Mounting a Phone or Tablet on a Planet Fitness Elliptical Machine

Mounting a Phone or Tablet on a Planet Fitness Elliptical MachineSecond only to treadmills, the Planet Fitness elliptical machine can be found by the dozens in the front row nearest the televisions.  You cannot beat an elliptical machine for a good cardio workout.  However, those workouts can get long and boring.

Mount Analysis

The photo that accompanies this article is three of dozens of elliptical machines at Planet Fitness.  These are the elliptical machines currently rolling out to a Planet Fitness and likely similar to ones at other gyms.

There’s a small cup holder beneath the display.  Depending upon the size of your phone, it may not fit.  Larger phones are unlikely but perhaps a small phone may fit.  Forget about a tablet, way too large to fit in a cup holder.

There is only one place to mount a phone or tablet on a Planet Fitness elliptical machine.  The two handlebars near the display will work. You aren’t likely to use them but just in case, let’s use the top most part of the handlebar.

Ironically, the handlebar on the Planet Fitness elliptical machine is about the same diameter as a motorcycle handlebar so some mounts for that purpose might work well here.  That’s a little more than one inch.

We need mounts that can be easily and quickly installed and removed.  Making a quick getaway after your workout is vital in a Planet Fitness.  Don’t want to get stared at as you work with tools to remove the mount.  So we’re going to recommend mounts that do not require tools and are easy to install and remove.

First, mounting a tablet is always a challenge.  A full size tablet is simply too large.  Stick with small to midsize tablets.  Nothing larger than an Apple iPad Mini.

Mount Recommendations

Consider this Tablet Mount for Elliptical and Treadmills.  The expandable cradle opens to tablets up to 13 inches.  Easy to install and remove.  The accompanying clamp opens to 1.57 inches to grab onto the handlebar.  The tablet can swivel and pivot into any orientation.

Now for the phone.  We recommend ensuring your phone has a good case on it.  You will drop it.  Avoid a shattered screen and invest in a good case.

The Arkon Bike or Motorcycle Phone Holder Strap Mount is a good candidate for mounting attaching a phone to the elliptical machine.  This mount uses the same strap as the tablet variety we just discussed.  It opens to almost two inches easily accommodating the diameter of the elliptical machine.  The included expandable cradle opens to 3.4 inches.  This cradle is large enough for practically any phone including an Apple iPhone 6s Plus with Otterbox or Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge with a thick case.  Place your phone within the expandable cradle and squeeze the sides to hold the device.  The cradle opens at the push of a button.  Supports at the bottom of the phone are present to hold your phone in portrait mode.  It swivels into landscape or portrait mode.  The manufacturer provides a two-year warranty.