5 Gym Accidents to Avoid

Gym Accidents are Avoidable – Think Safety!

By: John D. Moore, PhD

Gym accidents and gym related injuries are very real concerns for people who work out regularly. If you have ever experienced an accident while working out, you know exactly what I am talking about. From broken toes to fractured hips, I’ve seen some pretty ugly stuff over the years. For reasons I do not fully understand, the topic of injury prevention while at the gym gets little attention.   What’s up with that?

Recently, I posted about the positive influence strength training has on depression at Psychcentral. Specifically, I explored how hitting the gym on a regular basis can help to elevate mood and chase away the blues. There are tons of other goodies connected to weight lifting as well – like improved sleep and increased libido! But for all of the pluses of strength training, it is important to recognize that the gym can be a dangerous place and accidents do happen.

This article will briefly touch upon the topic of gym safety and explore 5 ways you can prevent a gym accident happening to you. My hope is to create greater awareness around this topic, particularly for beginners to weight training.

Let me first offer a disclaimer. If you are new to working out or are thinking of starting a weight training program for the first time, you should get medical clearance from your doctor, particularly if you have a pre-existing illness or injury.   

After you get your doctor’s green-light … you are set to go, right?

Nope – and here’s why …

I’ve been working out now for the better part of 15 years and I can share with you that before you learn how to pump iron, you need to become educated on gym safety. I say this because I’ve seen a number of gym accidents over the years and have experienced a few of them myself as well.

Some of these accidents were minor. Others however were very serious and took the person out of the gym for many months. In the case of serious injuries, I can tell you there is nothing worse than watching major gains disappear because you are forced to skip workouts as you wait to heal up.  

While there are many articles on the Internet about gym safety, I am offering five tips injury prevention tips here that you may not be familiar with. Some of these might common sense while others make you think …hmmm. All of these accidents are based on personal observation with one in particular that happened to me.

Are you ready?

Let’s jump right in!

Never Chew Gum and Lift Weights

I once saw a guy doing a bench press with some fairly heavy weight. Long story short, he was chewing bubble gum. When he inhaled during the lift, he began to cough and then choke. Had it not been for a quick thinking person close by that did a Heimlich maneuver, the guy could have died. No joke.

This point may seem silly but I have seen different situations where gum chewing caused a person to gag or choke while exercising, like doing a set of abs and forgetting they had gum parked in their mouth. Gravity caused the gum to get lodged in their throat while they were on their back. The result – they started to choke.

I know Arnold used to chew gum when lifting when you look at old footage of him … but that does not mean it was a good idea. I’m just saying – probably not a good idea.  

Tie Up Your Hair or Wear a Cap!

I once saw a woman doing biceps curls with a stack machine. She had pretty blond, flowing hair that was kind of long. Somehow or another, part of her hair got caught in the weight stack while executing a curl.

When she released the hand-bar, she began to helplessly get pulled towards the weight stack until her head was smashed up against the 200 point stack. Sadly, she ended up knocking out some teeth, breaking her nose and losing a giant clump of hair. This all happened in the flash of an eye.

My point is simple. If you have long hair, wear a hat or tie it up in a pony-tail. Use caution on stack-machines and make sure your hair is no place near the weights.

Be Careful with Weight Stack Pins

Several years ago, I saw a guy doing Tricep Pull Downs at the cable machine. He decided to use a pin that was not designed for that weight stack. I assume he was too pressed for time to find the right pin or he was just flat-out lazy. In any event, the improper pin he used ended up causing an accident.

How?

When he inserted the pin, it only went in 1/2 of the way. Upon executing a push-down, the pin became dislodged and shot out of the stack like a rocket right into his private parts. He was seriously injured (no joke).

On a related note, I once experienced a shoulder injury when attempting a cable crossover exercise. This happened because I did not double check to make sure the pin was inserted all the way into the stack. As a result, the pin came out and the weights came crashing down, which rapidly pulled me to the right and caused the injury. I was out for several weeks because I didn’t take 5 seconds to check that pin.

The simple point here is to make sure you are using the right pin on the machine you are using, including cable machines and other cable-pulley type equipment. 

Wear Gym Shoes – not Sandals!

This may seem like common sense but I am mentioning this point here because it is a very real issue. I have personally watched men and women experience painful foot injuries because they were wearing sandals at the gym while lifting weights.

Ever see someone drop a 45lb plate on a foot?  How about seeing a 25lb dumbbell land on a pinkie toe? Yep, I have seen both and I can assure you the injuries were extremely painful and took the person(s) out of the gym for weeks. No cardio, no leg exercises … nothing. Had they been wearing proper shoes to workout, the injuries might have been less serious. 

The point on this one is straight forward – the gym is not Santa Monica beach. Leave the sandals at home and make sure you are wearing proper footwear, like cross-training shoes or at the very least, a pair of sneakers.

Be Aware of Your Surroundings

My final point is fairly simple – be very mindful of your surroundings. The gym can be a very busy place with people jumping on and off equipment on a constant basis. And let’s be honest – a lot of them are in a rush. This means that if you are not aware of your surroundings, someone could be walking by with a universal bar or a weight plate and unintentionally hit you. I’ve seen it!

To this point, if you wear headphones, I encourage you to think carefully about how loud you are playing music. I say this because the ability to listen to what is going on around you at the gym is hugely important and can help to prevent accidents.

For example, if classic rock is piping into your ears, how are you going to hear the person behind you say “watch out!” when they are positioning a 40 lb. universal bar on a flat-bench? This exact scenario happened to a friend of mine who was smacked in the hip with a steel bar because he didn’t hear the warning. His hip ended up being fractured and he was out of the gym for months. He also was in a great deal of pain.

The point here is simple. Make sure are aware of your surroundings at all times. Avoid limiting your ability to hear by either skipping out on the headphones or at a minimum, making sure the music you are playing is low.

Bonus Tip

Whenever possible, use a spotter. A spotter not only helps you with lifting the weight but can also act as an additional set of eyes and ears to monitor your surroundings.

Summary

Strength training is an excellent way to improve your mood, better your physique and boost your self-esteem. It’s also a great activity to help ritualize healthy, weekly activities. If you are thinking about starting a gym routine – right on! Just make sure gym safety is part of your plan.

You don’t want to ruin all the gains you will make by having an accident. Ask anyone who has been become injured at the gym and they will tell you the emotional impact of not being able to work out is a big-time bummer.  

I’ve included a poll below on the topic of gym safety. Be sure to take part and then see the results of others. If you have any gym injury tips to share, please feel free to post!

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