A 24-year-old personal trainer from Malibu, California, Kristina Schmidt, has shared how she suffered a life-changing hip injury after performing an exercise widely practiced in the fitness community. Schmidt had been attempting to build her glute muscles by doing barbell hip thrusts, an exercise that has gained popularity thanks to fitness influencers online.
The exercise requires placing a weighted barbell across the pelvis while thrusting it upwards to hip height, with the upper back resting on a bench. It’s commonly used to strengthen the glutes, as well as indirectly targeting the hamstrings, quads, and calves.
Schmidt, inspired by her favorite fitness influencers, began incorporating barbell hip thrusts into her workout routine. After seeing positive results, she gradually increased the weight she lifted, eventually adding 66 pounds (30 kg) to her sets. By March, Schmidt was lifting 308 pounds (140 kg), up from 242 pounds (110 kg) in January.
However, just two months after she started the exercise, Schmidt began experiencing severe pain in her right hip. This pain soon escalated into a debilitating condition that resulted in a massive hip fracture, requiring surgery.
Schmidt reflected on her rapid progress: “In January, I was lifting 110-120 kg, and by March, I was up to 140 kg, which, in hindsight, was probably too much, too soon.” She also recalled the day she realized something was seriously wrong. “I was crying with every single step,” she said. “I couldn’t walk. My hip felt like someone was trying to tear my leg off. It was horrible.”
An MRI revealed that Schmidt had suffered a stress fracture in her right hip, caused by lifting excessively heavy weights with improper form. Doctors also discovered small cracks in her bones around the femur and hip joint. Schmidt described the extent of the injury: “The space between my hip bone and femur shrank so much that my bones were grinding on each other.”
Hip fractures typically require surgery, with options including hip replacement or open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF). During the hip replacement, parts of the bone or the entire hip are replaced with artificial components. In an ORIF, screws, plates, or metal rods are used to secure the broken pieces in place while they heal.
What began as a routine surgery to repair Schmidt’s hip took a dangerous turn when she developed a bacterial infection. The infection led to septic arthritis, causing the synovial fluid in her hip joint to turn orange. This condition, alongside borderline blood poisoning, required additional surgery to clean the wound and a three-month course of antibiotics.
Schmidt explained, “The antibiotics destroyed my gut microbiome, weakened my immune system, and triggered other health issues.”
Since the injury, Schmidt has used her social media platforms to raise awareness about the potential dangers of blindly following fitness trends online. She emphasized the importance of personalized training plans, noting that not every exercise works the same for everyone. “I never saw people talking about what to do if you’re more quad dominant, like I am,” Schmidt said. “It was a one-size-fits-all approach. But not everyone has the same muscular genetics.”
Schmidt has also encouraged people to be cautious about the risks of stress fractures, which can be difficult to detect. “Nobody talks about the slow burn of injuries like a stress fracture. It often goes unnoticed but leads to a domino effect of other health problems.”
She urged fitness enthusiasts to seek professional guidance and avoid pushing their bodies too hard in pursuit of unrealistic goals. “Having guidance from someone who is certified and knows what they’re doing is really important.”
Schmidt’s openness about her experience has resonated with many of her followers, who have shared their own stories in response. One user commented, “This happened because you used too much weight, not because the exercise is bad, right?” Another said, “I had a similar thing…work out your bum, guys.”
Schmidt, who was studying Japanese language, politics, and economics at Hokkaido University in Japan at the time of her injury, is now pursuing personal training and nutrition qualifications. She is set to become fully certified in May 2025.
