Is Your Gym Making You Sick?

Here’s an uncomfortable fact: according to research from FitRated, which swabbed 27 types of commonly used gym equipment, free weights carried roughly 362 times the bacteria found on a public toilet seat, and treadmills carried about 74 times the bacteria found on a bathroom faucet. And that’s before we even get to what your own sweat and clothing choices are doing to you.

The Bacteria Hiding on Your Gym Equipment

A pilot study out of Kent State swabbed 288 surfaces across fitness facilities in Northeast Ohio — CrossFit-style gyms, traditional iron gyms, community centers, and hospital-affiliated facilities. MRSA (antibiotic-resistant staph) turned up at every single facility type tested. The most contaminated single item in the whole study? The medicine ball — which also happens to be one of the least-wiped-down pieces of equipment, since most people don’t think to disinfect something that doesn’t look “sweaty.”

The researchers’ takeaway wasn’t that gyms are secretly dangerous — it’s that the surfaces people touch most are usually the ones getting cleaned least.

It’s Not Just the Equipment — It’s What You’re Wearing

Here’s the part most people don’t connect: what you have on underneath compounds the problem. OB/GYN Dr. Heather Irobunda has explained that exercising in a thong “could increase your risk for a UTI by spreading bacteria to your urethra as you move,” and that trapped sweat and moisture from tight-fitting underwear can also raise your risk of vaginal infections.

Dermatologists point to the same combination from a different angle: tight clothing, skin-to-skin friction, and sweat sitting in a poorly ventilated area are exactly the conditions yeast needs to overgrow. Add contaminated equipment into that mix — equipment you’re sitting or leaning on for 45 minutes — and it’s not hard to see how a normal gym session turns into more than just a good workout.

None of this means you should panic or skip leg day. It means two things are worth taking seriously: what’s on the equipment, and what’s against your skin while you use it.

How to Actually Protect Yourself

• Wipe down equipment before and after you use it — most people only do one or the other, if that.
• Carry your own disinfectant spray instead of relying on the gym’s wipe station being stocked (or clean). We cover a good travel-size option in our full gym hygiene guide.
• Wear breathable, moisture-wicking underwear instead of whatever’s convenient — we rounded up the best options here.
• Shower (or at minimum, change) as soon as possible after your workout. Sitting in sweaty clothes for hours afterward undoes a lot of the good you just did.
• Don’t re-wear unwashed workout clothes “just this once.” Bacteria and fungus don’t care that you’re in a hurry.

Conclusion

The gym isn’t something to be afraid of — it’s something to be a little smarter about. A quick wipe-down, the right underwear, and a shower afterward solve almost all of this. We’ve broken down exactly what to buy and do in our gym hygiene best practices guide and our gym underwear guide — worth five minutes before your next session.

Editor’s note:

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