Never Use Gym Equipment If You Notice These Signs

Exercising with gym equipment can make your workout a lot more effective by helping you achieve specific fitness goals. One of the many advantages of using gym equipment is that you can easily track your progress, monitor your heartbeat, and even keep an eye on the total calories you are burning during the course of the exercise, according to Share Care. Using machines can also help you minimize potential exercise injuries by maintaining a specific motion range, FitBox Method notes. 

As effective as gym machines and equipment have proven to be, though, there are rules for using them — which should be carefully followed to avert any mishap. Most importantly, knowing when to discontinue the use of certain pieces of equipment is paramount. For instance, when you begin to feel any form of discomfort or when you experience extreme breathlessness during your workout session, it may be time to let go of the machines and take a break from exercising altogether, Better Health advises.

Although gym equipment can be very useful during a workout, they can also be potentially hazardous.

Two important things to pay attention to when using gym equipment are strange noises and burning smells — especially when using electrical machines and equipment, per True Fitness. Just avoid using any gym equipment that is making funny noises. For instance, an unusual noise in a treadmill could mean that the belt is misaligned, Livestrong notes, and if you keep using the machine without checking it out, you might hurt yourself. Burning smells, on the other hand, suggests that the machine needs maintenance. So, to avoid a fire hazard, staying away from the machine until it is checked and fixed might be a good idea.

Also, stay away from any gym equipment with a faulty or malfunctioning control panel because this will mean you won't be able to track your progress or monitor the calories you burn while exercising. Also, this might be a pointer to the fact that some other parts of the machine are faulty. So, to avoid hurting yourself, avoid using any gym equipment with a faulty panel.

Another gym equipment to never use is a dumbbell with loose rubber, according to Top fitness, because you could potentially hurt yourself if you use dumbbells that are not cased.