For those of us who live in a climate where we have to suffer through winter, we generally cannot wait until the warmth of summer arrives. Inevitably we are also the same people that after several days of scorching heat complain that it's too hot. I may be hot, I may be sweaty, but by gosh, I'd rather be warm than cold... well within reason of course! Summer is also a time for many to hit the gym. Whether its university students returning home for the summer looking to see and be seen or those of us not blessed with naturally formed bikini bodies, summer and the gym are synonymous - as we get older if we want to enjoy that extra beer and burger we need to do a few more miles on the treadmill and extra crunches to keep our stomachs in check.
The dirty little secret about gyms is that while we (well not me...) are there to improve our health, gyms can be dirty and covered with bacteria like MRSA, viruses like the cold, flu and/or herpes viruses, and fungi causing athletes foot. Let's be serious, any time there are groups of people milling about sweating on and then sharing equipment, there is an opportunity for germs to thrive and hop from person to person. In fact, one study found that 75% of weight equipment was contaminated with cold-causing rhinoviruses and even wiping the surface twice did not completely nix the germs. However, a stuffy nose and sniffles is the least of your worries, considering antibiotic resistant bacteria such as MRSA are being found with alarming frequency in gyms and have been the cause of numerous outbreaks and infections within the community, schools and professional sports teams. In fact, Carl Nicks (Guard for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) who was a first-team All-Pro for New Orleans in 2011 might be done with football because of a MRSA infection he suffered last year (a toe injury....). He was one of several unlucky players to pick up MRSA at the Buccaneers facility during training camp in 2013.
To lessen your chance of exposure you can do as I do and avoid the gym, or follow the following simple steps:
When it comes to cleaning, most gyms do not have the staff to clean the equipment after every use. Instead they rely on you, the user, to do it. Unfortunately, there is no standard or regulation that dictates the type of product to be used. Many facilities will have registered disinfectant products that are proven to kill the types of pathogens that circulate within gyms available, however this is not always the case. Be sure to read the label of the product provided at your gym to see if it is in fact a registered disinfectant. If it's not, you basically have four choices to protect yourself: ask the owner/manager why they are not using a disinfectant and ask them to change products, bring your own disinfectant, make sure you do not touch your face, mouth or eyes and do not eat until you have washed your hands or just quit going to the gym. The choice is yours, but be safe!
Bugging Off!
Nicole
