Have you ever gotten on a health kick and bought a ton of exercise equipment, only to find that you had no place to put it? If so, there’s no need to choose between your fitness routine and your space. Instead, consider these storage solutions that you can use both inside and outside your home.
1. Tuck It Away.
Does your elliptical or treadmill share space in your home office or guest room?
“Try placing a partition screen in front of your equipment when not in use,” said Leslie Josel, owner of Order Out of Chaos, a professional organizing company in Larchmont, NY. When it’s time to exercise, simply move the screen; when you’re finished, put the screen back in place.
2. Check the Attachments.
When storing large exercise equipment, be sure to check all bearings, weights and other attachments so they’re secured to the machine, said Tonia Tomlin, president of Sorted Out, a professional organizing company in Plano, TX.
“In the event they are bumped into, these heavy items could damage other things around it or hurt someone,” Tomlin warned.
3. Get Flexible Equipment.
Not all exercise gear is bulky and cumbersome. Some equipment can be collapsed and stored easily, said Annette Reyman, owner of All Right Organizing in Swarthmore, PA. For instance, a treadmill might fold so it can be placed under a bed, or a pull-up bar could be stashed in a closet.
4. Remember to Organize.
Looking for an inexpensive way to keep your bands and stretch cords tangle-free?
“Hang them on a coat or hat rack,” Josel suggested.
Not only does that keep them stored and out of the way, but it also ensures they remain untangled. You even can organize them by color or strength, Josel added. As for yoga mats, they can be hung on a towel rack to conserve space.
5. Think High and Low.
The floor isn’t the only place to store your fitness equipment. “Use ceiling and wall space by installing mounting hooks, bike racks and pulley systems to store gear so it is easily accessible,” Reyman suggested.
6. Put Seasonal Items in Self-Storage.
If you own fitness equipment that you use only during certain times of the year, such as baseball bats and gloves during baseball season, you can conserve space at home by keeping that gear in a self-storage unit during the off-season.
7. Keep Equipment Safe.
Exercise equipment isn’t cheap. In fact, a good fitness machine can cost upwards of $1,000. If you’re going to put it in a self-storage unit, make sure you protect it. One way to do so is to rent a climate-controlled unit, Tomlin said.
Also, clean your exercise equipment before storing it, she added, and then protect it from dust and other elements by putting a cover over it.
8. Keep Heavier Items on the Bottom.
If you’re storing heavy items such as weights, place them on a rack with the heaviest ones on the bottom and the lightest ones on top.
9. Track Your Efforts.
You can set up the world’s best organization system for your fitness equipment, but it will be pointless if you don’t know where your gear is when you need it.
If you’re storing certain equipment outside your home, make sure you keep a record of it, as well as where in a self-storage unit you’ve placed it. Even the items you store in a home closet or under a bed can be forgotten, so it wouldn’t hurt to jot down where they are as well.
