Treadmills cause more injuries than any other type of exercise equipment, according to the CPSC. The agency's latest data for 2009 lists 575 instances of injuries caused by exercisers falling off, tripping on and tripping over treadmills. Even a stationary, powered-off treadmill can pose a danger — the data show dozens of instances of backs injured from attempting to move treadmills and even toes broken after kicking treadmills.
Joy Fruehauf, a mom and yoga instructor who lives in Mill Creek, Wash., has been running on treadmills for 20 years without an incident, until one day, her Walkman (yes, Walkman) fell when she was running at a 9-minute-mile pace. "I remember trying to, like, swoop down and grab my Walkman, and I just lost my footing, and I was down," says Freuhauf, who's 40. She fell face-first into the heart rate monitor bar and immediately passed out.
