Exercising at a gym can be a wonderful way to make friends and get fit. Given the nature of the activity, though, you can find yourself injured after using an improperly maintained piece of equipment or attempting an exercise as directed by an improperly trained staffer. You may be entitled to compensation, so keep reading to learn more about recovering from a gym after an injury. And don’t forget to call a York County premises liability attorney today. We’ll battle at your side to get you the best compensation possible.
What Are the Most Common Gym Injuries and Their Causes?
Working out at a gym can cause many different kinds of injuries, including:
- Cardiac events
- Shin splints
- Groin pulls
- Wrist sprains and dislocations
- Bone fractures
- Head, shoulder, back, and brain injuries
Either your own or the gym’s negligence may contribute to any of these injuries, as a result of (among others):
- Unsafe conditions
- Incorrectly maintained equipment
- Falling free weights
- Overexerting yourself
Important Reminders in the Aftermath of a Gym Injury
The most important thing after you sustain an injury of any kind, including gym injuries, is getting yourself the care you need. You should seek medical attention immediately, as well as let a gym employee know what happened.
After your physical health is taken care of, be sure to take careful notes of everything. Take pictures of the scene of the gym injury, ask those around you for identifying information, and interview them, if they agree.
You may have already signed a waiver just to enter the gym, but if not, do not sign one now. It may be used against you in a court of law. Do reach out to a premises liability attorney as quickly as you can.
How Will Gym Try to Defend Itself after My Gym Injury?
Just as the law affords plaintiffs many ways to get their due recovery, the law also grants defendants alternatives to be sure they aren’t taken advantage of.
Implied and Express Assumption of Risk
When we participate in activities, we sometimes accept the risk either directly or simply by the act of participation. Gyms may turn to the principle of assumption of risk to defend themselves after your injury. There are two kinds of assumption of risk: express and implied.
When the gym tells you about the associated risk and you then either sign a waiver or give your verbal agreement, courts may consider that there was an express assumption of risk on your part. Waivers for negligence, waivers for intentional acts, and total waivers of liability are all used by gyms for this purpose. Sometimes courts will refuse to enforce waivers for intentional acts for being against public policy, and total waivers of liability for being to broadly written to practicably enforce.
If you were aware or should have been aware of the dangers of an activity and still chose to participate, courts may believe there was an implied assumption of risk. For instance, if the gym had placed a number of warnings around a piece of equipment and you still used it, it may be said you implicitly assumed the risk.
