People sweating on gym equipment

determination2achieve · March 17th, 2007, 08:03 PM

There is a real problem at my gym that lots of people sweat on the gym equipment and don't bother to towel it off. I find this lack of hygiene really unpleasant. I would just go up to people and tell them to display better gym etiquette, but some of them are hardcore gym users and bigger than me. Any advice?

**Insex** · March 17th, 2007, 08:31 PM

Confront them about it, but in a manner that won't force them to feel defensive (ask nicely). After that, if they still don't listen, then tell the manager.

**mooshue** · March 17th, 2007, 09:45 PM

thats gross dude, i sweat more than anyone i have ever seen , but i carry a towel with me always.
I work out at Golds and they require you to have a towel, if you can show that you have one, you have to buy one for $1 or they wont let you in.

**ppsuprise** · March 17th, 2007, 10:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mooshue

thats gross dude, i sweat more than anyone i have ever seen , but i carry a towel with me always.
I work out at Golds and they require you to have a towel, if you can show that you have one, you have to buy one for $1 or they wont let you in.

my old gym was like that, woudlnt let you in without a towel and junk. i wish gyms would ban people that sweat alot and stink bout it at tsame time :S had some dude stinkng up the whoel gym till the point i felt sick and went to the locker room to get some breath to find out it was worse in there.

**PythonPower** · March 18th, 2007, 03:32 AM

that is just sick! tell management. if theu dont want to address the isue time to go elsewhere

**mooshue** · March 19th, 2007, 11:47 AM

i dont agree with the banning of the extremely sweaty dudes since i am one. I sweat like freaking crazy to the point where my clothes are soaked by the end of my workout. I do go full out on the intensity though most days and only take 40 seconds in between sets since i go on my lunch hour, i have to cram my weights in an hour lunch with shower and drive. Luckily i have a pretty laxed job where i streatch it about 30 min extra every day without anyone noticing

But the stinky people, i totally agree with. We have had a couple of those but they typically are the fatty new resolution people who dont stick with it and they are gone in a few weeks anyway.

**PythonPower** · March 19th, 2007, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by super maverick

i never really understood wiping gym equipment with your towel. how is this making anything more sanitary? seems to me if you wipe a sweaty machine with a sweaty towel, you are just spreading more sweat and germs all over.

i mean, come on. it's a gym. people sweat. people are trying to sweat. a lot. what do you expect?

so you wouldnt mind if i sweat insanely on a bench or on a treadmill or a cardio bike? you would just walk over and sit in the puddle i leave behind?

**johnny_on_the_spot** · March 19th, 2007, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by super maverick

i never really understood wiping gym equipment with your towel. how is this making anything more sanitary? seems to me if you wipe a sweaty machine with a sweaty towel, you are just spreading more sweat and germs all over.

i mean, come on. it's a gym. people sweat. people are trying to sweat. a lot. what do you expect?

its not that it is more sanitary, per say, its that sitting in a pool of someone else's sweat is kinda gross, at least if the machine is dry you don't know about it... and what you don't know, wont hurt you...

luckily, the gym i go to has sanitary wipes dispensers all on the walls near all the cardio equipment, so that is a little better cause the things have some type of disinfectant on it...

**ppsuprise** · March 19th, 2007, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by super maverick

i never really understood wiping gym equipment with your towel. how is this making anything more sanitary? seems to me if you wipe a sweaty machine with a sweaty towel, you are just spreading more sweat and germs all over.

i mean, come on. it's a gym. people sweat. people are trying to sweat. a lot. what do you expect?

well if there going to allow sweaty equip then they better play something else besides soccer mom 80s music.

**Adonis** · March 20th, 2007, 01:32 PM

Here is what I do so as not to be one of those guys

Use two towels. One to clean your bench, one to wipe your face. Makes sense to me. I don't want to towel off after cleaning up another guys sweat.

Bring an extra shirt. If you are that sweaty, change shirts, and everyone will be happy.

**Saurian** · March 20th, 2007, 02:53 PM

I'm more towards the "It's a gym, people sweat" mentality then the clean freak side. I guess that is why I prefer my hole in the wall vs. athletic club or whatever.

And there is a difference between a pool of sweat, and say the sweat from my head on the bench after some skullcrushers.

If somebody doesn't have deodorant on, then its certainly a problem. If the equipment is so wet that it is sticky to the next person, its a problem. There are extremes to each side. I was doing supersets at my dad's gym up in Cedar Rapids (Midwest Athletic Club), and a guy asked me why I wasn't cleaning the convertible bench (variable incline) after I got done to go over to the lat pull machine. He was even like "Yeah, I've seen you go back and forth twice now, and not wipe it down." I gave him some attitude, which I probably shouldn't have, but my next set of dumbells were right NEXT to the thing.

As I said, this is why I miss my old gym down in Centerville...run by a body builder, WONDERFUL place. And yes, we did clean up stuff.

**patman5150** · March 20th, 2007, 03:26 PM

The gym I belong to, Anytime Fitness; has a bunch of paper towel dispensers and a bottle of cleaning solution hanging next to them. When you are done you are expected to clean off the machines, benches and whatnot. It is on the honor system but I have never had an issue with someone NOT doing their part.

**Adonis** · March 20th, 2007, 04:17 PM

The gym staff should aslo be looking after cleanliness while you are in th gym. Cleaning benchs, oraganizing paltes/dumbbells, putting other tools away, mocking those who wear spandex, etc

manbiggo · April 27th, 2007, 07:42 PM

Some gyms are like that. Easier to change gyms than change the gym. It took me a year at a gym I hated before I learned that.

determination2achieve · May 2nd, 2007, 10:02 AM

Hey, just came to say I've sorted the problems out. I talked to the gym manager and he said it was gym rules to towel down equipment but not many people follow it so he put up some big signs about it and now people seem to be more hygeinic. Oh, and it wasn't just people sweating slightly, it was literally pools of sweat. Some people were like going for an hour treadmill run and then going straight on a chest press or ab cruncher or whatever.
Thanks for the replies everyone.

**PythonPower** · May 4th, 2007, 03:08 AM

kool. glad to hear they taking charge of the situation.

**sunshine superman** · July 2nd, 2007, 11:06 AM

luckily, the gym i go to has sanitary wipes dispensers all on the walls near all the cardio equipment, so that is a little better cause the things have some type of disinfectant on it...[/quote]

or you can carry some hand sanitizer in your pocket.

**mooshue** · July 2nd, 2007, 11:33 AM

all the gyms here in vegas, at least the athletic clubs and gold's i go to, have a bottle of disinfectant spray beside the wipes around the gym too, but no one ever bothers to use it. The only ones that seem to use them are the ones that clearly appear to be wierdo germaphobe's

**wil** · July 2nd, 2007, 03:04 PM

This is one of the things I love about working out at home. I can sweat all I want. Plus since I workout pretty hard and since I have always been a heavy sweater I never feel like I'm grossing stuff up for other people besides myself.

Oh... FYI... If any of our lovely EF Babes are reading this and would like to stop over for a workout, I always keep my equipment clean.