Ouch! But why are so many people going to “fitness” clubs?

Here’s the story, and it does sound painful: Woman sues Manhattan fitness club for $1M, claims exercise band snapped and blinded her – NY Daily News.

But still I have questions, the heaviest one of which is: why do people think they need to go to gyms or fitness clubs and spend money to stay in shape?

I asked a friend that this past weekend − she had told me that she goes to Pilates, which was developed, I understand, to ease the myriad physical problems ballet dancers accumulate during their working lives. My friend mentioned that one major purpose of Pilates is to strengthen “the core.” Which I think means what I call the upper and lower abdominal muscles.

But we don’t need machines, really. We don’t even need devices, like bands. All we need is our body weight for sit-ups, push-ups, squats and the like. I’ve been doing sit-ups for decades, at home on my rug. I have a six-pack — although I don’t run around displaying it.

The last time I was in a place that used devices was when I had (I still have it) a mess inside one of my shoulders, and an orthopedist assigned me to physical therapy. The therapist was there all the time, watching, especially when I was using anything that could spring up and bite me. (Except her, of course: at the end of each sessions, she would torture me.)

This will be an interesting case to keep track of, though, since the woman alleges real damage to her eye. I suppose it’ll come down to liability, a/k/a whose fault is it?

This entry was posted in Law, suits and order and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.