Before buying a local gym membership, an ethical person would learn about hygiene etiquette.
The truth is that once you attend a gym, you are expected to know the basic behavioral and hygiene rules.
And that makes sense because a gym is a populated place.
That means that a gym member’s poor hygiene may cause lots of hygiene hazards for other members, which is disrespectful.
The gym-goer's poor hygiene signs become obstacles whenever you may seek help from other gym members such as asking questions about different workout routines, the different types of exercise equipment and the types of muscle they train, building a correct body form, how many reps you need to do.
So, before you ask for help, make sure that you approach other gym members with respect.
The question is how can you do that?
Find below a list of recommended before and after gym hygiene tips to follow.
Potential hygiene hazards in a gym facility
At the same time, consider that other gym members are doing the same thing. They workout and sweat using the same exercising equipment.
This should make you worried about gym bad hygiene and hazards such as skin fungus, scabies, staph infection, ringworm, etc. These are different types of infectious bacteria that you or other gym members may get in the gym facility.
If you don't practice hygiene after the workout, these germs may easily hurt your health if your immune system is compromised.
Gym hygiene rules to follow in the gym
1. Bring a gym towel
Bringing a towel with you in a gym helps using the gym exercising equipment safely. It creates a barrier between your body and the equipment with germs from previous gym members.
At the same time, the gym towel absorbs your sweat to prevent it from falling onto the exercising equipment.
This prevents the next person using the equipment from dealing with your sweat and germs.
2. Wash your hands
Wash your hands before and after the gym. Especially after.
After the workout, your hands are very dirty due to touching the shared weights and gym equipment.
Wash the germs off your hands before you touch any of your clean items, prepare or serve food, etc.
3. Control your body odor
If you visit the gym after work, the smell of your body might not be fresh as fresh and can disturb others around you.
If this is the case, try washing your armpits and using an antiperspirant before hitting the gym. This should diminish the intensity of the offensive body odor on other gym members.
They’ll appreciate that.
4. Leave the equipment clean
The gym equipment is among the dirtiest things in the gym because many gym members use it daily.
The gym management might clean the equipment but this is not enough without gym members leaving the equipment clean after themselves.
5. Hands off your face
Try to avoid wiping the sweat off your face with your hands. After touching the gym equipment, your hands are dirty and you should touch the skin on your face.
To wipe the sweat droplets off your face, use your gym towel.
6. Clean your fitness mat
Try to avoid wiping the sweat off your face with your hands. After touching the gym equipment, your hands are dirty and you should touch the skin on your face.
To wipe the sweat droplets off your face, use your gym towel.
7. Stay at home when you are sick
When you feel the first sickness symptoms, sneezing and coughing, do all gym members a favor and skip the gym and stay at home until you feel better for two main reasons.
First, when you have flu, your body is weak and it needs to rest for 3-5 days so that your immunity recovers and makes you feel better. Staying at home gives your body to full and faster recovery from the sickness.
Second, having flu and attending the gym, you spread infectious bacteria throughout the gym, which may infect other members.
That’s not ethical.
8. Cover any wounds on your body
If you have any cuts or broken skin cover them with a plaster or with a bandage to prevent germs from getting inside your body.
9. Separate the dirty clothes after the workout
After the workout, your clothes, socks, and sneakers are sweaty and smelly. Separate them into a bag for dirty clothes. After that, wear clean, dry, and cozy clothes after that.
When you arrived home, take out the gym clothes from the bag and let them air and dry out somehow, or, if they are really dirty, throw them into the laundry.
10. Shower at the gym
The next gym hygiene rule is to take a shower before the gym.
Taking a shower in the gym or any other communal showers comes with certain hygiene risks.
To make this process safe, bring with you specific shower accessories like a shower bag, a shower towel, flip flops or sandals, thongs, shampoo or soap, etc.
11. Don't share personal items
Personal hygiene items like towels, water bottles, soap, combs should not be shared with your friends at the gym. In this way, they can pass over to you some kind of skin disease like fungus if they have it.
Conclusion
Following a gym hygiene etiquette allows you to focus less on your worries about personal hygiene and more on your workout and progress.
You should be aware of the hygiene risks when you join a gym and behave in such a way that it will keep this environment safe. Take a clean towel that will absorb the droplets of sweat. Leave the equipment clean after using it. Control your body odor when you visit the gym. All your actions contribute to a better environment in your gym.
When you respect the hygiene etiquette in a gym you worry less about the health issue and focus more on your fitness progress. Besides that, other gym members will respect you for your contribution to making the workout environment safer for them. Some experienced members might even give you tips and advice that will help you achieve your fitness goal faster.
