Preventing Accidents and Injuries In The Gym

Preventing accidents and injuries in the gym is a matter of

1. Discovering ways to prevent accidents that you may not have thought of, and
2. Being aware of accidents that could happen, and taking sensible steps to prevent them.

This video shows some easy ways to prevent accidents and injuries to the clients, and to the trainers!

Preventing Accidents In The Gym

1. Use pins in the power rack when using a barbell with triple-extension movements or bench presses.
2. Puts stops under lowest bar position of the Smith machine barbell.
3. Spot dumbbells on the wrists or forearms, not on the elbows.
4. Spot chinups under the knees or around the waist, not at the ankles.
5. Don’t take weights from client’s hands over his or her head.
6. Don’t change cable attachments over someone’s head .
7. Watch out for swinging pulldown bar after a set
8. Keep an eye out for sharp and hard edges. Use your body as a blockade. Cover dangerous objects with your hand if you can’t move the client away from them.
9. Watch what surrounding people are doing. It’s easy to accidentally walk into someone’s lunges, or to walk into someone’s exercise space when they’re swinging or throwing something.
10. Don’t put your foot underneath the weight tree spindles when racking or unracking weights.
11. Learn how to get heavy dumbbells safely to the ground at the end of a set. Teach your clients how to do this on their own.
12. Watch out for crushing fingers when racking dumbbells.
13. Beware of pulling out a cable pin to have a high-pulley attachment fall on your head.
14. Wipe up sweat spots and spills on floor.
15. Keep one foot on the bench or platform when a client is doing jumps or marches.
16. Watch the client’s head when getting up from seated machines.
17.  Be aware of ceiling height. Don’t hit your head or arms.
18. When you have a client perform unstable exercises, look for what they may fall into. Position yourself as a blockade if necessary. Cover sharp or hard edges with your hands.
19. Regularly work on balance exercises with clients, especially older clients.
20. Remember to set your own spine correctly when leaning over to do a spotting lift.
21. When resting dumbbells on benches or platforms, place the dumbbells on their ends so they don’t roll off. Better yet, place them on their ends on the floor.
22. Don’t allow clients to chew gum during a workout — choking hazard.
23. Use collars on barbells when appropriate.
24. If you use increment magnets with dumbbells (e.g. Plate Mates), attach them in a position so that if they fall, they don’t hit anything except the floor. Don’t hit weights together with magnets during a lift.
25. Ask about beesting allergies before training outside. If you regularly walk or jog with clients outside, you may want to carry a water pistol with ammonia to guard against aggressive dogs. Traffic is an obvious concern when outside too.
26. When clients are stretching, be aware of what they may be leaning or pulling against.
27. Do calf stretches on the bottom step, not the top.
28. Watch out for flailing arms during balance work.
29. Learn how to decelerate a swinging kettlebell safely. Teach your clients how to do it.

If you have any questions, or any suggestions to improve the material, contact Dan DeFigio.
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