ExRx.net

Nearly came a cropper in the gym today; I'm sure plenty of you guys have also got tales of mishaps in the gym?

I was doing the last set of squats at top weight and expected to get three reps out. After coming up from the second rep I was seeing stars and really should have left it at that: instead I tried for a third. I got all the way down and tried to push back up, after only a few inches I came back down; I realised I wasn’t going to be able to get back up and was on my own with no one around to help. I went down onto my left knee and was quickly trying to think what the hell I was going to do.

At this point, whilst I was pinned down I basically still had control of the weight and what I should have done was dumped it behind me. Instead I tried to rest the end of the barbell on the ground beside me and get out from underneath it that way. Of course as soon as I tried I lost balance and was at the mercy of the weight’s momentum. I went toppling face first onto a stack of two crash-mats (presumably placed there by god?) and the bloody weight came down on the back of my head/neck. Now all this could have been very nasty but amazingly I got away with only a bit of a cut and a bit of a bump and a case of the shakes!

Next time whilst alone and doing something dangerous I’m going to be making sure I’m pretty confidant I can complete any reps that I start!

Why don't you set the safety bars in place? I have them for all my barbell exercises (except Deadlifts) for exactly this purpose.

No such thing exists for me, the gym I use has only the bare basics of equipment (and somtimes not even that). And before anyone asks: i use this gym because I can use it for free

Wow dude. All I have to say.

Should be titled almost life ending incidents at the gym!!

If you don't have a spotter or a proper cage, you might want to consider Front Squats (Olympic Style). It's much easier to dump with these.

Once in high school my friend Mirhammed was spotting someone doing half squats with 275 lbs. The guys butt came up faster than the bar turning a half squat into a good morning. Then, failing to complete the lift, the guy suddenly dropped his butt and dumped the barbell backwards onto Mirhammed. Mirhammed caught the bar across his lower chest (think Zercher Squat) and fell backwards onto his back, nearly hitting his head on a bench on the way down. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

I was working out in a work-place gym years ago. I was on 2nd shift, so I was working out at 1:00 in the afternoon meaning the gym was all but empty. I was benching, and had gotten out the 7th rep and was close to failure. I knew I should rack the weight, but thought I could power through and get my 8th rep. Wrong. Mid-way up, I ran out of gas. I was holding it up, and it was slowly coming back down. I turn my head to both sides, but no one was there.

I didn’t want to drop it on my chest, and I noticed the safety pins at the bottom of the uprights. So I pushed the weight toward the uprights as I failed. The bar hit the pins, and stopped just as the bar pressed into my Adam’s apple. I was pinned to the bench with the bar pressing against my throat. Trying not to panic, I turned my head to the side so the bar was pressing into the side of my neck and was able to slide slowly off the bench and from under the bar.

I never went to failure on the bench alone again!

Yea chris that is a little tooooo close for comfort.

I remember reading about an aspiring young kid who died cause he was benching alone. Parents came home and checked the basement and the son was dead strangled by the 210 lbs he was benching with.

I'm always careful always make sure I have a spotter and never ever bench heavy without someone there. I have too much to live for.

Should of dropped it Dave. You officially are a weight lifter when you have to dump your weight when you squat.

I've never done that, but I dumped (missed) 80kg twice today on clean and jerk where my previous PR was 135#. And I've missed snatches many many times, does that count? What about losing skin on your shins for lifts? :-P

Losing skin shows dedication most people dont purposely do a lift the dead lift that semi injures without some form of dedication.

I have had scabs from deadlifting before that is my favorite lift although it's not my strongest.

yeah, i've lost skin in my shins. Comes out in big blisters - sick looking and painful.

The most painful thing, I think is when you rip a callous - the one when the bar slips and rips the callous up your finger about 2cm - ouch. Doesn't stop bleeding and it doesn't stop hurting. It's a good time to switch to squats for a while when that happens.

About 1-2 weeks ago, I was in training with a friend. I was telling him about a PT who was trying to tell me how amazing unstable surface training was and showed us a 'bound' on to a BOSU ball - you just jump off one leg and land on the other, onto the BOSU ball and hold without setting your other foot down or losing balance. I'm not into all that, but to amuse him I gave it a go and done it successfully.

When I was in with my friend and telling him about it I was really just mocking the PT, not out loud just between my friend and I. I set it down, LEPT, landed, and the BOSU ball shot forward, and I landed flat on my back.

.....hmmm...... Karma?


KPj

hilarious!!!

that was def one of those if you were there moments. haha

Yeah, I've ripped caluses on my hands before.

My father saw someone snap a barbell in a gym once. Apparently, it was a new bar and there was some type of air bubble or imperfection in the steel. The guy was doing military presses with 315 lbs when the bar broke in half and dropped to the sides. Fortunately, no one was standing nearby.