Photo: jaysalikin / Flickr

Masses of people flock to gym in to pursue healthier bodies, but they often neglect to follow proper hygiene practises, allowing the gym to become a breeding ground for disease and bacteria. Your own personal health and well-being are your responsibility. While you can’t control how other people behave, you can take precautions to protect yourself in potentially germ-infested environments.

What should I do?

Follow your gym’s are safety guidelines. One should always adhere to instructions to wipe equipment when you are done using it, for example. You should be mindful that if you are wiping the equipment with your towel you shouldn’t then use the same towel to wipe your face.

Wearing slip-on shoes in the shower is also a must, as is taking a shower after your workout. It has also been suggested that you keep yourself as covered as possible by wearing long sleeves and trousers as opposed to shorts, as the less skin you expose the less your chance of infection. On that note, be careful to also cover up any open wounds susceptible to infection.

Danger lurks around every corner

Gyms do hire cleaning staff, but no one can keep a gym perfectly clean when there are throngs of people using it. Be mindful of the risk of catching colds and flu from other gym members and keep yourself and your environment safe for your own use.

Get details from your club manager on health practices, clean up after yourself, shower with shoes on and drink from your own water bottle to avoid using the fountain. You are at the gym to look after your health, so keep the risk of infection in mind at all times.

Tags: exercise, exercise machines, gym, hygiene