Plan a cardio floor on 5m² per piece of equipment and a cardiovascular-to-resistance split of roughly 40% to 60%. Those two figures come from Sport England's own design guidance, and between them they answer the question most facilities get wrong: not which machines to buy, but how many will actually fit and be usable.
The short answer: a 100m² gym floor supports about 20 stations in total, of which roughly 8 to 12 should be cardio. Equipping those from our range costs anywhere between about £9,000 and £89,000 depending on specification — which is why the machine count is the decision to make first, and the brand second.
Key takeaways
About 5m², and that is not the same as its footprint. Sport England's Fitness and Exercise Spaces design guidance note states that "calculation of the total area and capacity of the fitness gym should be based upon a floor area of 5m² per piece of equipment."
The same document sets circulation allowances by zone, and they are not equal:
| Zone | Circulation allowance |
|---|---|
| Cardiovascular area | 1.75 × machine footprint |
| Resistance area | 1.75 × machine footprint |
| Free weights area | 2 × machine footprint |
| Spinning room | 1.25 × machine footprint |
Why the difference matters commercially: a spinning studio packs bikes far more densely than a general cardio floor takes treadmills, so a room that looks identical on a plan holds very different numbers depending on what you put in it. Planning a mixed floor at spinning-room density is the most common way a layout ends up unusable at six o'clock.
To put real numbers on it, here are footprints from our own StairMaster range — machine only, before any circulation allowance:
| Machine | Footprint (L × W) | Area |
|---|---|---|
| StairMaster 8 Series FreeClimber | 110 × 69cm | 0.76m² |
| StairMaster HIIT Bike | 130 × 74cm | 0.96m² |
| StairMaster 4G Gauntlet | 137 × 74cm | 1.01m² |
| StairMaster 8Gx Gauntlet | 147 × 86cm | 1.26m² |
| StairMaster 10G Gauntlet | 160 × 86cm | 1.38m² |
Note the gap between the largest of those — 1.38m² — and the 5m² planning figure. That gap is the whole point. Space around the machine is what makes it usable, and it is the first thing sacrificed when a floor is over-ordered.
Take your usable floor area, divide by 5, then take 40% to 60% of the result. Sport England's guidance puts the general-use split at "approximately between 40% to 60%" cardiovascular to resistance equipment, "however this will depend on local need and demand."
| Usable floor area | Total stations | Cardio machines (40–60%) |
|---|---|---|
| 50m² — studio or PT space | 10 | 4 – 6 |
| 100m² — small independent gym | 20 | 8 – 12 |
| 200m² — mid-size facility | 40 | 16 – 24 |
| 400m² — full commercial floor | 80 | 32 – 48 |
Two adjustments worth making to that arithmetic. Usable area is not floor area — take out reception, changing, storage, walkways and any column that cannot be planned around before you divide. And size to your peak hour, not your average one: a gym does not lose members because it is empty at eleven in the morning.
The split itself should follow your membership. A rehabilitation-led or over-50s timetable justifies pushing toward 60% cardio; a strength-focused independent gym is usually better at 40%. The guidance says as much — local need governs.
Variety beats duplication once you are past the basics, because a cardio floor fails at the point where the one machine everyone wants is occupied.
The practical order most UK facilities land on: treadmills first, because they are what members expect and what fills at peak. Then bikes, which are cheap per station and serve deconditioned and rehab users. Then rowers, which are low-impact and full-body. Then the specialist climbing and conditioning machines, which are what differentiates a floor rather than what fills it.
That last group is where the margin and the reputation sit. A stepmill, a ladder or a self-powered curved treadmill is the machine people mention when they describe your gym to someone else — but buy them after the staples, not instead of them.
For the brand-by-brand question — who makes what, and which range suits which budget — that is a separate decision and we cover it in our guide to the best commercial cardio brands in the UK. If you are choosing between the three Concept2 ergs specifically, our RowErg vs BikeErg vs SkiErg comparison covers that.
Far more variably than most budgets assume. Our active cardio range runs from £909 for a Concept2 SkiErg to £8,895 for a StairMaster 10G Gauntlet with the 16-inch touchscreen — a spread of nearly ten to one across 39 products.
So a 100m² gym needing 10 cardio stations can be equipped for roughly £9,000 at the entry end or close to £89,000 at the top, and both are legitimate answers. What separates them is not quality in the abstract; it is duty cycle and who is standing on the machine.
A sensible middle path for an independent gym: put the money into the machines that run all day — treadmills and the primary climbing station — and take the efficient option on bikes and rowers, where a £1,095 Concept2 is genuinely the benchmark rather than a compromise. Spending evenly across every station is how floors end up with expensive bikes nobody queues for and a treadmill that fails in year two.
