If You Are Sick, Don't Go To The Gym

With Spring just around the corner, it is important to remember some basic hygiene skills while attending the gym. Here is a little story I would like to share with you about someone who should have stayed home instead of working out.

So I am at the gym the other day and I am halfway through my elliptical workout when this guy gets on the machine next to me and proceeds to prop a Kleenex box on the top of the machine. As he gets going he starts hacking, sneezing, blowing his nose, and shoving all the used tissue into the water bottle holder. It is obvious the guy is sick and he is trying to exercise to feel better. Don't get me wrong, I am all for this and agree that a little exercise can make you feel better, but don't bring it to the gym and get everyone around you sick. I am there working out to be healthy, not catch the flu. I just wish this guy had taken a walk outside and gotten some fresh air or worked out at home and not come to the gym and hack all over the place. It just made me mad and disgusted me at the same time. I was so grossed out that I quit my workout early just to get away from him.

This also made me think about all the people I see sweating all over the exercise machines and then not wiping them down for the next person. It is common courtesy to clean the machines after use and despite all the signs in the gym asking people to wipe machines down it amazes me how many people don't. I now wipe the machine I am using before and after I use it. Maybe it's because I just had a baby and a little more germ conscious now but to me... it's quite disgusting.