6 Scary Stories That Actually Happened During a Workout!

Not for the Fainthearted!

4 min

Eine Frau macht Stretching abends draußen

urbazon

By Kristina Lauer
October 31, 2022

Why trust us?

Halloween is the perfect time for scary stories. But you don’t have to wait until 31st October to feel the fear: scary moments that give you goose bumps can happen anywhere and anytime – even while you’re training. We’ve all been there… Ever tried a new fitness class and everything that could possibly go wrong did? Or maybe you forgot your change of clothes and had to go to work in your sweaty gym clothes?

To celebrate Halloween, we asked our foodspring family to tell us their scariest fitness stories. Read on if you dare…

When Your Heart Rate Reveals More Than You’d Like

“I took a cycling class at the gym. For those who don’t know, at a BEAT81 class you get a heart rate sensor to measure your heartbeat throughout the class. Your heart rate is displayed on a large screen for all to see and the goal is to raise it above 81%. That’s because 81% is the point where your stamina improves. Before the class starts, your resting heart rate is normally around 61%. That day though, I suddenly saw a guy in the room who I’d been flirting with for a few weeks. Suddenly my heart rate went up to 75%. Everyone in the class could see the jump and my name was right next to it. I panicked and quickly started jumping around and pretending I was just doing my warm-up so the numbers on the screen would make sense.”

When Tidying Weights Has Bloody Consequences

“I was dropping 40 kg weight plates onto the weight rack when my little finger got stuck between the plates. I didn’t feel any pain, but when I looked at my finger it looked like a flower in full bloom! I almost fainted. The gym staff called an ambulance and took me to the hospital. After surgery, the first thing I asked the doctor was ‘When can I get back to the gym?’ He told me I was lucky I hadn’t lost the tip of my finger! These days I don’t notice a thing, but my finger will always be a strange shape. I’m just glad I didn’t lose it entirely!”

When Your First Hot Yoga Class Is Also Your Last

“I’m very cold-blooded and was looking forward to joining a hot yoga class at a cozy 40 degrees for the first time on a rainy Saturday. The yoga session lasted 90 minutes and I cursed every single minute. After a few forward and backward bends, I continued with the main flow, but soon realized that I should let go of any hope of the relaxation I had expected. In the Garudasana pose, where you wrap one leg around the other, desperation slowly gripped me. Sweat ran down my legs and it was almost impossible to keep stable. When we were finally allowed to assume Shavasana, I was sweatier than I had ever been in my life and not one bit relaxed.”

When Your Ego Gets In The Way

“I visited my dad during the holiday season and we went to a spinning class together. It was my first spinning class and my dad warned me that I was going to suffer. I didn’t take his warnings seriously, though – after all, I live in Holland and I ride my bike all the time. Besides, my father is a chubby middle-aged man. It couldn’t be that tough, surely? That hour was the worst hour of my life. Not only did I have to give up before my old dad, I had also worn a gray T-shirt and leggings that showed just how sweaty I was. And of course, my face looked like a tomato. A soggy, frizzy-haired tomato! I promised myself I would never go back. Unfortunately, I did go back a few weeks ago and immediately regretted my decision.”

When You Get A New “Haircut” After A Bike Ride

“Three years ago I was riding my bike in the Netherlands when suddenly a motorcycle passed me. It went pretty fast and took me completely by surprise. As a result, I crashed to the ground and hit the side of the road. I lost consciousness and woke up in hospital. A doctor who spoke barely any English sewed my head back together. I cried and begged the doctor not to shave my hair because I didn’t want a bald patch on my head, but he couldn’t understand a word. As soon as I was allowed to, I ran straight to the bathroom to look at my head in the mirror. I had 5 stitches and only a small bald patch on my head. Luckily for me, that was as bad as it got and hardly anyone noticed my new ‘hairstyle.’”

When You Get Bad Advice

“There is a very popular run in New York, Fifth Avenue Mile, that’s only 1.6 km long. It was the second time I had run it and I was in the middle of training for a marathon. Piece of cake, I thought! It turned out to be the most painful run of my life. A sprint runner gave me the bad advice to start with a sprint and gradually drop down a gear. So I ran the first few meters uphill at full throttle and was at the front of the group along with some other very fit runners. I still had three quarters of the way to go when my soul suddenly left my body. My brain shut down and my hearing dulled. My legs stopped working. I wanted to throw up, but I didn’t have the strength. In hindsight, I was probably experiencing lactic acidosis (acidification of the blood due to lactate). After I crossed the finish line, a concerned paramedic asked me if I felt okay… after a one-kilometer run. I said yes, but the honest answer was no. It took me a full hour to recover and for what felt like electricity running through my veins to pass.”

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