Hand Sanitiser Needed for the Gym
Yes, it’s official, whilst the gym may help get you fit it could also be a danger to your health if you don’t wash your hands afterwards. How many germs do you think are found in your local gym?
Researchers from Fit Rated tested a range of gymequipment in your 'average gym' and found the following:
- An exercise bike has 39 times more bacteria on it than a cafeteria tray
- A treadmill has 74 times more bacteria than a public bathroom tap
- Free weights can harbour 362 times more germs than a toilet seat
Really?
How Did They Carry Out Their tests?
To calculate the amount of bacteria, researchers took swabs from pieces of gym equipment and looked at the number of colony forming units (CFU), in effect the number of bacteria present.
The bacteria found to be present on treadmills, bikes and free weights were all of a type that could definitely lead to stomach upsets.
IIn addition, bike and free weights also had Bacillus. This bacteria can cause ear, eye and respiratory infections. In fact one of the highlights from the report is that over 70% of bacteria found was potentially harmful to human health.
How To Prevent Bug Transfer?
So, the advice is not to stop going to the gym, but to think about how you use it so that you don’t catch an unwanted bacterial infection.
We suggest you just remember to :
- Try to wipe over machines with antibacterial wipes before you use them
- Never walk about barefoot in a gym
- Try not to touch your face and mouth whilst working out
- Wash hands immediately after a workout
- Shower and change clothes as soon as you get home
In Summary
You can never hope to completely prevent any illness, but the levels of bacteria in the gym environment are truly shocking and come down to individual habits as much as anything else. Using wet wipes is possibly the simplest and quickest way to reduce the chances of you picking anything up - plus working out early in the morning so less people have used the equipment.