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Yes, and it limits the mix rather than just the layout. Sport England's guidance says the optimum ceiling height for a fitness space "should be between 3.5 - 4m from finished floor level and should not be lower than 2.7m, as this would limit the use of some exercise equipment."
Climbing machines are the clearest case. A StairMaster 4G Gauntlet is specified at 2.44m of ceiling; the 8Gx and the 10G both need 3.05m. A converted unit with a 2.6m ceiling can hold a full floor of treadmills, bikes and rowers and still cannot take the flagship stepmill — which is a specification problem, not a layout one, and it is much cheaper to discover on a plan than on a delivery day.
We go through the measurements in detail in our StairMaster ceiling height guide, including where to measure and what else eats the headroom.
Maintain it, and be able to show that you did.
Equipment used at work falls under the HSE's Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations, which require it to be suitable for its intended use, maintained in efficient working order, and inspected where safety depends on the conditions of installation. On a cardio floor that means a documented schedule covering belts, step chains, drives and consoles, not a reactive fix when something stops.
When you are comparing quotes, ISO 20957-1:2024 is the language to use. It defines equipment classes by intended use — studio, home, institutional — which is a specific claim a supplier can be held to, unlike the word "commercial" on its own. Ask which class a machine is certified to before you compare two prices.
Demand is there to support the investment. Sport England's Active Lives Adult Survey for November 2024–25 recorded 15.3 million adults taking part in fitness activities, up 921,000 year on year and more than 2 million higher than eight years ago. EMD UK, the national governing body for group exercise in England, put fitness class participation at 7.2 million adults, up 284,000 year on year — worth weighing if part of your floor could be a studio instead.
Send us your usable floor area, your ceiling height and roughly how many people use the space at peak, and we'll come back with a machine count and a specification rather than a catalogue. Free UK delivery over £250. Finance available for business and commercial buyers on orders from £5,000.
Shop all cardio → Call 0333 880 3211Slowly, and by conversation. Across 64 orders, exactly one machine of genuine commercial size has ever gone straight through our checkout — a StairMaster 4G Gauntlet in September 2026, bought with the pre-assembled delivery and installation option rather than as a flat-pack.
Every other commercial cardio enquiry we have handled started as a question about a room: ceiling height, access route, floor loading, how many machines the space will take. That is the right way round. The machine list is the easy part of specifying a floor; the constraints are what determine it.
One pattern worth passing on from the rest of our catalogue. Our most repeatedly ordered line is a small cable accessory, not a machine — bought over and over by people who already own the big equipment. The equivalent on a cardio floor is the consumables and the service schedule: the budget that keeps the floor running is not the one that fills it, and facilities that plan only the second one feel it in year two.
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How much space does a gym need per piece of equipment? Sport England's design guidance recommends calculating total gym area and capacity on a floor area of 5m² per piece of equipment. That figure covers the machine plus its circulation, so it is several times a typical machine footprint — a StairMaster 10G Gauntlet occupies 1.38m² on its own but should be planned at around 5m².
What percentage of a gym should be cardio? Approximately 40% to 60% of equipment for general use, according to Sport England's guidance, with the exact split depending on local need and demand. A rehabilitation-led or older membership justifies the higher end; a strength-focused independent gym usually sits at the lower end.
How many treadmills does a small gym need? There is no fixed rule, but the arithmetic gives you a starting point: a 100m² usable floor supports around 20 stations, of which 8 to 12 should be cardio, and treadmills are usually the largest single share of that because they fill first at peak. Size to your busiest hour rather than your average, and check the ceiling height before committing to climbing machines.
Can you fit commercial gym equipment in a low-ceilinged unit? Most of it, yes — treadmills, bikes, rowers and cross trainers are rarely limited by ceiling height. Climbing machines are the exception: a StairMaster 4G Gauntlet needs 2.44m and the 8Gx and 10G both need 3.05m. Sport England's guidance says a fitness space should not be below 2.7m because it limits what equipment can be used.
What does it cost to equip a commercial cardio floor in the UK? Our active cardio range runs from £909 to £8,895 per machine, so a 10-station floor can cost roughly £9,000 or close to £89,000 depending on specification. The useful way to split a budget is by duty cycle: spend on the machines that run all day, and take the efficient option where a lower-priced machine is genuinely the benchmark.
Do I need a maintenance schedule for commercial gym equipment? Yes. Equipment used at work is covered by the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations, which require it to be maintained in efficient working order and inspected where safety depends on installation conditions. In practice that means a documented schedule for belts, step chains, drives and consoles, kept as a record rather than done reactively.
Will you help plan the layout as well as supply the equipment? Tell us your usable floor area, ceiling height and peak-hour usage and we will come back with a machine count and a specification rather than a catalogue. We would rather scope a floor properly than deliver equipment that does not fit the room or the membership.
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Pro Gym Essentials — premium home and commercial gym equipment, delivered across the UK. Specifications and prices verified 22 September 2026.
