doubles as a guest room, and that option would not be possible if the machine were in there. This machine is very quiet and very nice to use. I also have bicycles and could ride them here more, but I get more bored riding bikes on the same streets all the time. When we lived in Venice, we were a couple of blocks from the Marina Del Rey bike path, and not far from Venice Beach, and so I rode my bike almost every day there. I did get tired of it after 15 years, however, especially since the tourist traffic seemed to increase while I was living there. We also have two nice bikes in Cathedral City but haven't ridden them yet, as we were waiting for cooler weather. We can exercise in the pool when it is hot and ride bikes when it is cool. There is a cemetery close to our house where Frank Sinatra (and lots of other celebrities) is buried, and that makes a nice bike ride for me, although it is less than a mile from the house. It is also a landmark we use to help us find our way to our house.

I have dri core with vinyl planks on top in our basement I have a home gym,a media room, a huge pool table and office in the space never had an issue with the flooring in 14 yrs . I have huge dogs that are in and out all day from a dog run. IMO the foam would not last a week in my house . I think for what you want I would do vinylp plan with the underlay attached like coretc

Spin class was my favorite thing to do pre-pandemic, but I haven’t done it since. I am just too afraid to be in any room where people are doing heavy exercise. My favorite instructor retired since they have cut back the number of classes. the Y lost about half it’s membership and many are not coming back since they have a home gym. No more outdoor classes at the Y. I haven’t bought a cycle or Peloton because I really don’t have space. I have a treadmill workstation in the home office/small BR and it takes up a lot of room. Nini, I hear you! I do the Zumba on the deck, but it’s time to bring out the industrial fan. Also, I workout in the mornings wit 9:30 Zumba and then I’ll do abs or the TRX. I really hoped to be back in the Y this summer, but I am still afraid, and I hate working out in a mask. Masks are not required.