The hard part is over (or so you thought) – you bought a home, you hired a moving company, your boxes are packed and you’re ready to move! Not so fast! We’ve realized over the years that our customers don’t realize what it takes to move exercise equipment (it’s an exercise in itself!). If you have an entire home gym, or even just one exercise bike, the equipment might not be as easy to move as you’d think.
Moving exercise equipment can be a difficult task if not completed by a professional. Below is a list of the most commonly moved pieces of exercise equipment.
- Treadmills
- Rowing machines
- Ellipticals
- Stationary Bikes
- Weight machines
Exercise equipment can be both cumbersome and tricky to move. Twenty years ago moving a stationary bike was simple, you’d lift and move it, but nowadays exercise equipment is extremely heavy, has a lot of moving parts and probably contains electronic features.
Electronics: If the equipment can just be unplugged and moved, that’s easy enough. However if electrical items need to be removed and disassembled, a fitness equipment specialist will need to complete that portion of the job.
Size: Very large and cumbersome pieces of exercise equipment might not fit through doors. The best guiding principle is to think back to when it was moved in. If it had to be disassembled to move in, it will have to come apart to move back out. If that’s the case, you will need to disassemble the equipment yourself. Most moving companies will not disassemble large, electronic, expensive equipment. It might be as easy as removing the handles of a bike, but it could be as difficult as taking apart the entire bike. In that case it would be in your best interest to contact a fitness equipment specialist to either disassemble it for you, or to walk you through disassembling it. Our consultants can often refer you to companies we trust to assist you.
Disassembling Equipment Yourself: If you decide to disassemble the equipment yourself, you will want to pack the pieces of the equipment carefully in their original packaging. If you don’t have the original packaging, you will want to wrap the equipment pieces in protective covers, such as foam wrap and pack them in sturdy moving boxes.
Moving Entire Pieces of Equipment: We’d recommend, if movers are going to move the equipment themselves, folding up the equipment and preparing the moving parts such as handles . The movers will then wrap the equipment in protective moving blankets.
Note: It’s also important to keep in mind that since exercise equipment is heavy and large it will take extra time to move.
If you have small pieces of equipment to move, i.e. hand weights, medicine balls, yoga mats, etc., we’d recommend packing them in a box. These items are easily packable and moveable. Having said that, please remember not to over pack the boxes so they’re not too heavy for the movers.
Disclaimers: 1. We’re not liable for electronic items. We will not take apart electric items and are not responsible if they don’t work post move, except of course if we were to drop an item! 2. Since exercise equipment is heavy, it might take longer to move than the usual items. This means, since we charge at an hourly rate, the cost of moving these items will be higher.
Luckily, Beltway Movers are experts on moving fitness equipment. We’ve been in business for over 50 years and have the experience and knowledge to get the job done right. Do you have questions on moving your exercise equipment? If so call Beltway Movers, we’re a moving company in Washington DC, at (800) 966-8348. We look forward to working with you!
