Tuesday, October 21, 2008

An Unnecessary Warning

I was working out this morning on my elliptical exerciser when I saw a warning that I'd never noticed before in the two and a half years I've been using the machine (No one could ever accuse me of being overly observant). This was printed on the machine in small letters just to the left of the display:

WARNING: If you experience sudden pain, dizziness, or shortness of breath while using this machine, discontinue use immediately and consult a physician.

Two of those three warnings make at least some sense to me. If I experience sudden pain while using the machine I'm almost certainly going to stop. In fact, I probably don't even need a printed warning to tell me to stop. That's what the pain is for!

I also would think it makes sense to stop if you're feeling dizzy, though I'm not sure how you'd tell for certain if you were feeling dizzy while working out strenuously. I would imagine the first sign would be the user falling off the machine. Again, if you've fallen off the machine you've already stopped using the machine and don't need a printed warning.

It's the third warning that makes no sense to me. I have shortness of breath EVERY TIME I USE THE MACHINE! I sort of thought that was the purpose of the machine, to cause me to exert myself until I had shortness of breath. Should I consult a physician EVERY TIME I use the machine?

Some warnings just don't make sense.

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