Remember that gym death at east anglia uni..

[milesgiles]

Nothing like what I imagined assumed bench press..

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14539679/...

Cliffs
somehow managed to die calf raising on a Smith machine.. used a step platform which tipped over, didn’t set safeties weight falls on head..

Rip but that has to be a world first

[Grumbler]

I suspect there‘ll be disagreement, people calling him an idiot, etc. But if you aren’t shown how to use machinery, how do you know you’re doing it wrong? Absolute tragedy for the lad and his family.

[Hoofy]

Very unfortunate. We've probably all used or set kit incorrectly at some point. I gave up half way down the article trying to work out how it actually killed him.

[milesgiles]

Grumbler said:

I suspect there‘ll be disagreement, people calling him an idiot, etc. But if you aren’t shown how to use machinery, how do you know you’re doing it wrong? Absolute tragedy for the lad and his family.

There’s an infinite amount of ways to use the equipment in a normal gym you can’t be shown every single one

[av185]

Tragically the fast track induction was clearly not enough.

[milesgiles]

av185 said:

Tragically the fast track induction was clearly not enough.

Didn’t have one at my current gym at all

[spikeyhead]

A gym in a town I was spending a single night in wanted to charge me £25 for an induction. Now I understand why.

[Peterpetrole]

milesgiles said:

Grumbler said:

I suspect there‘ll be disagreement, people calling him an idiot, etc. But if you aren’t shown how to use machinery, how do you know you’re doing it wrong? Absolute tragedy for the lad and his family.

There’s an infinite amount of ways to use the equipment in a normal gym you can’t be shown every single one

And an infinite number of ways to get killed or injured, this particular death was no different to someone carrying a heavy object down some stairs and tripping in a particularly unfortunate way, or falling off a ladder.... stuff happens.

Hopefully there's no compo coming up but the lack of warning labels (that wouldn't have done anything) highlighted suggests otherwise.

[ian in lancs]

Here's the ITV report https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2025-03-26/gym-use...

Tragedy. and a reminder as to how dangerous free weights and or weight machines can be.

[Peterpetrole]

ian in lancs said:

Here's the ITV report https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2025-03-26/gym-use...

Tragedy. and a reminder as to how dangerous free weights and or weight machines can be.

To be fair, I think Smith machines do have more potential for serious accidents, as without the stops in place there is nowhere else for the bar to go except straight down and people get trapped in a way that isn't really possible with free weight squats for example.

Probably a good market for some sort of auto braking type Smith machine that only allows a bar to descend at a certain speed, or that defaults to having stops a couple of feet above the ground unless the user holds a finger button down on the bar etc. etc.

[horsemeatscandal]

A tragic accident and probably best not to dwell on it or speculate, but I must say I'm struggling to imagine how the bar "forced his neck to the ground" if he had 25kg plates on. Surely the bar would have been 9" off the ground when the plates hit the floor?

Anyway, none of that really matters, just a truly awful set of circumstances regardless of the specifics.

I go to a couple of different gyms and the leg press machines in both don't have any sort of safety feature, if you go heavy and fail you're fked. You might not die but you could be seriously injured. Just the other day I dialled the weight back a bit because I was in the gym on my own at night, had my phone within arm's reach just in case.

[Wills2]

Hmmm I too use the smith machine for calf raises using a green step base but I do not use the safeties as I would for bench press shoulder or squat, I will be using them from now on, I set the base up length ways rather than side on for extra stability but I can see how this could happen, tragic accident poor lad.

Weights are dangerous and we can become complacent and be blind to the risks.

[90CHPAXL]

Sounds like a bit of a freak accident, one that perhaps wouldn’t have happened if he was more experienced in a gym surrounding.

From what I could decipher, he’s slipped off the raised platform and it’s flipped over, he’s fallen head first with no support, then bar has pushed down on his unbalanced self (probably leaning forward) and the weight of it hitting him, has either slammed him to the ground in which he’s suffered a major head trauma, or the bar itself has crushed onto his head as he’s hit the floor.

I don’t think any gym induction can really cover all the bases and eventualities, nor can it fully prevent situations like this. We’ve all seen new ways equipment is used by people - appropriate or not, usually discovered by fitness influencers that people follow along with.

Sad situation for the lad and his family, and a tough time for those dealing with it in the immediate aftermath.

If there’s a take away it’s a solid reminder of just how dangerous moving machinery and weights can be - in a gym or not.

[ChocolateFrog]

Must be a 1000 words in that article and I'm still non the wiser.

How did the weights hit him? I assume they mean the bar trapped him, presumably against the platform.

