An unfortunate side-effect of working out regularly is injury. Sometimes, this happens because you’re overdoing it without properly stretching first, cooling down after, giving yourself ample rest days or getting enough sleep the night before. Using weights and other gym equipment can lead to accidents if you’re not careful. (Like me, this morning, when I dropped an 8lb dumbbell on my toe. And I wasn’t even exercising; the night before, I had placed the dumbbell on my windowsill to help weigh down a curtain that was letting in too much light. In the morning, when I went to pull back the curtains, in my sleepy state I’d forgotten the dumbbell was there, and it rolled off the ledge right onto my toe. Happy International Women’s Day to me.)
Anyway.
The folks at EllipticalReviews.com were curious if there are certain exercise routines or gym equipment that statistically propose a greater risk of injury. So they looked at the workout-related emergency room visits reported in 2016 to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. This is what they found out.
Running
Running, on the treadmill or on foot, was the cause of 1 in 3 workout-related emergency room visits in 2016. Common running injuries tend to result from overuse, like shin splints, plantar fasciitis, or strength imbalances. Running on a treadmill can put you at risk for slipping off although — in 2014, of the 24,400 treadmill related ER visits, the most common culprit was chest pain.
Equipment injuries
The report also looked at which body part you’re most likely to injure depending on which equipment you use at the gym. Stationary bikes, ellipticals, rowing machines and weights caused the most damage to the upper torso, while exercising with a medicine ball, jumping rope or doing pull-ups most commonly caused head injuries. And if you use resistance bands, watch the eyes.
Weighing in
Apparently stepping on a stale can hurt more than your pride: 29 percent of scale-related injuries resulted from people falling off and hitting their heads.
Careful out there, fit folks.
