This is a common question, and if you’ve been working with a personal trainer to step up your fitness game it’s natural to be confused about what to do if you get injured during one of those sessions.
It’s unfortunate when it happens, but sometimes the personal trainers you’ll find in gyms have minimal training.
Our experience has been that in those cases, that training can amount to little more than an online course and a simple certification. That cursory understanding of fitness form and techniques can lead to:
One simple example for context would be a case where the personal trainer has advised you to lift weight near your limit in an improper form, and once you have it over your head you lose balance and fall backward onto other equipment. That could mean hitting your head, landing on a barbell and injuring your back, or other related serious injury.
Another case, as we discussed in an earlier post, involved a woman being advised to try a new exercise she’d never done before and getting her foot caught on a piece of equipment that caused her to fall backward.
She fractured her wrists, missed four months of work, and had some degree of permanent damage.
This will depend a bit on circumstance, but generally if the injury is serious and is a direct result of the workout your trainer had you doing it’s feasible.
If we can establish that the injury was caused by your personal trainer not paying enough attention, giving bad advice, or having you do exercises that are ill-advised given your specific physical condition, it will go a long way toward building a case.
The other major factor that goes into building a legal case around a gym-related injury is the extent of your injuries.
Factors you should consider when contacting an attorney include:
Further, some common examples of serious gym-related injuries include:
If you’ve suffered from any of those types of injuries because of work you did with a personal trainer, it’s worth exploring your options.
Generally the statute of limitations on these types of injuries is 3 years. If you are a family member of someone who has died as a result of gym-related injuries, you typically have 2 years from the date of your loved one's passing to file a lawsuit.