The most dangerous gym equipment

Studies have shown, these are the three items of gym equipment most likely to cause you an injury.

Actor and presenter Fezile Makhanya works out at the Discovery gym in Sandton. Picture: Michel Bega

Gyming is a really great way to keep fit, be part of a fitness community, make new friends and maybe even meet “the one”. However, enrolling in a gym involves a great deal more than just etching your signature and debit card details onto a contract.

If you are not familiar with the intimidatingly massive variety of fitness equipment at your gym of choice, you could easily end in the emergency room, or worse.

Fitness experts recommend you get to know your gym equipment by signing up with a resident fitness instructor for at least three months. In addition to building discipline and routine, working with an instructor is a great way of getting to know which equipment does what.

America’s National Electronic Injury Surveillance (NEIS) report of 2016 shows that many fitness devices have a higher rate of injury. “These are the pieces of gym equipment that send the most people to the hospital, ranked from least to most injury-prone.”

Here’s a NEIS list of the three items of gym equipment that cause the most injuries:

1. Resistance bands

This gadget is great for resistance training but, as the NEIS report points out, if a band slips or breaks and hits you in the eye, you could be at risk for eye inflammation and vision loss.

2. Free weights

These actually come with a warning label because dropped barbells and dumbbells are among the most common and cringe-worthy causes of gym injuries. It’s no wonder they account for 7% of ER visits in women’s injuries and a whopping 11% in men’s. And that’s just in the USA.

3. Rowing machine
NEIS says that when used properly, the rowing machine can give you one of the most comprehensive upper body workouts. But when used incorrectly, you set yourself up for lower back pain, knee and joint problems, and even stress fractures on your ribs.

If you are considering signing up for a gym membership, especially after all the unhealthy noshing you’ll be partaking in over the Easter weekend, you really should get to know your gym equipment first – lest you want to end up like the poor souls in this hilarious video:

https://www.facebook.com/TodayHumanity/videos/435297900540066/

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