Is it Safe to Put an Elliptical Upstairs?

Your fitness regimen remains incomplete without an elliptical, besides it is one the most ideal equipment to have at home.

An elliptical offers plenty of health advantages to you while remaining in the comfort of your home.

So if you are one of those people who like to work out in the privacy and also prefer to save fuel by not driving to the gym every day. Then you do need to consider buying an elliptical at home.  

Goes without saying that elliptical tends to be bulkier and having them at home can sometimes be difficult. Especially if you have to put it upstairs due to limited space on your main floor.

Even if you do manage to get the equipment upstairs, then you would have to worry about the structural integrity of the floor.

This brings the question, is it safe to put an elliptical upstairs? Well, let’s find out. 

Find a room upstairs

The upstairs of your home can be an appealing spot to set your elliptical, particularly if you have an office or a spare bedroom.

But the upper level should be your last resort only if you don’t have a sufficient amount of space in your main room or if you don’t have a basement.

Architecturally speaking there’s no reason why you shouldn’t use an elliptical on the top floor. 

After all the upstairs floors are designed to safely support quite a large amount of weight. Needless to say, they can easily support the weight of your elliptical including the additional impact of your jogging.

How safe it is to use an elliptical upstairs?

If you ask a professional gym instructor or perhaps those who specialize in safety and maintenance works of gym equipment like gym repair technicians, they would likely recommend checking multiple aspects of your options and determining whether you can work out on your elliptical upstairs or not. The crucial among them is structural integrity.

The fact is any well-built construction’s flooring has adequate capability to bear the weight of the equipment whether there’s a person on it or not.

The majority of the elliptical weighs around 150 to 250 lbs. Now if you consider an individual who let’s say weighs around 300 lbs. The total weight would become 550 lbs.  

For an up to code building, this is far from being an issue.

Would your floor be able to withstand such weight?

Each house is built in a dissimilar manner. Consequently, the manner of construction of your house decides how much weight it can bear.

If your home is built by abiding the standard construction code (which most of the houses are).Then the flooring of the house will be more than capable of withstanding an elliptical machine and your 300 lb body.

Essentially it says that your floor can withstand somewhere between 40 to 50 pounds per square foot of weight.

Let’s consider 40 pounds per square foot, now the size of your room, let’s say it is 10 x 10. So 40 pounds per square foot would mean that a live load of 4,000 pounds is available in the area.

As you can see you and your elliptical would be perfectly fine in your upstairs room.

In simple terms, if 3 adults can stand in a place where you wish you keep your elliptical without them breaking it, then there’s no cause to worry about it.

Few other ways that you can employ to deal with the weight issue.

• You can always use a rubber mat beneath the equipment to distribute the weight, also to protect the floor from getting damaged. 
• Another option that you can opt for is by having a lightweight elliptical as it can help ease your worry, rest assured you can find plenty of best elliptical for home in 2020 that is lightweight as well as affordable. 
• If you are still worried about the weight then place your elliptical against a load-bearing wall, specifically if you are planning on keeping the elliptical on the second floor.

Or you can place it right on top of a floor joist.

Always remember that the odds of your elliptical no matter how heavy breaking your floor are quite low. Nevertheless, if it helps to keep your mind at peace then you can follow the above methods.

Final Words

When it comes to cardio equipment elliptical stands out for one particular reason and that is the non-impact aspect.

The elliptical machine has a circular rotation motion, which means the total weight while working is only the rider’s and machine’s weight.

So even if the floor was built following the normal building code it would be enough for your elliptical. 

The main hurdle will be to bring your elliptical upstairs, once you accomplished that the rest is easy.

Although an elliptical doesn’t make much sound while working, just to be sure you can use a mat to minimize the noise if any.

I am sure with this article you now have a fair idea on how to figure out if your upstairs room is capable of your elliptical workout or not.