Gym & Fitness Center Injuries
Gym and Fitness Injury Attorneys in Michigan
Gyms, CrossFit boxes, yoga studios, and personal training facilities are supposed to help you get healthier — not send you to the emergency room. But when equipment isn't maintained, trainers push clients beyond safe limits, or facilities cut corners on cleanliness and safety, the injuries can be serious: torn rotator cuffs, herniated discs, rhabdomyolysis from overexertion, fractures from dropped weights or cable machine failures, and infections from unsanitary equipment.
Koussan Law represents gym and fitness injury victims throughout Michigan. We know that these facilities rely heavily on liability waivers to scare people out of filing claims, and we know exactly how far those waivers actually go under Michigan law.
Michigan Liability Waivers: What They Cover and What They Don't
Almost every gym in Michigan makes you sign a liability waiver before you can work out. These waivers are designed to release the gym from responsibility for injuries. Michigan courts generally enforce them for inherent risks of exercise — the soreness, the occasional strain that comes with physical activity.
But here's what the waiver doesn't protect: gross negligence, willful misconduct, or premises liability failures. Under MCL § 600.2949a, a gym owner has a duty to maintain a reasonably safe premises regardless of what waiver you signed. A broken cable machine that hasn't been serviced in six months, a wet locker room floor with no warning signs, a personal trainer who ignores a client's stated medical limitations — these are negligence claims, and the waiver doesn't shield the gym.
Common Gym Injury Claims
The gym injury cases we handle fall into a few categories: equipment failures where machines malfunction due to deferred maintenance or defective parts (product liability under MCL § 600.2947), trainer negligence where a personal trainer or class instructor pushes a client into dangerous exercises without proper assessment or progression, slip-and-falls on wet surfaces in showers, pool areas, or near water fountains, overcrowded classes where participants collide or are forced into unsafe positions, and infections from improperly sanitized equipment (staph and MRSA are more common in gym settings than people realize).
Personal Trainer Liability
When a personal trainer causes an injury, the gym is typically liable under respondeat superior — the employer is responsible for the employee's negligence during the scope of employment. This matters because the trainer personally may not have assets to pay a judgment, but the gym and its insurance carrier do. If the trainer is an independent contractor, the analysis changes, and we look at the level of control the gym exercised over training sessions.
Statute of Limitations
Michigan's three-year statute of limitations under MCL § 600.5805 applies to gym injury claims. But evidence disappears fast in these cases: gyms rotate equipment, overwrite surveillance footage, and instructors move on to other facilities. We recommend getting an attorney involved immediately.
If you were injured at a gym, fitness center, or during a personal training session in Michigan, call (313) 800-0000 for a free consultation. We'll review your waiver, investigate the facility, and determine who's liable.
Use our free case calculator for a preliminary estimate of your claim value.
