Is your gym dirty?

How many times do you workout on a gym? Did you know that a gym is one of the places where germs, bacteria and virus thrive? Working out is good for your body but if you often get sick after a nice workout then you might want to consider the following factors:

Gym equipment

A couple of years ago, a study in Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine found rhinoviruses on 63% of the gym equipment in fitness centers that they tested. Rhinovirus is the culprit for the common cold and they discovered that weight equipments are more contaminated significantly than aerobics equipment. Problem with this virus is that even after the equipments are disinfected twice daily, it didn't do anything to lower the count.

So what could you do? Try to avoid touching your face between sets (touching your towel and wiping your face is just the same). Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer as often as you can.

Weight-lifting gloves

A Japanese study in 2004 found that staph bacteria bind strongly to polyester which is the material commonly used in gloves. Crap. To think that I never washed my gloves. After a set, weightlifters tend do wipe their face with their germ-infected gloved hands and that could easily transfer the bacteria to your body.

So what could you do? You can throw those gloves away and lift weights with your bare hands. It would help strengthen your grip and forearm anyway. Just make sure to use hand sanitizer before and after you use those weights.

Actually, there's no sure-fire way to protect yourself from germs when working out on a gym without wearing biohazard suits. Just boost up your immunity and avoid going to the gym when you're feeling under the weather.

Source: Men's Health