6. Speaking of towels, most gyms provide you with one, but that won’t suffice. Be sure to grab two towels: one for wiping your sweat off any equipment you use (including free weights) and the other for wiping yourself down. Always keep the towels separated, and never dry yourself with the towel you used to wipe down the equipment. And be sure to put all dirty towels in their right place after you are done with them. Leaving them around for someone else to pick up is not only unsanitary, but rude as well.
7. Bring your own water. Whether it’s bottled water from a store or just your own water bottle filled with filtered water from home, it sure beats the water fountains at the gym. I’ve actually seen a very sweaty individual leave his man juice on the water fountain at my gym. Yuck.
8. Bring your own workout mat. While your gym may provide mats, it might not offer antibacterial wipes to clean them, so play it safe.
9. Try to shower before leaving the gym. Washing the dirt and sweat off your body is always a great idea, especially if some of that grime comes from another dirty, sweaty person at the gym who didn’t heed item number four on this list.
10. Wear flip-flops in the shower. There are too many people walking around the gym with skin ailments on their feet. So don’t worry which came first, the disgusting shower floor tiles or the yellow, cracked toenails—just keep your feet clean and invest in a cheap pair of flip-flops.
I can’t help but wonder if this makes me a germaphobe, but I hope that everyone who steps into a gym will take this list to heart. It would truly suck if I were the only flip-flop-wearing, two-towel-toting, avoid-the-water-fountain-at-all-costs person in the place.
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