You go to the gym to sweat out toxins and burn fat. You basically are there to help cleanse the body. So why contaminate the place that is suppose to be clean?

The gym is a high traffic area where thousands of people visit year round. Everyone shares the same equipment, community towels and furniture. We also sweat and touch the same things so hygiene is very important to maintain cleanliness.

But the hygiene does NOT stop at being at the gym, it also should be practiced before and after the visit. What you take and what you do after the gym is just as important to cut down on the germs.

Things to Remember for the Gym

We all aren’t perfect when it comes to gym etiquette but we should try to maintain constantly doing it. For the sake of ourselves and others around us.

Choose a Healthy Water Bottle! We all have plastic bottles ready to use in our homes but they actually are not safe for reuse. Plastic holds bacteria because of the porous material it is. The water bottles that are sure to be more safe and clean are metal or stainless-steel ones. You can wash them in hot, soapy water to clean them for reuse.

Gym Towels and Yoga Mats! These accessories are a must for those hard workouts that leave you dripping in sweat or for those intricate poses done during yoga. The gym usually will offer a towel or mat you can rent but this is not a good idea to use these. Many people’s germs are transmitted through these towels and mats and this is an easy way to create infections. Have your own yoga mat or towel to cut down this risk completely.

Wipe down what you use! It is important to wipe down the machines  at the gym that you use before and after. You would not like to come up to an elliptical and there is someone else’s sweat all over the seat and handle bars. Not only is it polite but it creates a hygienic area for you as well.

Avoid touching your face! Your hands are the prime place for germs to be. You’ve touched workout machines, weights, gym bags, surfaces in the bathroom, and probably the bottom of your shoes while stretching. If you touch your face all of those germs transfer and create breeding zones for bacteria to form pimples. You also are susceptible to touching your eyes and mouth which will immediately invite germs into your body. Wash your hands as much as possible.

Dump your gym bag! Leaving things in your gym bag is asking for trouble. That bag is dark, damp, and moist which is a vacation spot for fungi. When you take your bag to the gym have a plastic bag to put the soiled clothes in instead of directly throwing them in.

Take those clothes off ASAP! We sometimes go run errands after we workout in the same clothes that we just worked out in. That is not healthy! You just sweat out all those toxins for a reason, to get rid of them. Keeping on those clothes is letting the dirt go right back into the pores.

Wash those workout clothes! Once you have left the gym go home and wash them. The longer those dead skin cells, sweat, and dirt sit in the clothes, the harder the process of getting rid of that odor. Putting them in their own separate load of clothes is best. This goes for shoes as well, you don’t have to physically wash them but leave them outside to dry out. Just like the gym bag, it is a moist surface that can grow some bacteria.

Shower Gear! Getting shower shoes are not just an item on a dorm room checklist. Wearing flip-flops is not completely fool-proof of protecting your feet but it is a less expensive way to create a barrier. There are shower shoes that you can purchase also that can cover the entire foot. The main idea is to have something providing a barrier between your foot and the gross shower floor that many use. If you choose to use flip-flops, you should soak them in a bleach solution to minimize the fungi growth.

Check yourself! If you have any cuts or fresh wounds you should be even more careful at the gym. This is directed towards the activity of using the pool or Jacuzzi. Getting into water that already has an array of bacteria in it with a open wound is the perfect platform to get an infection AND also contribute to the population by sharing your germs.