Gym hygeine

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poohpoohpeapod
poohpoohpeapod Posts: 776 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
My Dr made me feel like a moron. Told me he would never depend on strangers to wipe gym equipment. Toldme to wipe machines BEFORE I use them. Makes perfect sense and would take the "they did not wipe the machine down..gross" complaining null and void,
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  • Xiaolongbao
    Xiaolongbao Posts: 854 Member
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    Well if there's obvious sweat there I'd wipe it but really what's the big deal? Getting a bit of someone else's sweat on you isn't exactly life threatening. Dr sounds like a hyperchondriac to me.
  • lostinthe619
    lostinthe619 Posts: 98
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    While I'd prefer not to be in someone else's sweat, it's small potatoes compared to all the stuff on the other surfaces we touch day in and day out. But I'm one of those people who does clean up after I work out and I wash my hands more times a day than is probably normal.
  • lbmore33
    lbmore33 Posts: 1,013 Member
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    I so agree with you I always wipe it down before I use it....the problem with my gym is the rag to wipe it down with is always wet....I told the guy they need to change out the rags more often...it is like taking a shower and passing the wash cloth onto the next person abt to use the shower....no sense wiping down a machine with a dity rag
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
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    Any surface that people touch can be full of germs. Think about it...chairs, gas pumps, keyboards...some of the nastiest things around. You could really freak yourself out if you think about it too much. Just make it habit to wash your hands regularly...it's the best you can do, really.

    As for gym equipment...unless I saw the person ahead of me not wipe it down or I saw sweat on the seat, I don't worry about it.
  • kimosabe1
    kimosabe1 Posts: 2,467 Member
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    I get SO mad when sweaty gross people at the gym don't wipe their machine after they use it so I always clean mine before I use it also and I haven't been on sick this month which is miraculous......
  • benol1
    benol1 Posts: 867 Member
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    Well if there's obvious sweat there I'd wipe it but really what's the big deal? Getting a bit of someone else's sweat on you isn't exactly life threatening. Dr sounds like a hyperchondriac to me.

    You better hope that the person using the machine before you wasn't carrying hepatitis or some other sweat-borne nasties.
  • ball858
    ball858 Posts: 395 Member
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    you can pick up some nasty skin complaints from gym equipment - I work in the medical field and have seen them :sick:
  • thooks0614
    thooks0614 Posts: 68 Member
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    I wipe down my cardio machines after I use them, but I try to keep my heart rate up when doing lifting circuits and thus don't wipe anything else down really. Honestly the gym is an incubus of germs no matter if people wipe their machines or not, just keep your hands away from your eyes and mouth and you're good to go.
  • Sharkington
    Sharkington Posts: 485
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    Good advise form your doctor. I always see people sweat all over the cardio machines at the gym and just walk off without wiping down - even though there are signs all over the gym telling members to wipe down. I think a lot of them are too lazy to be considerate of other people, while others might just forget. Either way, it couldn't hurt to wipe down before, as well as after.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    I so agree with you I always wipe it down before I use it....the problem with my gym is the rag to wipe it down with is always wet....I told the guy they need to change out the rags more often...it is like taking a shower and passing the wash cloth onto the next person abt to use the shower....no sense wiping down a machine with a dity rag

    We bring our own wipe towels from home.
  • Mutant13
    Mutant13 Posts: 2,485 Member
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    I spend most of my days looking at all sorts of nasty germs under a microscope, and I'm at the point where they don't bother me at all. They are literally everywhere. All Over you and everything that you touch. So relax. They're going to get to you anyway.

    Btw, (and I've always found this quite funny) the towel your using to wipe off the machine is now covered in those icky germs. And I bet at some point you will wipe your face with that.

    Not that that matters, they were already crawling all over your face anyway.

    Toodalloo
  • SteveJWatson
    SteveJWatson Posts: 1,225 Member
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    My Dr made me feel like a moron. Told me he would never depend on strangers to wipe gym equipment. Toldme to wipe machines BEFORE I use them. Makes perfect sense and would take the "they did not wipe the machine down..gross" complaining null and void,

    My god, someone is applying logic!

    That has to be a first.

    However, I'm with all the "germs are everywhere" crowd and although I wipe my kit down after for politeness, I couldn't give a monkey's toss if someone has wiped down the kit before me.
  • Skrib69
    Skrib69 Posts: 687 Member
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    My Dr made me feel like a moron. Told me he would never depend on strangers to wipe gym equipment. Toldme to wipe machines BEFORE I use them. Makes perfect sense and would take the "they did not wipe the machine down..gross" complaining null and void,

    My god, someone is applying logic!

    That has to be a first.

    However, I'm with all the "germs are everywhere" crowd and although I wipe my kit down after for politeness, I couldn't give a monkey's toss if someone has wiped down the kit before me.

    Quite right! Though I have today that the obvious answer is to not go to the gym in the first place:noway: :laugh:
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    you think that's bad? You want to travel on the London Underground.....
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    Your doctor is a scare monger. There's not a host of flesh eating diseases waiting for you on every gym bench. I've been working out for 20 years and I've never wiped a piece of equipment down before using it in my life. If I see a visible puddle of sweat on a bench I wipe it off with the knee or butt of my gym shorts and then do my set. Haven't died yet. Rarely even catch a cold.

    If anything, I'm more afraid of the chemicals in the spray bottles than I am of other human beings. Whatever is in those bottles, I don't want it on my skin, don't want to inhale it, and don't want to ingest it. OTOH, there are many women on this site that I would love to exchange sweat with and I wouldn't give them a chemical bath first.

    If your doctor wouldn't tell you to spray down a toilet seat why would it be necessary to wipe down every bench?
  • danielleburwell97060
    danielleburwell97060 Posts: 264
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    Any surface that people touch can be full of germs. Think about it...chairs, gas pumps, keyboards...some of the nastiest things around. You could really freak yourself out if you think about it too much. Just make it habit to wash your hands regularly...it's the best you can do, really.

    As for gym equipment...unless I saw the person ahead of me not wipe it down or I saw sweat on the seat, I don't worry about it.

    This...
  • coastie_wife07
    coastie_wife07 Posts: 99
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    I wipe down the stuff after I use it. I think it is the proper thing to do. Now if I don't see the person before me do it, then truly IDK if it was done. There have been times where people have gotten off the machines next to me (cardio machines) the ones that make you really sweat and I have watched them just totally walk away. If someone got on right to me after that I make sure that I tell them.
  • _SABOTEUR_
    _SABOTEUR_ Posts: 6,833 Member
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    This goes in the advice that my biology teacher gave me years ago which was, 'clean your fruit and vegetables with soapy water and a scrubbing brush.'

    If you are never exposed to germs you do not build your immunity. So, man up, basically.
  • mhcoss
    mhcoss Posts: 220
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    It takes a lot for me to break a sweat so I hardly ever wipe down gym equipment. Now If I do break a sweat I will wipe down...
  • paulperryman
    paulperryman Posts: 839 Member
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    at my gym, i sweat alot so out of pure morals i wipe down anything i'm touching, but alot of other people i noticed don't and our gym has no wipes or they are always out of them. simple steps, always use gloves (they help with grip anyway), use a sweat towel or carry an extra oneto put between you and the machine in the case of lying on or leaning on something

    They even suggest wearing thongs in the changerooms if you are going in the sauna or shower, cause you never know whats on the floor

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