With the recent tragic death of SurveyMonkey CEO David Goldberg after falling from a treadmill at a hotel fitness center in Mexico, I’ve been thinking a lot about hotel fitness center safety.
I have reviewed fitness centers all over the world. I look at various factors: air, space, light, cleanliness and equipment, among other things. If the equipment is not kept in good working order and good repair – it is beyond useless – it can be outright dangerous. Or even deadly.
Many runners refer to treadmills as dreadmills because of the boredom factor. This explains why we need music, TV and all sorts of entertainment centers when we use treadmills. And yet, we must concentrate on what we’re doing. We must use care not to trip or fall. (but all of this can be said for outdoor running too).
Personally, I prefer to run outdoors. Ideally, on packed dirt. But sometimes, whether due to time, or weather, I must exercise indoors. My logic says that running on a treadmill is safer than running on ice, or alone in the dark. When I’m at home, this is the gym. When I’m away, this is the hotel gym. I am paying for each, and I expect each to have good, clean facilities with safe, working equipment.
I often opt for an elliptical or stairmaster machine rather than the treadmill, or some combination thereof. I can run for hours outdoors, but 20 or 30 minutes on the treadmill is all I can muster. My shins tend to hurt after running on treadmills.
Larger hotel gyms have an attendant or trainer on the premises. Presumably, they do more than hand out towels. A room that is open feels larger and is more conducive to working out. A glass wall overlooking an atrium or pool is lovely. A closed room feels claustrophobic but also scary – someone could walk in and hurt me, or I could get hurt and no one would know it. If I feel like I’m on my guard when I’m working out, it’s not productive.
Sometimes on treadmills, I’m inspired to play speed games. I up the speed to see how fast I can go. Intense concentration is needed because I am pushing the limit. I realize now that this is not safe.
Sometimes a friend comes along at the gym while I’m running on the treadmill and taps me on the shoulder. Even this startles me somewhat. Is it dangerous? Who knows.
I am not an expert (or even a novice expert) on the mechanics of the treadmill, but I tend to believe that the safety of the treadmill depends on the condition of the motor and the band. If a band seems at all wobbly or uneven, I don’t use the machine. Are gym machines subject to inspections and certifications much like cars and other motorized machines are?
I’ve noticed on many treadmills, if you hold down the increase speed button, the speed increases exponentially. Think of this like a fast forward button on your TV, where it goes from 2x to 4x to 8x to 16x very quickly as you hold down the button. Sometimes, by holding down the button, I have to very quickly reduce it because it’s increased to a speed I never meant to hit and one I can’t keep up with. This takes immediate action and concentration – as I know at this moment, I could get hurt.
The stop buttons are good, but if you accidentally hit it, you can get jolted. Does anyone use the emergency clips on treadmills?
Towels fall. Things fall. hopefully, they just slide off the treadmill.
Too often I’ve seen kids and teenagers unaccompanied by adults hanging out in a hotel gym. They misuse the machines and can cause danger to themselves or others. A young child playing in a hotel gym while his or her mother is running on the treadmill is not a good thing either. Should there be a minimum age limit?
What first aid equipment should a hotel fitness center be required to maintain?
Hotel pools often have signs that one should not swim unless there is at least one adult not in the pool. I’ve never seen this enforced. If a solo swimmer dies based on negligence of the hotel, does that remove legal liability of the hotel?
Should hotel gyms have similar disclaimers? Would they be effective?
And, as the lawyer in me continues to ponder, in the event of an accident … what about the doctrine of Assumption of the Risk? How far will a court apply it?
Should hotels have cameras on their gym facilities, so they can “keep an eye” on the guests? Is that good or creepy? People can slip in the shower – should there be cameras there too?
These are just some random thoughts, that can be expanded upon. I’m sure there are many more, I’d truly appreciate your input.
A New York frequent flyer who elegantly combines her passions for worldwide travel, running a gazillion marathons all over the globe and staying fit ... without sacrificing her fancy for good wine and food.
As someone that unfortunately, spends more time in hotel gyms than he does at his local box I have to agree with what you posted.
Hotel treadmills are the worst, jerky belts, small decks and yes, towels do fall. I’m also played the Dreadmill speed game. 15 minutes of HITT will wear you down but is it safe on a Dreadmill that you know nothing about.
Every once in a while you do get a sweet surprise, just this last week I opened the door to a Hampton Inn fitness center and was surprised to see two C2 rowers, wow a hotel that gets it. Subscribed
What a sad, sad story. 🙁
I just came from the Crowne Plaza st louis arch. I’m not a serious exerciser (worker outer? fitness person?), but I’d finally come off of a serious cold and wanted to get the blood pumping. I didn’t pay attention to exactly what kind of equipment there was, but there were around 5 treadmills (maybe more) and I’d say a couple each of stair master, elliptical, and bike. There also were weights and 3 strength training machines. I was very impressed. I’m more of a dread mill person. I like to read a book or listen to music and put it on one of the programs with hills, and walk briskly. Even doing this requires me to stand on the treadmill for 30 seconds or so after I stop and kind of acclimate to being stationary. Otherwise, I feel like I just stepped off a boat after a few days and the ground doesn’t feel like it’s stable (not lightheaded or woosy, just kind of off kilter). Some of the treadmills and other machines were up on about a 3 inch platform looking out a bit window at the street outside.
As I was working out another woman came and was obviously having trouble getting her key card to let her in. She tried over and over, so I eventually hopped down to go let her in. I didn’t stumble, but I’d forgotten about the extra few inches of height. So, it was a bit disconcerting to hit the ground a bit lower than I expected it to be.
I’m not really sure what the point of all my rambling is. I guess just that, even if the equipment is well maintained (as this seemed to be) it seems very possible to have a mishap that could turn very dangerous if you’re there on your own. Don’t know what the solution to that is. Even though I told my husband I’d be back in 30 minutes. I doubt he would’ve come looking for me until at least an hour. It was the middle of the day in a hotel with plenty of activity. And I’m sure he wouldn’t have been keeping track to the minute, as well as the fact that I was just giving him a ball park estimate. If I’d fallen and hit my head, probably would’ve been a good 30 minutes before someone found me, except for the luck of the fact that there was another person in there. If I’d been unconscious when she was trying to get in, I don’t know if she would’ve seen me.
PS – security cameras are creepy, but maybe on balance better than not having them at all.
thanks so much for sharing your feelings. I agree that all the “what could have happened” scenarios are frightening.
thanks for the mention!