The Washington Post - 01.08.2019

the washington post

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thursday, august

1

,

2019

MD

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BY SCOTT DOUGLAS

After swimming one day at a

neighborhood recreation center

in New York, Allison Goldstein

noticed that the walls in the show-

er were starting to buckle inward.

“It looked like a giant air bubble

was pushing out of the wall,” the

Jersey City resident said. “Over

time, the section where the wall

met the ceiling started to peel

back, and lo and behold, there was

some delicious-looking brown

and black sludge back there.”

Granted, this is an extremely

visual example of the grossness

that can grow in gyms. But out of

sight shouldn’t be out of mind

when it comes to working out in

public places. Studies have found

that the surfaces of treadmills,

weight machines and other typi-

cal gym equipment are teeming

with bacteria and other infectious

germs. Here’s how to lower your

exposure to the most dangerous

and prevalent germs without

freaking out so much that you stop

going to the gym.

Bench presses and bacteria

If asked where you’re most like-

ly to encounter infectious agents

such as staphylococcus (a.k.a.

staph, responsible for a range of

potentially fatal infections) or sal-

monella (which infects the intesti-

nal tract), you would probably

think of public bathrooms, hospi-

tals or office kitchens. You might

be surprised to learn just how

many germs are in gyms.

Consider research published in

2014 on fitness centers in Mem-

phis. Staph bacteria were found

on the surface of every piece of

exercise equipment tested, in-

cluding free weights, weight ma-

chines, ellipticals, stationary

bikes and treadmills. In all, 25

types of bacteria were found in the

four gyms tested. In this study and

others, staph stands out as the

bacteria with the most potent

prevalence-danger combination.

A 2019 study of 16 gyms in

northeast Ohio focused on one

strain of staph bacteria, S. aureus,

and its variant, methicillin-resis-

tant S. aureus (MRSA), which is

resistant to antibiotics and is esti-

mated to result in 11,000 deaths a

year in the United States. Of 288

samples taken in the gyms,

38 percent contained S. aureus.

Medicine balls (62.5 percent),

CrossFit boxes (also 62.5 percent),

weight plates (56.3 percent) and

treadmill handles (50 percent)

were the most common surfaces

to carry it. Of areas tested, toilet

handles had the lowest incidence,

18.8 percent.

How does bacterial presence in

gyms compare with other public

settings? “I would say these rates

are potentially higher or on par

with most surface contamina-

tion,” says Mark Dalman of Kent

State University, the lead re-

searcher on the Ohio study.

One reason: S. aureus and other

bacteria thrive in “warm, moist,

nutrient-plenty areas,” Dalman

says. Combine that with their abil-

ity to withstand what researchers

call “high saline environments”

and the rest of us call pools of

sweat, and it’s not surprising that

bacteria like hanging out in gyms

at least as much as exercise ad-

dicts do.

Exercise caution

If this makes you want to swear

off gyms for good, here’s a little

perspective.

“We are a symbiont of bacteria,

fungi and human cells all hanging

out together,” Dalman says. In-

deed, a third of the population

carries S. aureus; most people be-

come aware of it only when their

immune system is compromised

or they have surgery.

Although a 2006 study found

viruses on almost two-thirds of

hand-contact surfaces in a mili-

tary gym, most were rhinovirus,

the main source of the common

cold. A Canadian study found that

rhinovirus placed on surfaces in a

50-percent-humidity environ-

ment (typical for gyms) can begin

to disappear within minutes.

Combine that with the fact that

rhinovirus is usually transmitted

person to person, and your chance

of catching a cold at the gym is low

— unless you’re in a class full of

sneezers.

Also, though the high preva-

lence of bacteria in gyms certainly

suggests the possibility of wide-

spread infection, there are no data

showing a direct cause-and-effect

relationship between gym attend-

ance and illness in individuals,

says Nabanita Mukherjee of the

University of Memphis, who led

the Memphis gym study. That was

the case when she published her

research, and it has remained the

case since.

Researchers have found a sug-

gestive relationship between

gyms and infection. For example,

after an outbreak of MRSA in

rural Alaska in 2000, a study

found that infected people were

three times as likely to have used a

MRSA-colonized sauna than

healthy people. The association

was particularly strong, research-

ers wrote, because more than 60

percent of the skin infections were

below the waist, and 20 percent

were on the buttocks. MRSA infec-

tions are generally distributed

equally between the arms and legs

and rarely occur on the buttocks.

