How to approach wiping down to others...

When did our society become so germophobic?

I ask you to take the 'cleanliness factor' you are applying to the health club and put it in the grocery store.

Do you wash all of you canned products before you put them in your cupboard? Do you wash off the boxes for you frozen, low-fat entrees? Do you sterilize the bottle of dishsoap before you set it next to the sink?

All of those things were touched by humans at some point in their manufacture. Humans that sweat, pee, poop, sneeze and flake off dead skin cells at the rate of millions a day.

I dare you to do some swabs and cultures in your own kitchen. I'll bet you 10 to 1 that the average piece of exercise equipment has less variety of microbes than the counter next to your kitchen sink or the vegetable drawer in your fridge.

i like your style.

sheesh people it's a PUBLIC gym. as long as you arent sitting on the equipment with open wounds what are you worried about?

you're not going to get ebola from a friggin' leg extension seat. :laugh: if you guys are so concerned with things being uber sanitary and sterilized why oh why are you working out in public gyms and then expecting everyone else to have your level of obsession? i know people who are like that about bathrooms and guess what, they just dont use public restrooms because they know that not everyone is as diligent as they are.

in any case, i'm a sweater so i generally put down a towel on a back and on the seat when i sit down anyway.

and i like YOUR style!

i dont care if someone wipes it down before me. ive played so many sports and have been sweated on so much it means nothing to me.

when people complain it makes me think of this.

I'm so thankful it's not just me...I just thought maybe I was just weird. I never wiped the machines when I went to the gym, I don't wipe shopping cart handles, I don't open bathroom door handles with a paper towel, I touch everything, and even my friends are amazed at the fact that they always get sick more then I do..They are obsessive with their washing and hand sanitizer and they seem to be sick ALL the time! Meanwhile I may get one cold a year..Haven't had the flu or anything since I stopped working at the daycare (and believe me no amount of hand washing helps when a snotty little 10 month old sneezes in your face.lol)

I usually don't wipe down after until I'm about to leave because usually it's me and my friend. But there's always the one person who wipes everything before and after and then I feel the need to wipe down after. I'm only slightly germaphobic when it comes to mouth germs so I have no problem touching something someone else has used. But I'm not going to assume everyone is like me, so I clean up after myself for them.

I am not a germaphobic, however I have seen the pain and suffering a case of severe MRSA can cause. Tennis ball size black boils that can go down to infect the bone. And it can be caught from casual contact with gym equipment. I went to a gym in St Louis on the St Louis University Medical School grounds for a while and they provide spray bottles of antibacterial spray and towels at every machine and required members to use it. Most gyms do not. And I have been in a few. I am a former certified trainer. I believe all gyms should provide this service and make it a rule that everyone(no exceptions) should use the spray before and after a lift. But remember the wet spray must be on the surface approx. 5 mins for it to be 99.99% effective. If you spray it on and wipe it off you might as well clean it with your spit. Just sayin....

Aren't the use of antibacterial agents the exact thing that is creating more instances of MRSA in the first place?

We should outlaw antibacterial products outside of hospitals.

my friends are amazed at the fact that they always get sick more then I do..They are obsessive with their washing and hand sanitizer and they seem to be sick ALL the time! Meanwhile I may get one cold a year..

Same here

[quote\I never wiped the machines when I went to the gym, I don't wipe shopping cart handles, I don't open bathroom door handles with a paper towel, I touch everything
[/quote]

In my day, we ate dirt! We drank water straight out of the gutter!! We licked our toilet seats clean!

..and we liked it that way!

I don't think it's a big deal. I only wipe down cardio machines, not strength machines - I don't sweat on them. If you're worried, I would just wipe down the machines before you use them.

I just bring a towel with me during my lifting sessions so if i got to rest my head or any part of my back I lay on a towel rather then the bench itself

Just wipe the equipment before you use it, that's what I do. Sometimes when I feel like it I wipe down the machine after, but I usually use the same paper towel that I used to clean it off when I first got on the machine. I would not want someone to tell me to wipe down my machine because 1. I would be sketched out that they are watching me 2. It's not my job to wipe them down - but yes it could be seen as courtesy 3. As nice as you try to tell someone to wipe down their machine I think it will come across as being rude. As long as you wipe down the machine before you use it and shower after the gym you will be fine.

Swab the bottom of your purse. The gym equipment will seem like nothing. :laugh:

This is very true

Shower before and after...you keep others safe and yourself.....ask the mgr of the gym what their cleaning routine is...

Shower BEFORE?! wtf is the point of that when you're going somewhere to get sweaty any way?

That keeps your bacteria from home outside of the gym. Shower before you leave so you don't bring home their bacteria.

...and just to clarify...

I DO wipe down the equipment I use. Not because it's sanitary; not because sweat is gross; not because I don't want to be accosted by the "wipe brigade". I do it because there is a sign on the wall that states it as a rule.

Rules are rules.

Totally agree. Rules are rules

200,000 years ago: our ancestors ate raw meat, didnt wash hands, etc.


Present: why does no one wipe of the equipment?!?!?!




honestly someone needs to say it, you need to metaphorically; grow a pair and man up.

I'd like to briefly mention that in the past 200,000 years both the kinds of germs we have and the abilities of our immune systems to handle them have dramatically changed. Due to 100 years of rampant antibiotic use (the antibiotics your doctors prescribes for a viral infection just to placate you, the prophylactic antibiotics we give to cattle, the constant antibacterial soap use) we have created new virulent strains of bacteria that CANNOT be treated. I'm too aware of just how common MRSA and other antibiotic resistant infections are to be lax as many of you are. And yes, I realize it's slightly ironic to advocate the use of antibacterial spray on communal gym equipment to avoid transmission of resistant bacteria, but I for one am not willing to take one for the team.

I will, however, continue to use antibiotics only when I truly need them, buy antibiotic free beef and milk, and advocate for responsible antibiotic use.

Oh, and if you're one of those people leaving sweat puddles on equipment: you're gross.