Injury is always a risk when working out, especially if you lose focus or don’t pay attention to your form. But according to new research, some of the most popular fitness trends currently come with the highest risk of getting hurt.
Big weights, machines, heights, sparring – a pull, sprain or twist aren’t exactly uncommon while working out.
But some exercises certainly come with more risks than others.
Comparison service iSelect surveyed 1000 Australians to find out how they work out and how often they get injured, and even the most popular fitness trends right now are seeing many classgoers limping out of training.
The workouts with the highest rates of injury?
10. Bouldering and climbing
21.5 per cent of participants experienced an injury while climbing or bouldering.
Heights, harnesses/ the lack of harnesses – it’s easy to see why there are a fair few injured climbers.
9. Strength training and weightlifting
22.5 per cent of people were injured after weightlifting or strength training.
Too heavy weights plus incorrect technique or overusing muscles is a recipe for injury.
8. Running and jogging
The go-to workout of everyone over the age of 25 who hasn’t moved overseas or taken up hiking has seen 24.1 per cent of participants experience an injury.
You’ll be hard pressed to find a runner who doesn’t push themselves, and with marathons and trail runs gaining popularity, so too have injuries.
7. HIIT workouts and bootcamp classes
High-impact workouts put more pressure on the body. So high intensity interval training and bootcamps sees 24.5 per cent of people pushing themselves all the way to hurting themselves.
6. Barre
The same number of people are also injuring themselves during technical barre classes.
5. Pole fitness
Requiring even more advanced technique and focus, pole fitness isn’t for the faint-hearted. The exercise is leaving 27.2 per cent of people injured.
4. Boxing and kickboxing
Naturally, fighting can open people up to accidental injury. 27.6 per cent of kickboxers and boxers got hurt while working out.
3. Martial arts
Martial arts, including karate, taekwondo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, see even more fighters leaving a workout in pain. 29 per cent of participants experienced an injury while exercising.
2. Hyrox
The workout of 2025, it seems like everyone is competing in Hyrox and yet, Hyrox may not be for everyone.
31.8 per cent of people said they got hurt during the high-intensity race, and given the strength, endurance and technique required for each exercise, we can see how injury may occur.
1. Aerial fitness
Only one in ten Aussies said they’d tried aerial silks or hoop, and yet the gravity-defying workouts saw the most injuries.
32.7 per cent of participants hurt themselves while hanging in the air.
Luckily, Australia’s most popular workout, swimming, is also the safest, with the low-impact exercise coming with a low injury rate.
Men get injured more than women while working out
Regardless of the type of workout they prefer, men experience more injuries overall than women, with an average injury rate of 24.3 per cent, compared to 18.7 per cent. They’re especially not faring yoga class as well as their female counterparts, where they’re more than twice as likely to get hurt.
“These findings highlight an important reality: the workouts that push people hardest are often the ones carrying the greatest risk of injury”, General Manager of Health at iSelect, Andres Gutierrez, says.
“Activities like aerial fitness, Hyrox, and martial arts demand high levels of strength, coordination, and technical skill—so it’s not surprising that nearly a third of participants report getting hurt. These formats often involve dynamic movements, heavy loading, or full-contact elements, which, without proper preparation, can quickly lead to strains, sprains, or more serious injuries.”
