Exercise Machines Can Be Dangerous But It's No Reason To Be Sedentary

Treadmills seem harmless and oftentimes the exercise machine of choice, but they could be a lot more dangerous than you might suspect.

David Goldberg's death at the age of 47 has recently brought the workout machine into the topic of discussion. At just 47, he was on vacation in Mexico when he died falling from one.

However, related injuries are not uncommon from treadmills, with United States Consumer Product Safety Commission reports showing that 24,000 injuries were reported from treadmills in 2014, alone.

Other workout machines have also receive a bad wrap. Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that in 2012 alone, close to 460,000 people suffered from exercise and exercise equipment related injuries that resulted in emergency room visits, according to the American Live Wire.

"This is very uncommon. This is a horrible accident, not an epidemic of people falling on treadmills," experts say.

There are about three deaths a year in the United States associated with treadmills, according to data from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which tracked 30 fatalities between 2003 and 2012.

However, health advocates stress that this shouldn't be a reason to be inactive; a sedentary lifestyle is far more dangerous than taking the risk of falling off a machine. 

"The risk of inactivity is about 100 times greater than the risks of activity," said Jordan Metzl, a sports-medicine physician for the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City and who teaches treadmill-running classes, via The WallStreet Journal.

Statistics show that adults 2 hours and 30 minutes (150 minutes) of moderate-intensity aerobic activity (i.e., brisk walking) every week and muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days a week that work all major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms) are what's recommended for adults by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). However, estimates show that only about one in five adults are meeting those guidelines.