Change the Way You Dance with a Floating Floor!

In sports and exercise, special flooring is sometimes called for.  The most common examples of this are in dance studios that use what is known as a Floating Dance Floor.  This is also sometimes referred to as a Sprung Dance Floor.  These are used and preferred by dance studios because they can help improve performance and reduce injuries. Typically, the original floor in any building is made out of concrete or other solid, hard surfaces that can put stress on bones and muscles. Anyone who exercises on a regular basis knows that this type of stress on your body can sometimes lead to very serious injury!

How does a Floating Dance Floor help with this?  To start, they offer better support and balance for dancers to perform their moves correctly and safely. Floating dance floors lift the platform off of solid ground to offer a more forgiving surface. This can actually push the exhausted energy back into the dancer’s movements to make for an even more spectacular performance. Since professional dancers can spend up to eight hours a day working in a dance studio, floating dance floors can go a long way in preventing stress-induced injuries that often lead to long term problems!

What does a floating dance floor consist of?  They are typically made up of a number of layers: the top is the layer that will be danced on or exercised on, followed by one or more layers of plywood. The layer that is on the bottom, sitting on the original flooring is, you guessed it, FOAM!

The best foam to use to create a floating dance floor is our 2lb Crosslinked Polyethylene (XLPE)! This foam is often cut into a number of 1”x3”x3” blocks that are then spaced evenly to support the other layers sitting on top of it.  You might wonder what makes this particular foam the right choice. This product is great because it does all of the things a floor like this requires:

• 2lb XLPE is not too hard (which can cause stress injuries), and not too soft (which can be tiring to the body).
• This foam offers spring that lifts your feet when moving, but not like a trampoline.
• It will absorb the energy of falls and reduce injuries.
• It has the right amount of traction (not too much and not too little)
• XLPE even offers an appropriate amount of noise control

Those are just a handful of reasons that XLPE is a great choice! The best part about a floating dance floor made with XLPE from Foam Factory, Inc is that it can be a multipurpose solution!  It can be used for kids to play on, aerobics, sports, and so much more!  In general, the foam used for sprung floors has a low repair cost after being damaged compared to other products.

Whether you are looking for a floor for your professional dance studio, your gym, or your local community center, finding the right foam has never been easier than at Foam Factory, Inc. If you need the foam custom cut to blocks, we can help! Contact us for assistance today!