Gym relocation glossary
Plain-English explanations of the terms you will come across.
- Floor loading
- The weight a floor is designed to carry, usually given in kilonewtons per square metre. Gyms can create concentrated loads well above what some floors are designed for.
- Free area
- The clear space required around a piece of training equipment for safe use, set out in manufacturer instructions and in the BS EN ISO 20957 standards.
- Goods-in-transit cover
- Insurance that covers damage to or loss of items while they are being transported. Worth asking a mover about before a gym relocation.
- Lifting platform
- A raised, reinforced area of flooring, usually timber and thick rubber, for Olympic lifting and heavy drops. Protects the subfloor and can often be moved as a unit.
- LOLER
- The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998. They require lifting operations to be planned and lifting equipment to be suitable, marked and examined.
- Machine skates
- Low wheeled platforms placed under heavy equipment so it can be rolled across floors rather than carried. A standard tool for moving gym machines safely.
- Manual handling assessment
- An assessment, under the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, of risky lifting, carrying and pushing tasks, with steps to reduce the risk of injury.
- Plate-loaded machine
- A strength machine loaded with free weight plates rather than a built-in stack. Lighter to move once the plates are off, but frames can still be large and heavy.
- Power rack
- A four-post steel cage for squats and presses with adjustable safety bars. Moved empty, with plates and bars removed, and often dismantled to fit through doors.
- Rig
- A modular steel frame used in functional training gyms, with pull-up bars and attachment points. Often bolted to the floor or walls and dismantled into sections to move.
- Selectorised machine
- A strength machine with a built-in weight stack where the user picks the load by moving a pin. The stack must usually be removed before the machine is moved.
- Stair climber
- A powered or manual trolley that climbs stairs step by step with a heavy load. Used to move treadmills and machines up or down stairs safely.
- Waste transfer note
- A record that must accompany business waste when it passes to a waste carrier, describing the waste and who handled it. Businesses must keep these records.
- WEEE
- Waste electrical and electronic equipment. Powered gym equipment such as treadmills and bikes falls into this category and must be recycled through approved routes.
- Weight stack
- The column of steel plates on a selectorised machine, guided by rods and lifted by a cable. It is often the heaviest part of the machine.
Last updated 6 November 2026