Clubindustry

Time to Clean Up Our Act

Stephanie Bloyd August 5th, 2010

I’m a fan of The New York Times, so I’ve been watching with interest this week as this story published on Monday about getting skin infections from gym equipment has crept up to the top of the newspaper’s most popular articles list. This tells me people are concerned about getting MRSA from touching fitness equipment, or that they’re getting ready to be after reading the article.

The article’s popularity speaks to the real need for cleanliness in our industry’s facilities. How often do you or your staff clean equipment? Do you offer sanitizing gel or hand wipes for members? If your gym is super clean, do you promote that to members and nonmembers alike? It could be a good selling point. We addressed this in a February 2010 article.

Our society is pretty concerned with germs in this day and age. Just look at all the antibacterial soap products that are available. Seems to me this NY Times article good be a good wake-up call to the fitness industry to clean up its act.

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4 Comments to “Time to Clean Up Our Act”

1. Bruce Sherman, Ph.D. Says:
   

   August 10th, 2010 at 5:09 pm

   If it’s fall, it must be MRSA season! The topic of germ and infection transmission related to athletics and athletics training has been popping-up at this time for years for several years. Good personal hygiene and regular sanitizing of “body-contacted” hard surfaces have been cited (over and over) as the best first-line of defense against contracting and/or spreading of potentially deadly germs. The latest study to have “crept to the top of the (New York Times’) most popular articles list” comes from a position paper published by the National Athletic Trainer’s Association (NATA). The data, information, and recommendations are out there; it is incumbent on coaches, strength and conditioning coaches, athletic trainers, and fitness facility owners and managers to implement the appropriate “systems” to protect their athletes and fitness participants. No excuses! And, it is incumbent on the athletes and fitness participants to utilize & execute the “systems” to the letter of the recommendations. No excuses! Play hard & play safe!!

   Bruce A. Sherman, Ph.D.
   www.DrBruceSays.com (Blog)

2. Al Hunt Says:
   

   August 11th, 2010 at 2:08 pm

   I’ve been going to various gyms since gyms really started flourishing in the late 1970’s, starting with YMCA, then Gold’s, then Nautilus which later became Bally’s. Also I was in Family Fitness, which later became 24 Hour Fitness (I think); also I’ve been in LA Fitness, LA Workout, am now a member of Powerhouse; and I’ve attended various other gyms on a reciprocal travel basis, including local one-shot gyms.

   In the beginning years of this episode, in the late 1970’s, nobody worried about germs and such. It was like back in the day everything just stank like sweat and you could be sure sweat was around on equipment. Later, as we all now know, things started changing as more and more people joined private profit-making gyms, such as those above (as opposed to school gyms or civic recreation facilities).

   My two current clubs, I mean the ones I hold membership in right now, 24 Hour and Powerhouse, differ a bit in that 24 does offer sanitation liquid and paper towels to members. Some members use it to wipe up after themselves; some don’t. At Powerhouse, a franchise operation, more like a local gym, not part of a corporation, members are more or less on their own. Also, there’s a boxing club inside this particular Powerhouse gym and I see no sanitary measures whatsoever there, even when the “kids” box. I say kids because to me boxing is a sport only for the young and fit. I may be fit myself but I’m way past the age where I can happily join a boxing club. Nor would I want to. I never was a pugilist, and I never watch pros box. But it is good exercise, anyone can see that.

   Be that as it may, the point is, there is no evident difference between these two gyms, between “them that do and them that don’t.” One offers members some sanitation liquid, and also has frequent janitorial cleanings. The other has neither of these. Now, it could be a hidden difference, that I personally cannot see, but that’s for the doctor (previous commentator) to explore, if he ever has time. I can’t see it. In fact “them without” seem significantly healthier than “them that has.” Thanks Billie Holiday for that one.

   Meanwhile I recommend this to stave off all your worries about germs: 5,000 milligrams of Vitamin C every day. Wash it down with a liquid of your choice. I’m not going to tell you what that liquid is for me, but as WC Fields once noted, “I use it only for medicinal purposes.” Or another way of saying it, which I will attribute here to either Yogi Berra or Al Capone (you choose): “It’ll cure what ails ya!”

3. Gino Martinelli Says:
   

   August 12th, 2010 at 4:10 pm

   Here’s another preventive measure that might work. You know, some gyms require that members bring towels. Other gyms have in-house towel services. Some gyms have neither.

   And if workout towels are required, the enforcement in any case is lax. But, what if the gyms required members to shower, or at least take a “towel bath,” BEFORE entering the workout arena to use equipment?

   Again, the enforcement would be almost impossible, so this is one of those honor system type things, just as it is with the workout towel requirement that some gyms have.

   But it’s worth a shot, in my humble opinion. Funny, huh, worth a shot and yet worth preventing a shot?

   The downside, of course, is that the gyms would have to pay the cost for the extra water, and some gyms don’t even have showers. Maybe a new arrangement, or new structure could be developed for the towel bath, with very limited use of water. For example, a faucet or spigot where the member can wet his or her towel, run it over his or her entire body, or as much as they handle. Use a good antiseptic type soap for this purpose.

   This way, at least, there would be some preventive effects (I would suppose), and the gyms that do adopt such a system would have that advantage, mentioned in the article, that members would, at least in their minds, possibly feel safer from the cooties that everyone else totes around in their armpits, crotches, lips, sweat glands, and who knows where else these little bacterial bad guys might hide? Heck, the way they propagate, you’d almost think they had minds of their own (see Gary Larson publications for more on this topic).

4. Robert Perez Says:
   

   August 13th, 2010 at 9:36 am

   In regard to Gino Martinelli’s comment, above, maybe it should be further noted that anywhere a facility has a swimming pool, or even just a hot tub or steam room, members are required to shower before entering. This requirement is generally posted on a sign immediately outside of the swimming pool, hot tub, steam room, or whatever “wet” facility the gym offers.

   Now, it really is not much of an extension for the gym to have the same kind of system for all of its equipment, weights, machines, and so forth.

   I have found that (approximately) 95% of the members do honor the “shower before entering pool” signs, and the few that do not are often castigated or warned by members who happen to enjoy also being watchdogs. A few “scofflaws” will always slip through, but if they are members who swim often, they will always abide by the rule, because a clean and germ-free pool benefits them as well as everyone else.

   Therefore, the same system could pretty easily be adopted by an entire gym, even if it has no wet facilities. “Shower before entering gym.” Nothing wrong with that, and it’s a simple step from “shower before entering pool.” It will catch on fast, by the same process that works for the pool. Watchdog members will do the policing, so nobody on the staff has to do that.

   Granted, not every member aspires to be a watchdog, but it only takes one good-hearted obsessive member to make the system effective.

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