Is Weight Training a Collision Sport? Can a Fitness Trainer Make it Safer?

   There is a certain element of risk involved with sports and fitness activity. Collision sports such as football are responsible for frequent severe injuries and even deaths. However, even non-contact sports can be dangerous.
   Activities such as bicycling hold inherent risk because of issues of speed, balance, hazardous terrain, and  inattentive or hostile car drivers. Runners and walkers must also be wary of traffic as well as the threat of domestic dogs that turn into junkyard mongrels at the sight of bony human legs in motion. You could argue that any activity carries risk. Swimmers can drown! Skiers can fall!  Canadian women soccer players seem to brush off soccer wounds but in other parts of the world even a slight, unseen bump can leave a male player writhing in pain on death's doorstep! It must really hurt.
   How about some of my former avocations?

• Hockey - a high speed collision sport! Even as I graduated to old-timers, non-contact hockey the hurts were there. You just weren't expecting the hit when it came.
• What about my beloved amateur wrestling? Well, a basic set up move is to use a slapping motion to snap your opponent's head forward and down. Need I say more?
• Slow-pitch recreational softball - Someone once forgot the base bags and I blew out my ankle sprinting to 1st base. 
• Track and field - I was a middle distance runner. Okay, a scrawny miler isn't going to instill fear in your heart as he elbows you for position, but a wound from a track shoe spike can do damage. Field events such as high jump can make for a scary landing. There is a discussion about mandatory helmets for pole vaulters You don't want to misstep on a hurdle. Don't even think about wandering through the infield when a javelin, discus or shot put implement is flying through the sky. In high school crowds would migrate to the steeple chase water pit during a race to watch the potential train wreck.

   An outsider might presume that a weight room would would be a haven for hazardous happenings.
Iron is flung about with ferocious force! Muscle bound behemoths are suddenly distracted by spandex princesses in mid-lift. (Okay, maybe that was more in the 1980's. Spandex is passe now.)
Medicine balls are tossed around with grunting force. Muscles are manipulated to the max!
There must be an accident lurking behind every Nautilus machine!
   Actually in all of my time in the weight room, I have only witnessed 3 accidents of note.

1. One lifter was doing seated front barbell presses. He dislocated his collarbone. He wailed like a banshee until an ambulance carted him away.
2. A wandering muscle man was casting side glances at a nearby women's aerobics class when he walked eyeball first into the handle of a lat pull-down machine. He shook it off as he shouted blasphemous slogans to all 12 apostles. Mr. testament mouth wound up with a severe shiner and some wounded pride.
3. Somehow a woman got her fingers jammed between the weight plates of a machine. She too screamed to the heavens and went to emergency. Fortunately, no digits were severed.

   It should be noted that the 1st incident could have been preventable with proper technique or the guidance of a Fitness Trainer. The 2nd and 3rd incidents were due to lack of attentiveness. Always be aware of what is happening around you in a weight room setting!
   Now, I will not deny that there is risk in iron land. Three exercises in particular can be hazardous:

1. Bench presses can be hard on shoulder joints and deadly on the neck. Never lift heavy without a spotter. I've been stuck and it's scary.
2. Barbell squats to the front or back can be hard on the spine. If you blow out a knee, the weight can collapse on to you.
3. Certain types of seated calf machines are designed so that it is difficult to rack the weight at full contraction.

With all three exercises, either use a weight well within your range or have an assistant present to spot you.

For Fitness Trainers, safety is crucial at all times. You do NOT want an accident to happen to a client under your watch! Always take the following precautions:

• Watch your client like a hawk during training.
• Avoid distractions while working with a client.
• Ensure proper lifting technique at all times.
• Follow proper safety standards.
• Always watch to be sure that the environment is free of potential hazards.
• Know the safety protocol at whatever facility that you are using as your base.
• Keep your own first aid and CPR current and updated.
• Use common sense.
• Avoid the following;.....Distraction, Inattentiveness, Showboating.

   There seems to be a trend in newer fitness centers to have rules forbidding any ballistic lifting.This basically rules out any Olympic style lifts which should  form the backbone for any sports related training. (Conversely, a breed of clubs such as Cross Fit have done the opposite and focused on ballistic lifts.) The fear is that ballistic training is dangerous and is not worth the risk.
The risk can be mostly nullified with proper supervision. A good compromise is to set aside a corner of the facility for ballistic lifting. Proper equipment and flooring would be a must. Members should be instructed in proper technique and procedure. The section must be properly watched by knowledgeable staff. Unfortunately many fitness centers set membership sales as their sole priority. Setting up a properly monitored area

Distraction!   Inattentiveness!  Showboating!
Accidents can happen if you're not careful!

 for Olympic style lifts is usually low on their wish list.
   Remember, think safety first in the weight room! It does not have to be a dangerous place.

Until next time,........keep fit! 

Little Bobby Strong









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