Have you looked into rubber flooring specifically made for exercise rooms? Like they have at the gym?

I did look at rubber flooring at Home Depot, what I saw was running $5-6 per s.f., which was more than we wanted to pay. And it is so heavy I'm not sure we could install it on our own. I thought it would be cheaper, maybe I should look at some other stores.

A medium-high level laminate should cost $3/sf. If you are looking at lower cost options then you are going to get what you paid for.

In a situation like yours I would personally throw in some $0.99/sf laminate and be done with it. The exercise will happen on the machines (no 'running' or squats on the floors) and the shelves will just sit there.

Now for the fun part - noise. A carpet will rid you of plenty of the machine noise that is created when exercising. The laminate is going to be like exercising on plywood. It will be noisy and the noise will carry down the hallway as well as down stairs (both through the wooden floor AND the metal heat vents...that are most likely there).

If you don't care what the other person in the house thinks while someone else is making all that exercise noise, then go for low-end laminate. It's cheap and it will get you 10 years. If you need cheap AND quiet...then go with more carpet.

This link may help

https://www.thespruce.com/best-home-gym-floors-4155610

Thank you, I may just go with the cheap laminate for now. There's just the two of us and we usually exercise at the same time, so the noise shouldn't be an issue. I think I'll also look at the rubber options again, too, and see if one of those might work. That seems like a practical solution if I could find the right product.

I have a home gym on my second floor. Do you have poured concrete on your second floor? We have LVP and I put the heavy duty rubber mats under the treadmill and weight rack. I’ve moved both to clean in the past and have no issues with indentation or machines moving, or noise for that matter, and the equipment gets used 5x a week by both myself and my husband.

We put these over concrete in our basement workout room and they work great. Can be cut to fit and easy to just vacuum or wipe clean. https://www.amazon.com/ProSource-fs-1908-pzzl-Puzzle-Exercise-Interlocking/dp/B00B4IHXRU/ref=asc_df_B00B4IHXRU/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=194978030532&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11441909129352819165&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9018702&hvtargid=pla-313774835969&psc=1

KR, I haven't pulled up the carpet yet to look, but I expect its plywood, that would be standard in our area. The LVP is really pretty, and seems like something we could actually install (and we're not DIY'ers), but I was afraid it would dent from the heavy equipment. Do you mind me asking what brand/style you have?

Mine is by Parkay. https://www.parkayfloors.com Researched it a ton and we love it, 3 years strong and still looks perfect.

For cost, my choice would be a decent commercial grade carpet. It's no harder to vacuum than a hard surface floor and there's a myriad of choices.

For my garage/workshop/workout area I installed Amorim 3/8" x 4' roll rubber. It won't win any beauty contests and it's hard to clean spills (that you probably would not have) but it's tough, dampens the sound and should last forever. I simply rolled it out and butted it, but it can be glued down. I bought it at wholesale (I'm a flooring contractor) so it cost less than in this link:

https://www.menards.com/main/exercise-gym-flooring/amorim-reg-4-x-30-x-3-8-rubber-sports-floor-120-sq-ft-roll/730613/p-1523600981226.htm

KR, that's a beautiful floor!

Since you're open to vinyl, our LVP works really well in workout spaces for being waterproof and scratch/dent-resistant. Here's one of our newest colors, Yuzen, installed in a garage/workout space. Even though it'll be a small space, it's nice to have a color that promotes focus and makes a room look larger!