Clients come to you specifically to improve their fitness levels. Whether it’s to lose weight, rehabilitate an injury, or get stronger, your clients rely on you to help them work out safely. If a client should be injured performing an exercise routine you designed, you’ll be glad you have business insurance for fitness in case they sue you.
An Ounce of Prevention
The best way to avoid seeing your clients get injured is to prepare them for the workout first. Warming up unused muscles improves flexibility and reduces the possibility of tears or strains. Stretching is always a great way to start, as is jumping rope or riding a stationary bike to gradually bring up the heart rate. Have clients ease into the work out. Also, vary workouts between the upper and lower body to give muscle groups time to rest and recover between sessions. Yes, these things are common sense, but people ignore them just the same, only to wind up with an injury.
Strained Back
Believe it or not, the back comes into play in nearly everything we do. If your back is injured, sometimes even smiling can cause pain. In most cases, back injuries happen while performing exercises with free weights. Emphasize proper form with your clients, and help them figure out their limits so they can avoid working with more weight than they can safely handle.
Shoulder Strains
Somewhere along the way, the measure of a gym rat’s prowess became their max number on the bench. In the quest to bench 300, many a person has wrecked their shoulders. Shoulders are capable of a broad range of motion, which makes them particularly susceptible to overuse, resulting often in strains. Help your clients avoid dislocations and rotator cuff injuries as well.
Squat Rack Injuries
Along with the bench, the squat rack offers abundant opportunity for injury. Most problems in this area also come from working too heavy. Trying to push up too much weight can quickly result in problems. On the bench, at least there’s secondary support. With the squat rack, it’s all about the client’s body, so you have to be certain the weight they try is weight they can handle. And, always be ready with a spot.
As a fitness instructor, you have a responsibility to keep your clients safe, even as they engage in some of the riskiest behaviors they’ll perform all day. This is where you can draw on your training and expertise on their behalf. Watching out for these three common workout-related injuries will ultimately help your charges achieve more success—safely.
Although the hope is that you’ll never need to file a claim, business insurance for fitness professionals is a backup against financial liability for client injuries and more. Find an affordable policy with the right amount of coverage through CoverHound.
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Insurance shopping simplified
