Experts and gym trainers sound caution following reports of Kannada actor Diganth suffering a spinal injury which is reported to have occurred while performing a backflip.
While the nature of the injury and how it happened have not been officially disclosed, professional gym trainers have cautioned those attempting such feats to ensure safety measures are put in place before they attempt anything.
Delson Joy, Delson Joy D’Souza, cofounder-trainer at Chaos Faktory, a fitness studio, said, “I have seen Diganth perform. He is a professional and has been trained in such flips. However, such accidents can happen to those with no expertise. So we suggest that they practise it only under professional guidance and supervision.”
According to trainers, those who have a some background in gym training will need at least three months to gain confidence to do a flip and those with no background may need up to six months.
“We will train them with mats and support them in the first few training sessions. They will have to learn to manage their body weight and jump higher. “
Safe environment
“Even after they learn to do the twists and jumps, they may have to practise in a safe environment for a while to gain confidence,” said Deepu M P, who has been a trainer for nearly seven years.
Trainers also suggested that it was important to ensure the surface is even and suitable to do a flip.
“Before we take a flip, it is important that we ensure the surface does not have any hard materials or dust. We must ensure that we do a few warm-up exercises to ensure nothing goes wrong,” Deepu said.