How to Move Home Gym Equipment: Treadmill, Stationary Bike, Elliptical Machine

Having gym equipment in your home is an invaluable asset. You should understand very well the important role your home gym has in maintaining your health and keeping you fit. Working out regularly is especially beneficial for your physical health when you happen to work for hours and hours sitting down in front of the computer screen.

As a bonus, using your fitness equipment from the comfort of your own home should also improve your mental health because you’ll be giving your mind much-needed time to relax and unwind from the hard day’s work.

However, having exercise equipment in your home is awesome… until you have to move to a new place. Then, all of a sudden, you’ll be forced to figure out how to move heavy gym equipment safely to a new home. And that moving task is likely to prove more complicated than you think.

Read on to learn the best way to move home gym equipment to a new home: workout equipment such as a treadmill, an elliptical machine, a stationary bike, as well as hand weights, dumbbells, and barbells.

Pros and cons of moving your gym equipment

When getting ready to move out, one of the first things you need to decide is whether you’ll move the home gym equipment with you.

Now, your initial reaction will probably be, Yes, of course! as you won’t be willing to part with your precious fitness equipment pieces. And that’s perfectly understandable. But the unpleasant thought of possibly paying more money to transport your exercise equipment pieces than they are worth should make you think twice before your final decision.

As you can guess, there are advantages and disadvantages of taking your home gym equipment with you to the new house:

Pros of moving home gym equipment

Moving your favorite pieces of fitness equipment with you has its share of pluses:

• You won’t need to purchase any home gym equipment after the move provided that your current items are still perfectly usable;
• You’ll be able to maintain your workout schedule in the new place without interruption;
• You won’t need to waste any time looking for local fitness gyms in the new neighborhood right after you move in;
• You’ll be able to work out whenever you want or whenever you have free time from the comfort of your own home.

Cons of moving home gym equipment

But moving your cherished pieces of exercise equipment with you has its share of minuses as well:

• You’ll spend plenty of time packing your gym equipment for safe transport;
• You’re likely to pay good money for the transportation of your home gym equipment, sometimes more than what it’s worth;
• You’ll have to accept that there’s always a potential risk of damage to one of your gym equipment units despite your efforts to maintain a damage-free move;
• You’ll need to have enough space in the new home to install the large fitness equipment pieces you’re moving, namely the stationary bike, the elliptical machine, or/and the treadmill.

Pros and Cons of Hiring Movers

5 things to do before moving your gym equipment

Before you begin the preparation of your gym equipment units, make sure you complete these important pre-move tasks to make the gym equipment process faster and safer.

• REACH a final decision about which home fitness equipment pieces you will move with you to the new place. Try to be as objective in your assessment as possible. Yes, you’re likely to be pretty attached to your workout gear but paying more than those items are worth is not practical no matter how you try to justify it. Being too sentimental during a move can easily prevent you from seeing the most practical choice.
• GET a furniture dolly. If you’re moving heavy gym equipment (usually weighing over 100 pounds), then you’re going to need a furniture dolly in addition to the helpers you manage to get. A furniture dolly will keep things safer and will ensure nobody gets injured during the house move. Feel free to rent a furniture dolly from a local moving company or purchase one from a large home improvement store in your area.
• SECURE reliable helpers for the heavy task of moving your home gym equipment to the moving vehicle to be loaded safely. In most cases, you’ll need to have at least ONE friend to give you a hand but if you can arrange for more assistants, then that’ll be even better in terms of safety. Of course, the more friends you have by your side, the faster you’ll be able to finish the job too.  
• PHOTOGRAPH your treadmill, elliptical, or exercise bike from various angles to see the way they are assembled. Even when you’re confident in your own disassembly and reassembly skills, a single photograph may save you quite a bit of time and nerves while setting up the gym equipment in the new home.
• CLEAN your home gym equipment well to avoid transferring any germs, bacteria, dirt, or dust into the new home. Use an all-purpose cleaner to wipe down thoroughly all surfaces of your equipment pieces. If you have yoga mats and yoga accessories, be sure to sanitize them as well. In case you have any cleaning products at the moment, you can always make a homemade cleaning solution – simply mix water and white vinegar in a 50/50 ratio and pour it into a spray bottle.

20 Things to Do Before Moving

How to move a treadmill

Together with stationary bicycles, treadmills are the most common gym equipment found both in public fitness centers and private homes. Therefore, there’s a good chance that you’ll have a treadmill in your house and apartment, and an even greater chance that you’d love to take it with you to the new place.

If your treadmill weighs more than 100 pounds, then you are strongly recommended to use a moving dolly to take it safely out of the home and load it securely into the moving truck.

Here’s how to pack and move a treadmill to a new house:

