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Working out provides many benefits like improving mental health, building community, and boosting daily energy, but when it comes to moving all that equipment, it can seem like a daunting task.
Whether you have a complete home gym setup or spend hours on your workout bike, moving heavy workout equipment like a treadmill, elliptical, or Smith Machine can be done right with the correct planning, equipment, and technique.
With the experience of Moving Help®, this guide will teach everything you need to know about moving heavy workout equipment.
What Gym Equipment Are You Taking?
First off, heavy workout equipment is heavy. If you don’t want to even think about moving it, try selling it! Workout equipment is all the rage, and if you’re listing your items for a great price, someone will try to snatch them. The problem is you’re most likely going to lose plenty of money, however.
Treadmill prices start at $500 and can cost as much as $2,500. Taking them across town, or even across the country, is more cost-effective than buying new or used. Making a list of everything that you’re packing will make moving the equipment much easier to plan.
Packing Heavy Workout Equipment
For larger tracks, racks, bars, and beams, like on a squat rack or bench press, be sure to wrap them in multiple furniture pads and mover’s plastic stretch wrap to keep them secure and reduce potential accidents. For packing free weights, never pack any box more than 65 pounds, and always secure box flaps with multiple layers of tape in a cross on the top and bottom.
Always try to pack free weights in the most balanced way possible. Don’t just throw a kettlebell and a dumbbell together in one small box. Make sure to keep weights organized with one another and to wrap them with Enviro Bubble.
These boxes will be extremely heavy and potentially lopsided. Use a furniture/appliance dolly with ratchet straps to keep everything secured.
Moving Heavy Workout Equipment
Moving heavy workout equipment requires planning, specialized equipment, and experience. Treadmills, ellipticals, rowing machines, and exercise bikes commonly have wheels on either the front or back, but nearly all weigh as little as 80 pounds up to 250 pounds.
Specialized moving tools, like appliance dollies, utility dollies, and furniture dollies, are some of the best when it comes to moving heavy workout equipment — along with ratchet straps, forearm forklifts, and tie downs.
Useful Tips for Moving Heavy Workout Equipment
Make sure to do extensive research on moving your specific workout equipment and plan the move out to ensure a safe move. Here are some key reminders when moving heavy workout equipment:
- Lift with your knees, not your back.
- Constantly communicate with your moving partner/team.
- Wrap your moving equipment with mover’s wrap and furniture pads to keep your workout equipment safe from dings, dents, and scratches.
- Know your limits. If you feel something is too dangerous to move with your experience level, do not second-guess it.
The only workout equipment that can be moved solo is individual dumbbells, workout mats, ropes, blocks, and other small equipment. For any large piece of equipment that requires disassembly to move — such as a Smith Machine — pack up individual components in smaller boxes with plenty of padding.
Loading Heavy Workout Equipment
When loading any type of heavy moving equipment, it’s crucial to plan the route of the move and potential difficult-to-manage spots, like going downstairs or loading it inside a rental truck.
Get a rental truck with a short and low loading ramp to make traveling up and down into the moving truck as easy as possible.
Always wrap heavy workout equipment in furniture pads and secure them with moving wrap. The better a piece of workout equipment looks, the more you’ll want to use it, and the more others will want to buy it, should you sell it.
Moving Your Heavy Workout Equipment With Moving Help
Moving your workout equipment doesn’t have to take up your entire Saturday. With Moving Help, you can find local Service Providers in your area to customize your moving experience.
Why choose Moving Help?
Moving Help is more affordable and flexible than traditional moving-for-hire websites, allowing you to customize the hours of service you want, the items you need to move, and how many Service Providers you need.
If you’re just moving a treadmill across town, Moving Help Service Providers can be there for loading and unloading. If you’re moving across the country, enlist separate help with loading and unloading. The best part about Moving Help is the Marketplace has more than 7,500 Service Providers across the United States and Canada, so you’ll always have a Moving Help Service Provider near you and will never be without help.