Mukherjee and Dalman agree

that a little effort can go a long way

toward reducing your risk of in-

fection. For your and others peo-

ple’s sakes, clean all equipment

before and after you use it with the

gym’s provided materials, either

wipes or sprays. (Remember from

above that “all” includes non-ma-

chinery equipment such as medi-

cine balls and dumbbells.) Bacte-

ria are easily transmitted by hand,

so try not to touch your eyes,

mouth and nose with your fingers

or palms while in a gym. Do any

mid-workout wiping with the

back of your hand.

In the sauna, sit on a (clean!)

towel and wear sandals to lower

your exposure to others’ dripped

sweat. Opt for a dry (low-humidi-

ty) sauna if you have a choice. The

infected ones in the Alaska study

were traditional steam baths. Sau-

nas heated by wood or electricity

provide a less-favorable environ-

ment for moisture-loving bacteria.

More steps: Chris Pribish, own-

er of Momentum Performance

and Wellness in South Portland,

Maine, encourages his patrons to

use the hand sanitizer near the

entrance on their way in and out.

You could also follow Pribish’s

lead and avoid handheld food dur-

ing and soon after gym visits.

Playing footsies with germs

As Goldstein’s shower-wall sto-

ry indicates, the need for vigilance

doesn’t stop just because your

workout is over. “There is virtually

no circulation,” she says of her

gym’s locker room, “so it always

feels damp and sticky, and there

are perpetually pools of water ev-

erywhere on the floor, with globs

of hair and other unidentifiable

detritus floating in them. I devel-

oped a very complex way of put-

ting on pants so as not to ever let

them touch the ground.”

Brian Fullem, a sport podiatrist

in Clearwater, Fla., says bacterial

infection via feet is unlikely unless

you have an opening in the skin,

such as a blister. In addition, a

2015 study on bacterial variability

in gyms found that “shoe” surfaces

(floors, mats) are much less likely

than “hand” surfaces (machine

rails, free weights) to host rapidly

evolving bacteria, which are more

likely to cause infections.

Fungal infections, however, are

another matter. “Fungus needs

three things to grow — darkness,

warmth, and moisture,” he says,

making both your workout shoes

and a typical gym locker room

perfect environments. Appropri-

ately enough, tinea pedis, or ath-

lete’s foot, is the most common

fungal infection picked up in

gyms, according to Fullem.

“It’s a good idea to wear some

sort of foot gear at a public pool or

locker room,” Fullem says. As an

extra precaution, apply an over-

the-counter antifungal spray to

your shoes and feet after gym

workouts.

Teamwork at the gym

All of these recommendations

work best in well-maintained

gyms. Dalman says to expect the

same cleaning standards as you

would of a hospital or restaurant.

“You want to ensure that the facili-

ty is minimizing the bacterial load

to reduce the possibility of trans-

mitting a potential antibiotic-re-

sistant bacterium,” he says.

Gyms aren’t subject to health

department inspections, so the

onus is on patrons to learn about

cleaning schedules and practices.

Pribish’s facility is cleaned daily

with a surface disinfectant and

decontaminant, is vacuumed and

mopped daily, and gets spot clean-

ings throughout the day. There

should be spray bottles and towel

dispensers throughout the gym;

Pribish has five bottle-and-towel

dispensers in his 4,000-square-

foot gym. The industry standard

for wipes and sprays is a solution

that contains quaternary ammo-

nium, an anti-bacterial com-

pound. If there’s not a publicly

maintained cleaning schedule,

ask the facility manager. And nev-

er be shy about approaching gym

employees if the facility doesn’t

seem clean.

Of course, gymgoers need to do

their part. Pribish has occasional-

ly posted signs reminding patrons

to wipe down equipment. If you

see someone not doing unto oth-

ers in this regard, talk to a gym

employee rather than take up the

matter yourself.

Again, use the facts about

germs in gyms judiciously. “Is this

helpful knowledge? Absolutely,”

Dalman says. “Should you stop

working out? Absolutely not.”

[email protected]

Douglas is a contributing writer for

Runner’s World and the author or co-

author of several books, including

“The Athlete’s Guide to CBD.”

How to stay away from those unwelcome gym buddies: Germs

ISABELLE CARDINAL FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Wellness