Didn't think a smiths machine bar weighed 15kg with the counter weights, virtually weightless. Does seem like a proper freak accident.

[Peterpetrole]

horsemeatscandal said:

A tragic accident and probably best not to dwell on it or speculate, but I must say I'm struggling to imagine how the bar "forced his neck to the ground" if he had 25kg plates on. Surely the bar would have been 9" off the ground when the plates hit the floor?

Anyway, none of that really matters, just a truly awful set of circumstances regardless of the specifics.

I go to a couple of different gyms and the leg press machines in both don't have any sort of safety feature, if you go heavy and fail you're fked. You might not die but you could be seriously injured. Just the other day I dialled the weight back a bit because I was in the gym on my own at night, had my phone within arm's reach just in case.

Well there was a Reebok step in there as well that might have kept his head higher up, or the bar came down on the back of his head (fairly typical) as the head is longer front to back than side to side. Sheer momentum by the time the weights hit the floor is going to smash your head to the floor forcefully anyway, even if you're not trapped.

[Peterpetrole]

Wills2 said:

Hmmm I too use the smith machine for calf raises using a green step base but I do not use the safeties as I would for bench press shoulder or squat, I will be using them from now on, I set the base up length ways rather than side on for extra stability but I can see how this could happen, tragic accident poor lad.

Weights are dangerous and we can become complacent and be blind to the risks.

Er, sounds like exactly what he was doing.
Would suggest not using the Smith machine for calf raises, poor gym etiquette as well.

[horsemeatscandal]

Peterpetrole said:

Well there was a Reebok step in there as well that might have kept his head higher up, or the bar came down on the back of his head (fairly typical) as the head is longer front to back than side to side. Sheer momentum by the time the weights hit the floor is going to smash your head to the floor forcefully anyway, even if you're not trapped.

Yeah I think you're right. I just saw the quote re. neck/ground which I thought would be impossible so probably just poor use of words/misquote/whatever. As I say, not really that important in the grand scheme, the outcome is still awful.

I imagine this could lead to some redesign of Smiths in general, if there hasn't been already. I can't think of a single exercise you'd do on a Smith where the bar needs to go so close to the ground that a person's head can't fit under there. Hip thrusts as described in the article *maybe*, but there are better ways of doing those, as is the case for almost everything a Smith is used for IMO.

[Wills2]

Peterpetrole said:

Wills2 said:

Hmmm I too use the smith machine for calf raises using a green step base but I do not use the safeties as I would for bench press shoulder or squat, I will be using them from now on, I set the base up length ways rather than side on for extra stability but I can see how this could happen, tragic accident poor lad.

Weights are dangerous and we can become complacent and be blind to the risks.

Er, sounds like exactly what he was doing.
Would suggest not using the Smith machine for calf raises, poor gym etiquette as well.

Yes well done you can read but could you explain the gym etiquette bit please as I'm quite keen on gym etiquette and keen to learn more from an expert such as you....

[Peterpetrole]

Wills2 said:

Peterpetrole said:

Wills2 said:

Hmmm I too use the smith machine for calf raises using a green step base but I do not use the safeties as I would for bench press shoulder or squat, I will be using them from now on, I set the base up length ways rather than side on for extra stability but I can see how this could happen, tragic accident poor lad.

Weights are dangerous and we can become complacent and be blind to the risks.

Er, sounds like exactly what he was doing.
Would suggest not using the Smith machine for calf raises, poor gym etiquette as well.

Yes well done you can read but could you explain the gym etiquette bit please as I'm quite keen on gym etiquette and keen to learn more from an expert such as you....

As per poster Horsemeat above, there are better ways of doing most exercises than using a Smith machine. Using it for calf raises is not far off curls in the squat rack.

Dumbbells or dipping belts would be far more considerate of other gyms users, and far safer.

[Gary29]

Peterpetrole said:

Wills2 said:

Hmmm I too use the smith machine for calf raises using a green step base but I do not use the safeties as I would for bench press shoulder or squat, I will be using them from now on, I set the base up length ways rather than side on for extra stability but I can see how this could happen, tragic accident poor lad.

Weights are dangerous and we can become complacent and be blind to the risks.

Er, sounds like exactly what he was doing.
Would suggest not using the Smith machine for calf raises, poor gym etiquette as well.

I do calf raises but hold the bar at waist height as if shrugging it, much safer imo, and you get a static traps workout at the same time.

I'm not convinced you need to be doing isolated calf raises as a run of the mill gym rat anyway, but that's for another discussion.