There’s nothing like an intense workout to make you feel like you’re king (or queen) of the world. After you’ve pushed yourself past an extra set of shoulder presses, or struggled to endure some weighted decline crunches, there’s nothing that can stop you from feeling amazing and invincible.
Make the next guy in line to use your station feel just as amazing by cleaning your equipment! Here’s some reasons leaving without cleaning isn’t right—sanitize before you bail. It’s the right thing to do, for many reasons!
Because You Don’t Want Germs
You want to tighten your glutes, or tone your biceps, which doesn’t leave you any time to worry about germs. If you don’t wipe down your machine with wipes or a towel and spray sanitizer, you could seriously spread your germs to everyone else who uses the machine after you. Give your machine (the padding area of your machine, especially but don’t forget the side bars and handles too) a quick spray with a nearby spray bottle (your gym should have bottles of sanitizer that works to specially zap germs nearby and handy for use).
Because You Want the Heart Tracker to Work
Did you know that if you don’t wipe away exercise machines after each use, the dirt and oils from your body (or others, if they failed to wipe off their sweat) could actually interfere with the machine’s heart monitor to work properly? If you don’t see a staff member at your gym responsible for wiping off machines, take it upon yourself to do that job. Sanitizing the machine after use won’t just improve the longevity of the equipment’s technology—it will also prevent wear and tear of the padding (which can easily deteriorate when it’s not cleaned throughout the day).
Because You Don’t Want to Smell Another Person’s Sweat
Nothing ruins an amazing, intense workout quite like being surrounded by the aroma of someone else’s sweat. When you don’t clean up after yourself and some eager exerciser jumps on the treadmill or leg press right after you, it can interfere with their overall gym experience (not to mention, disrupt their ‘flow’ a great workout can give you).
How can you achieve a ‘runner’s high’ when you keep getting a whiff of someone else’s sweat? How can you know when you’ve achieved your target heart rate when it’s not working properly? It’s so important to clean equipment after every use—not just for you, but for everyone you share the equipment with!
