We announced this year that we were adding Lynne Strasser, a fitness focused blogger, to the Workers' Comp Blogwire as part of declaring 2013 the “Year of Prevention, Health and Wellness”. We are committed to providing useful information this year for individuals and their employers that will make for a healthier, fit and less injury prone workforce.
It is ironic that the fitness activities themselves can cause injury for those who do not exercise proper care. Everyone knows someone who blew out a knee or damaged a rotator cuff while trying to imitate a steroid infused Arnold Schwarzenegger in the gym (pre-Governor body builder Arnold, not get your housekeeper pregnant and don't tell anybody Arnold). What is often overlooked is that the job of training someone has its perils as well.
Especially when that person is me.
And I hit you in the face with a 10 pound medicine ball.
It happened innocently enough. We were doing an exercise where my trainer stands a few feet away, and I sit with my lower back against a “Bosu Ball”. For the uninitiated, a Bosu Ball is a half ball that looks like a giant contact lens. It's most prominent and useful function in the gym is facilitating the easy twisting and snapping of ankles and providing you with a nuclear wedgie when you sit against it on the floor.
So anyway, I am positioned against the Bosu with nuclear wedgie in progress and my trainer stands a few feet away while we toss a 10 pound medicine ball back and forth. This exercise is very good at both building core strength and insuring my chiropractor can continue funding his children's college education. As we were finishing up the first set of 25 tosses, I mentioned to him that the last one from me was going to have a little extra “push”. Apparently it had a bit too much push, as it passed directly between his hands and struck him in the face, bloodying his upper lip.
This is the second time in two weeks I've witnessed a workplace accident from this location. This place is a hazard.
As it turns out, this time there will be no workers' compensation claim. He is a proprietor of a private gym with no employees, and in Florida he is not required to carry workers' comp insurance. Fortunately, except for a little swelling, it appears he will be ok. Still, it is a reminder that any job has dangers, and fitness can come at a price if you are not careful. Or if you train me. Whatever.