Posted on 01/18/2008 12:41:49 PM PST by stainlessbanner
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A gym member is suing over an inflated exercise ball that he said burst under him, dropping him to the floor.
Pete Royal said he was leaning back on the exercise ball and about to lift a pair of 75-pound dumbbells when the ball burst.
Royal weighs 200 pounds.
He said he needed five surgeries and couldn't use either arm for six months after the 2005 incident.
The 61-year Jacksonville man's lawsuit says the YMCA failed to maintain safe conditions in the gym.
It also claims the manufacturers mislabeled the rubber ball as an "anti-burst" ball. Representatives for the YMCA of Florida's First Coast and TKO Sports Group declined comment.
Royal said he still works out at the YMCA, but he warns other gym members about the exercise balls.
He said they should display weight limits.
While I’m sorry he was injured, he can’t blame everything on the gym or the ball. Whatever happened to taking responsibility for one’s own actions?
Lifting weights while using a ball seems insane to me.
Maybe he has a legitimate complaint. If the fellow was using the ball in a manner prescribed by the YMCA, and if the ball failed due to some manufacturing defect, then I don't see how you can blame the guy who got hurt.
If, OTOH, the use was non-standard and the ball was OK, then he's got no case.
Pete Royal? God, that sounds like a porn name.
Anybody that wants to argue with a 61 year old doing curls with 3/4 of his body weight is just plane nuts. Give him the money and don't wizz him off any further then he already is!
I've gone thru physical rehab for two torn rotor cuffs to the tune of about six months in the gym. I've only seen one guy using the 75 pound dumbbells and he worked there as a trainer (he looked like he had no neck!)
Regards,
GtG
3/8. The man was 200 pounds.
150lbs is 3/4 of 200 lbs. It was TWO 75lb dumbbells.
Or a pro wrestler.
If the ball failed because he was over the weight limit, that’s his own fault.
Either way, I don’t see that the Y is responsible for the ball bursting. However, in today’s lawsuti happy mindset, that’s totally irrelevant.
Sure... what happens if he rolls over instead of the ball bursting? YMCA should have had someone watching to make sure morons don't hurt themselves doing something stupid like this...
Aren't benches better for that kind of thing? The instability of a round object under you would make anyone with a lick of common sense not want to do it lifting two 75# weights, presumably over his head. He's lucky the ball burst BEFORE he got those weights up instead of after.
Perhaps it hit a sharp object, or maybe something on his clothes punctured it?
Big *if* there. I can’t see that that’s how the ball is meant to be used.
A ball buster ?
A bench could work that way too. If you’re just looking for support of your shoulders for the torso workout, it would be much more stable and safer.
Without trying to recommend it, but just to explain why other people use them:
The unstable nature of the ball is the reason they are used. It causes you to tighten up many other muscle groups at the same time.
This one is claimed to be burst-resistant up to 2,000 lbs.
http://www.power-systems.com/nav/closeup.aspx?c=21&sc=69&g=2943&Power/VersaBall®
I do not weight lift with a ball but I have used them for simpler exercise.
The one I like best is to replace the chair with the ball. You more naturally move around and lightly exercise many muscle groups while Freeping.
Well I gotta compliment the 61 year old man lifting two 75 pound weights. Awesome dude. I think the 75 lb. weights might be what killed the ball.
There is more to this story than reported (as is often the case). He was apparently working out under the supervision of a YMCA personal trainer...
Did you read the article? What was the weight limit? Where was it posted?
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