Doctors’ gym tips to keep from getting sick

If you made a New Year’s resolution to lose weight or improve your physical fitness, exercise is probably a big part of it. Whether you’ve recently joined a gym or are a veteran member, you want to make sure you’re being as safe as possible on your health journey.

There are some gym habits, like having a spotter for lifting heavy weights or staying hydrated during and after a workout, that you probably already know about. But there are others that can prevent you and those you love from getting sick.

Considering that COVID, flu and even norovirus are raging right now, take heed of these tips from doctors who are ringing alarm bells so you know how to properly protect yourself.

Going to the gym when you’re sick

If you’re ill, please stay home.

“We all know it’s hard to skip a workout, but when you are feeling down, it’s best to let your body relax and rest,” board-certified family physician Dr. Laura Purdy says. “This will also help prevent the spreading of germs to other people. When you go to the gym sick, your germs can spread through the air and live on surfaces that others touch.”

Not wiping down equipment

Purdy warns that touching surfaces at the gym without them being properly cleaned is a big no-no.

“This includes door handles, workout equipment, water fountains and more,” she notes. “Disinfecting surfaces you are using and touching is key to reducing your contact with any germs that can get you sick.”

Norovirus in particular is highly contagious and can be contracted just from touching surfaces that have been exposed to it, so take heed.

Wiping down equipment after using it will also protect fellow exercisers who come after you (and they’ll really appreciate it, even if they don’t say so outright).

Touching your face

This harks back to surfaces not being cleaned properly, but even if they are, hedge your bets and keep your mitts away from your mug.

“Germs often spread to your hand first from touching surfaces,” Purdy explains.

You also want to practice good hygiene by washing your hands frequently. This will also help you avoid this.

Wearing gym clothes at home

“When you get home, change (and wash) your clothes and take a shower as soon as possible,” Purdy advises. “This will help you avoid bringing any of those germs into your home.”

Not cleaning your water bottle

“I always make sure to stay hydrated. Dehydration can impact your immune system and make it easier for you to get sick,” Purdy says. “Drinking lots of water, especially when working out, is key to keeping yourself healthy.”

The only problem with this? If your water bottle itself is making you sick.

“Every time you take a sip, you’re not just drinking water, you’re creating a microscopic exchange,” Dr. Jason Singh, physician and chief medical officer of One Oak Medical in Aldie, Virginia, says in a recent viral video.

That exchange, Singh says, is between “your oral microbiome, which is full of strep and gram-positive organisms,” and your water bottle. “It takes about 48 hours for bacteria to create a biofilm that attaches to the surface of your water bottle, and that then starts to multiply into various organisms.”

That means that it takes just two days for your water bottle to get full of germs, and the longer you let that junk linger, the grosser and more potentially dangerous it will be for you to drink from.

Singh recommends washing your water bottle with soap and a bottle brush (to manually disrupt the biofilm) at least every two days. Be sure to get inside and outside of the lid, nozzle and any straw attachments, too, that way you’re covering all your bases.