Gyms are a hotbed for coronavirus, so I guess I won’t be going anymore

The gym is actually a massive hotbed for coronavirus, according to research.

Tap Warehouse has put together a study about how grimy we are at the gym and how this increases our chances of spreading bacteria around. And in turns out, a lot of gym-goers are extremely gross. We don’t wash our hands regularly enough, we don’t clean the equipment enough, and we never wash out our gym bags and water bottles.

With cases of coronavirus rapidly on the rise, here’s how disgusting the gym really is.

20 per cent of British people confess to ‘never’ washing their hands at the gym

20 per cent of Brits confess to never washing their hands at the gym. So, whatever they’ve come into contact that day before going to the gym is likely to be all over those gym machines. You’ll then touch it, and as if by magic all those germs are festering all over you.

10 per cent of British people never wash their gym clothes

After a big heavy workout, loads of sweat and grime gathers in your gym clothes. According to the research by Tap Warehouse, 10 per cent of people never wash their gym clothes. Only just over half of us clean them after every use.

Dr Abigail Short, a private doctor from Bark.com, said: “Gym clothes can harbour lots of bacteria due to sweat and because of the interaction between gym apparatus and public changing rooms. Touching fitness machines, wiping your sweaty head on your t-shirt, or sharing a barbell can transfer germs. So, it’s better to keep things clean in the gym.”

What’s more, 23 per cent of people said they stay in their sweaty gym clothes for hours after they’ve got home. So we just like to sit there, in our own dirt – which obviously isn’t very hygienic. Dr Asif Munaf, a doctor and founder of wellness company, Endorance, said: “People should aim to shower within an hour. And most definitely should not sleep without showering. Many bacterial, as well as mycotic (fungal) infections can spread in damp conditions, such as on sweaty clothes and in between the toes, as is the case with athletes foot.” Nice.

One in eight use the same cloth to wipe their face and the gym equipment

Gym equipment gets dirty and sweaty, and then 81 per cent of us admit we never or hardly ever clean it before we use it. Then a further 13 per cent of us will use the same towel we use to wipe down the filthy equipment to then clean our faces. Dr Abigail Smith says bacteria can happily live on the equipment for up to three days. So, think of all the sweaty people that use it in that time. Lush.

40 per cent of British people don’t clean their water bottle enough

It’s not just ourselves and the equipment we need to think about cleaning, it’s things like our water bottles we need to consider too. You should be washing your water bottle every single day, but according to Tap Warehouse research, 40 per cent of us believe leaving it unwashed for a couple of days is fine.

Dr Abigail Short said: “Not washing your bottle regularly can create an environment for germs to thrive, because of the moisture. It doesn’t matter what material your bottle is made of, all bottles need to be washed with hot soapy water and thoroughly dried.”

And, we don’t wash our gym bags enough.

Most of us never wash our gym bags, which are a hot bed for germs and bacteria. The bags touch gross surfaces all the time, and is literally the home for all our filthy and sweaty possessions. Only 15 per cent of us clean our bags every week.

So we need to wash ourselves more, sanitise the gym equipment and wash out bags and water bottles to stop us getting coronavirus, or any other horrible and nasty germs, at the gym.

Basically, we’re all filthy animals.

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