Question: Do you wipe down Barbells at the gym?
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Josalinn
Posts: 1,066 Member
....I currently do this, but I started thinking about the bars being damp and someone dropping the weight and hurting themselves.
However reading all the posts about people not re-racking their weights and how it is just gym etiquette had me wondering about wiping them down too. I find it interesting because it isn't like I was handed a booklet saying "Gym Etiquette" when I joined, and everyone gets super testy on the forums about people having bad gym manners.
Generally I go with being polite and the "leave things better than you found them" mentality that the Girl Scouts drilled into my head.
However reading all the posts about people not re-racking their weights and how it is just gym etiquette had me wondering about wiping them down too. I find it interesting because it isn't like I was handed a booklet saying "Gym Etiquette" when I joined, and everyone gets super testy on the forums about people having bad gym manners.
Generally I go with being polite and the "leave things better than you found them" mentality that the Girl Scouts drilled into my head.
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Replies
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I wipe down barbells, weight machines, treadmills, ellipticals, anything that I touch. I don't want to put my hands in the crud that others have on their hands, why would they want to put their hands on the crud that I had on mine?:sick:0
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no, i don't.0
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Josalinn you are nice. I just wipe down wherever I left sweat- seats, bars and handles included. We have spray bottles and towels supplied at my Y. There used to be signs about wiping up after use, but the signs weren't put back up after the remodel. A lot of clients don't clean up. The trainers go around cleaning in their spare time which helps. Clients don't re-rack either. I didn't know it was etiquette until I read it here.0
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Nope, but I wipe my hands down occasionally for my own benefit. (I also wipe down most cardio machines before I use them, as well as after.)0
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I wipe everything I touch or sit on.0
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I don't wipe down the actual barbell, and I've never seen anyone else do it either. The signs at my gym just say to wipe down seats, benches etc so that's what I do.
Looking at other people's responses has me questioning whether it is proper gym etiquette to do so though :S
ETA: Barbells are the only thing I don't wipe down, just to clarify. I wipe down the entire stationary bike when I use it (seat, handles, screen etc).0 -
The only things I see people wipe down at the gym are cardio equipment, mats, and sometimes benches/seats. I have never seen anyone wipedown a barbell, kettlebell, or a dumbbell.
My answer is no.0 -
No, thats like wiping down a dumbbell after using it.0
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No, thats like wiping down a dumbbell after using it.
I do that:embarassed:0 -
I wipe down everything I workout on, from cardio machines to dumbells.. I don't want to be leaving nasty sweat on things.
The only time I don't actually wipe down a barbell or dumbell is when I have my workout gloves on, but I do wash my gloves occasionally!!
I don't see a lot of people that do wipe stuff down these days, but I do think its the proper thing to do..0 -
If I'm training sick, I think it's common courtesy to wipe the barbell after I use it. Otherwise, no.0
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This is the funniest thing I've heard all day. Probably a bit dangerous though.0
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One word - gloves. Then throw them in the wash often.0
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I've never heard of anyone wiping down a barbell or dumbbell before.
Frankly, I hate the idea. I hope this doesn't gain acceptance or become widespread. It's a gym. A place of iron and sweat. Not a sterilized hospital operating room.
I'd also be pissed if I was about to use a barbell and it was even slightly damp from a wipe.0 -
I only wipe down anything I get really sweaty.. like the tread mill or elliptical. Unless I'm the last person leaving the gym for the night, then I wipe down everything that I use before I leave. Seats, dumbbells, barbells...0
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The only time I do is after I've been doing deads, and only to get the chalk residue off. All the trainers and the gym manager know I chalk up, but as long as I clean up after myself, they don't say a word to me about it.0
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No. There's no need to wipe down barbells unless you have sweaty hands. I have never picked up a sweaty barbell in nearly two decades of regularly lifting weights at public gyms and have not seen anyone wipe down barbells.0
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Wiping itself with the towel alone doesn't really kill any bacterias or germs.0
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So the gist I am getting is buy some gloves, wash them and don't wipe down the barbells. Will add gloves to shopping list!
(btw your piglet profile pic is adorable!)0 -
Wiping itself with the towel alone doesn't really kill any bacterias or germs.
Exactly.. So is the goal just to remove sweat? Or those who wipe down cardio machines - are you saying you wipe before or after you use? Or both? Are you talking Clorox wipe to disinfect? Or just a towel to remove moisture?0
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