I need to lift a 50kg (100lb) wardrobe!

[NotFabulousDarling]

I can currently lift about 15kg above my head for 4 reps with difficulty. What sort of timescale would I be looking at to realistically lift a 50kg antique wardrobe and a 40kg chair (along with loads of slightly less heavy boxes) so I can move it out of storage with no help? What do I need to do? I'm female, mid-thirties, getting about 65-70g protein a day, running about 0.5 miles every 2 days.
Ideally, I need to do this within the next 3 weeks but that seems a bit unrealistic.

Do you actually have to lift the whole thing? Normally for a wardrobe or large chair you would "walk" it along - lifting just enough to balance on one leg (on the side furthest from you) and then moving the rest roughly in a quarter circle away from you. Repeat on the other side. It's slow going. Maybe obtaining a trolley would be better. And would you then have to get it in a vehicle?

If you are determined to condition yourself to lift the weight then running won't help you. You will need to undertake a resistance training program. But lifting weights does not translate all that easily into shifting heavy objects of an awkward shape.

The difficulty with this isn’t the weight it’s the awkward shape and distribution of the weight.

When I’m training well I can press 50 plus kg overhead and I’d still need someone to help me lift a wardrobe. Do you have a friend or family member?

I would be summoning 2 x 6' tall DSs to help with this task.
Removal help is legal to get right now.

Sorry I should have put all this in the OP:
Unfortunately the situation is this. DH doesn't drive. DS is a baby. Our old house was in Britain, we're now in western Ireland, our stuff is in storage. I put it there 12 months ago and I thought it would be a short-term thing while we bought a house. When I put the stuff into storage, I had the help of our neighbour with the really heavy bits. He has now gone back to Poland.

I've tried for months to get a removal company. We sadly can't afford the quotes we're getting, but we can afford a van and a return ticket on the ferry.

The van hire places near me don't have any with Isofix. So I have to do this alone because we have no one here who can have DS for 3 days. I need to hire a big van, go to Britain, empty our two storage units as they're costing us money every month we have them, and bring everything back. The wardrobe is literally the only thing my dad ever bought me in my entire life and he's dead now. I fought tooth and nail to keep it and I won't let it go.

Even with a trolley I'll need to be able to do some moving of it and I'm not in a great shape strength wise since having the baby, but my cardio is good so I think if I can increase my strength I could do it. I was hoping some weight training would get me over the hump of being able to get one end of it off the ground when it's lying down, or to be able to walk it, etc.

I suppose this wardrobe isn't just the goal, I'm seeing it as a catalyst to taking control of my own ability to do stuff, because I'm sick of being unable to pick things up and carry them. I guess I mentioned the running because I thought cardio might be part of a strength training regime, to improve muscle stamina, is that not the case?

Your running about 3km a week it won’t harm your lifting and will help your cardio I guess?

Just a thought and it would be slightly harder - how far do you have to go for a van hire with isofix? Could the three of you drive there, leave your car and then you take it back once you Have the stuff?

I can see why it’s precious and tbh I think weight wise you could deadlift 50kg with some building up to it if you can press 25- but the shape, trying to get your arms round it etc - frustrating. You could I guess open the doors and put it on your back but you’re risking hurting yourself that way.

You would be fine with the boxes!

Sorry typo - I know you’re pressing 15.

I expect you'd be able to get the wardrobe into the van more easily than you think. The height may help you. You would need to walk it/trolley it to the van and stand it (wardrobe doors facing you) in front of the open back of the van. You then lift the feet, using the door sill of the van as a fulcrum, and tip the wardrobe onto its back, then slide it in. The chair would probably be worse and boxes worse still. If you are able to hire a van with one of those platform lifts at the back that might work, but I suspect they are too big for an ordinary driving licence.

The type of training that would help you would be more like tyre flips and actually practising carrying heavy boxes about. But three weeks? I wouldn't fancy that. And if money is tight, what if you go all the way over there and find you actually can't do it? I'm all for pushing boundaries but this may be overreach.

Cardio improves your cardiovascular fitness. If you were having to spend all day carrying endless smaller boxes to and fro cardio would help you. It won't improve brute strength. Even with brute strength you need to generate enough power through your legs for a lift off the ground. Quite a lot of conditioning might actually be needed and a PP has pointed out the problem of the awkward shapes etc you will have to deal with.

Do you not have any local contacts back in GB? There must be plenty of people on furlough who would welcome a few quid to come and help you load the van. You just need to find one.

This is madness. Think of your pelvic floor!

I need to hire a big van, go to Britain, empty our two storage units as they're costing us money every month we have them, and bring everything back.

Hire some people local to your destination to help you out & some people local to your home to help you out. This is a plausible solution. Find the local 'odd jobs' pages. Any reliable young chaps could help you.

@HopeClearwater

Hello mum! 😂

@RJnomore1

Thanks everyone for so many detailed and helpful replies and ideas about how to make this work.

Just a thought and it would be slightly harder - how far do you have to go for a van hire with isofix?
I can't seem to find anywhere that does it within 100 miles (and I haven't looked further because it would add too much journey time to a 16-hour round trip), even though the internet says it should be fitted as standard in all vans after 2015.

Do you not have any local contacts back in GB? DH has said he will ask around on the offchance that anyone we know is still in the area (it was one of the small university towns where everyone slowly trickles off to London to get jobs).

what if you go all the way over there and find you actually can't do it
That's my big worry.

@RJnomore1 I've had a thought when you said about opening the doors the doors are solid wood but they actually come off at the hinges if I take the key this time-- so that would lighten the load immensely and we might only be looking at 35-40kg to lift (with much better grip)

@Spodge Actually now you mention it, I believe I'm allowed to drive a Luton van with a tail lift if I hire it in NI. I will check if I can get one for a decent price as loading the van is the only point where I'll need to do any proper lifting if I tilt the wardrobe onto a trolley to get it from the unit to the van.
I've looked at tyre flips today and I actually have a tyre I can do this with, so I'll do some work anyway, because I think improving my general strength will make this less awful.

@lljkk Is that allowed under Covid rules? That could help take the pressure off.

@NotFabulousDarling - just wondering what you decided to do in the end, or if you're still mulling it over.