• Step 1. CHECK whether the incline of the treadmill is set to zero. If it’s not, reset it.
• Step 2. REMOVE the safety key from the treadmill (if applicable) and keep that key in a secure place.
• Step 3. TURN OFF the treadmill and unplug it from the power.
• Step 4. WRAP the power cord carefully and secure it with a zip tie or an elastic rubber band. Secure the cable into its own compartment (if any) or tape it to the side of the treadmill using painter’s tape to avoid tripping accidents.
• Step 5. FOLD the treadmill using the detailed instructions in the owner’s manual. If you don’t have such a manual, then look for one on the Internet. Some treadmill models are designed to have their standing sections to fold down while others are made to have their belt sections to fold up.
• Step 6. LOCK DOWN the treadmill once it’s folded down to eliminate any chances of it opening up during transport. As a rule, treadmills are locked down with the help of a locking mechanism – either a locking pin or a tightening knob.
• Step 7. WRAP the treadmill in padded moving blankets to protect it on the road. Make sure no area of the heavy gym equipment piece remains exposed. Use packing tape to secure the protective blankets in place.
• Step 8. USE a furniture dolly in case the exercise equipment unit is too heavy to be lifted and carried away by you and your helpers.
• Step 9. POSITION the moving dolly next to the treadmill, then lift the fitness equipment slightly off the ground (use the proper lifting techniques to avoid injuries), and place it carefully onto the low 4-wheel platform.
• Step 10. SECURE the treadmill onto the moving dolly using straps or pieces of rope.
• Step 11. USE all the manpower you got available to wheel the loaded treadmill outside the home and load it carefully into the awaiting moving vehicle using the loading ramp.
• Step 12. SECURE the treadmill to the side of the truck using straps or rope – the heavy fitness equipment piece should not be shifting during transport.

How to move a stationary bike

A stationary bike is one of the most popular home gym equipment pieces, so you’re very likely to have an exercise bike in case you enjoy working out at home.

When the time comes to move house, you won’t be willing to part with that bike for a number of reasons, including the inevitable sense of attachment you must be feeling toward it.

Here’s how to pack and move an exercise bike to a new house:

• Step 1. UNPLUG your stationary bike from the power provided that it’s an electric model.
• Step 2. FOLD the power cord, secure it with a zip tie or an elastic rubber band, and keep it either inside its compartment or taped to the side of the exercise equipment.
• Step 3. REMOVE the bike’s handlebar and pedals (if possible) to make the fitness equipment unit easier and safer to transport. If you’re not sure how to do it, refer to the user’s manual. Wrap those parts in bubble wrap and pack them inside a box.
• Step 4. WRAP any extra-fragile items in bubble wrap, including the LCD screen. Then, use pieces of tape to secure the protective plastic.
• Step 5. WRAP all remaining elements of the exercise bike in thick moving blankets to protect the bike’s body against accidental hits during the move.
• Step 6. LIFT and CARRY the protected stationary bike out of the house together with your helper. In general, exercise bikes are much lighter than treadmills so you shouldn’t have any serious problems taking that particular piece of home gym equipment all the way to the moving truck.
• Step 7. SECURE the stationary bike to the side of the truck using straps or rope. It should not be shifting around during transit.

How to move an elliptical machine

Due to their awkward shape, elliptical machines can be really tough to move to a new house. To make things even more complicated, elliptical trainers are also rather heavy.

However, if you do own an elliptical, then you’d very much like to take it with you since those exercise machines offer versatile ways to work out and are generally pretty expensive too.

Here’s how to pack and move an elliptical machine to a new house:

• Step 1. UNPLUG the fitness equipment machine from the power source.
• Step 2. FOLD the electric cable and secure it with a zip tie or a rubber band.
• Step 3. FOLLOW the instructions in the machine’s user manual to disassemble it safely to its main components. Usually, those parts are the handlebars, the pedals, and machine’s base, and its main console.
• Step 4. WRAP each disassembled component in thick moving blankets to protect them against accidental damage during the move.
• Step 5. KEEP all small (fastening) elements in plastic bags to prevent their loss.
• Step 6. WRAP the main body of the disassembled elliptical machines with furniture blankets. Use tape to secure those protective pads.
• Step 7. USE a furniture dolly to transport the machine’s main frame if it proves to be too heavy to lift and carry with your helpers. In most cases, it should be OK to be handled by 2-3 persons without additional moving equipment.
• Step 8. Be sure to use a moving dolly to move your elliptical machine if you can’t disassemble it for some reason or another.
• Step 9. EXERCISE extreme caution when taking the elliptical machine out of the home due to its general bulkiness.
• Step 10. LOAD the fitness equipment item into the moving vehicle carefully and secure it well to the side of the truck.

How to move hand weights, dumbbells, and barbells

Bear in mind that your sets of hand weights, dumbbells, and barbells will be rather heavy and their transportation costs will be high, especially when you’re moving long distance. And this is exactly why you should think about whether it’s really practical to pay good money to transport weights when you can buy yourself brand-new ones after the move.

When moving locally, it should be OK from a financial standpoint to move your weights to the new place. So, here’s how to pack weights for moving:

• Step 1. SORT OUT your weights so that they end up relatively evenly distributed into the various boxes.
• Step 2. PREPARE plastic bins to hold your weights and NOT cardboard boxes. Cardboard is not a sturdy material and will easily break under heavier loads.
• Step 3. WRAP each weight in packing paper, then use pieces of tape to secure each one.
• Step 4. TRANSFER the weights into plastic boxes but be careful not to make those containers too heavy to lift and carry.
• Step 5. USE wads of discarded paper, bubble wrap, or old pieces of clothing to fill the gaps around the weights inside the boxes made of durable plastic.
• Step 6. WRAP the metal bar into several thick moving blankets and secure the pads with tape.

Common Moving Injuries and How to Prevent Them

Is moving your gym equipment a good idea?

It depends on the type of home gym equipment you have and the distance to the new place. If you do own expensive gym equipment, then it must be worth moving to the new home despite the serious transportation costs.

Also, holding onto your trusted home gym equipment in a time of pandemic is also a logical choice since you may find it hard or even impossible to visit the local fitness gyms in the destination town or city.

Remember that if you feel nervous about packing and moving your home gym equipment by yourself, or if you can’t find anybody who’s willing to help you move the fitness equipment in your home, then don’t hesitate to hire gym equipment movers – specialized moving companies that move heavy gym equipment between homes.