February 12, 2008
New York Gyms are Nasty
Not only are New York gyms poorly run, but the establishments that are supposed to make you healthier are doing the opposite. The Daily News reports on the germ-ridden gyms of the city in a fairly unsurprising article.
The paper spot-checked Dolphin Fitness, Equinox, Crunch, NYSC and YMCAs around New York and "uncovered potentially harmful bacteria lingering all over exercise mats, bicycles, drinking fountains and other surfaces. The equipment posing the highest risks are cardiovascular machines used by many people in quick succession and equipment, including dumbbells or mats, that are passed around." Seems not everyone is wiping down their machines!
One Bay Ridge man was put on antibiotics after his foot became infected from his gym's shower, but the paper's test uncovered much worse, including "various bacteria and MRSA, the antibiotic-resistant staph infection known as the superbug." If you work out at Crunch Fitness in Midtown, then your gym has fecal bacteria hanging around the water fountain! Like we needed another reason not to work out. Fear not, Forbes covered this last month with tips on how to avoid the plague while you get physical. Capitalizing on gym germiphobes, GymSoap offers up a solution to ease your mind while you work your body. Their press page also includes long list of articles that will further put the fear in you, including an ABC News Primetime report that "found staphylococcus, streptococcus viridans, diptheroids and e-coli - the most common bacteria in human feces" on a pair of dumbells and "candida - the germ that causes yeast infections" on one exercise bike...both in New York.
As one gym-goer points out: "we live in New York, there are germs everywhere."
Photo via Joekerstef's Flickr.
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If you work out at Crunch Fitness in Midtown, then your gym has fecal bacteria hanging around the water fountain!
How does this happen? Did some sauna scatmaster get thirsty and put his mouth on the faucet?
Honestly, this isn't a surprise. People sweat and shower in gyms; of course there are going to be loads of unsavory bacteria everywhere. Wash your hands when you go to the gym and don't expect a sterile environment. These findings are gross, but hardly shocking, you know?
They have anti-bacterial hand gel dispensers at the Crunch on 14th St. And I thought everyone knew to bring their own mat.
I feel that I must nerd out for a minute here and bring up an episode of Mythbusters I saw recently. It was about toothbrushes and fecal matter. They tested a number of toothbrushes. All but one toothbrush was stored in a bathroom at various lengths from the toilet. One was stored and protected away from the bathroom and placed in another room entirely. At the end of the month, every single toothbrush had traces of fecal matter on it. INCLUDING the one that was protected!
I can't shake that episode from my memory. But the point is, apparently there is fecal matter everywhere not that it's a good thing, but unavoidable it seems.
i think most people would be surprised with the amount of fecal bacteria that can be food in their own kitchen.
Also, a good tip is to wear flipflops into the shower. Who knows what lurks on that stall floor. I heard of someone taking a dump in the shower and stomping it through the drain.
I'm sure we don't completely comprehend the amount of fecal matter introduced to the environment every time we fart. That's a Mythbusters show that I want to see!
I heard that money is covered in fecal matter too.
I once found fecal matter on my keyboard after posting in the Gothamist comments section.
Doesn't anyone wash their hands around here before posting? Gross.
I'm completely covered in fecal matter right now.
I'm completely covered in fecal matter right now.
Rocknrope, that is vile and horrendous...VOMIT
This really isn't something to be just dismissed. A number of times in the past year, my roommate has gotten extremely ill shortly after re-starting her workout program, having to see the doctor, miss work and being put on anti-biotics each time. In the end, she finally picked up the correlation and will be walking and running for her exercise.
For the amount of money a gym membership costs, they should hire someone to regularly wipe down the machines. I've had memberships at Equinox and NYSC, and Equinox seems cleaner, esp. the shower rooms. I hate how NYSC (at least the ones midtown) use shower curtains instead of doors. Those things are disgusting.
I think you can also get MRSA from touching a subway pole or basically anywhere. Wash your hands, people, and use an alcohol-based antibacterial gel (not the triclosan kind which causes the evolution of triclosan-resistant bacterium, which then can resist other anti-biotics). Triclosan-resistant staph is already out there.
They should make gyms like the pay toilets. after 15 minutes (better work out fast), you gotta vamoose while the area gets lysol-bombed.
I think i'd join such a gym instead of just running around my block--it would be much cooler.
I go to Crunch and I've definitely seen cleaning staff wipe down the treadmills. It is a heavy-traffic gym though.
"I'm sure we don't completely comprehend the amount of fecal matter introduced to the environment every time we fart."
There was an article on MSNBC a while back.. your average undies at the end of the day has about a gram of shit in it, and it could be as high as 10 grams.
I once had to plunger my bathtub after my two-year-old crapped a huge log while taking a bath. That was a lot of fun.
It's hysterical to see people get hysterical about the idea of bacteria being all around us. REALLY? OMG! Did you take a dump yesterday and then go to sleep last night? Well guess what -- there's fecal matter in your bed too.
It's hysterical to see people get hysterical about the idea of bacteria being all around us. REALLY? OMG! Did you take a dump yesterday and then go to sleep last night? Well guess what -- there's fecal matter in your bed too.
And think of the poor actresses in 2 Girls 1 Cup.
PLEASE, I'm eating rice and beans!
2girls1cup
Proceed with caution.
Once while I was working the leg press at the NYSC near city hall, I strained too much and let out a loud, yet high pitched fart. It was audible across the entire Gym but thanks a loud class nearby playing loud tai-bo like music, I was saved from certain embarrassment. It did smell quite a bit, but my farts usually smell like Hot Cross buns fresh from the oven. I'm sure it was more enjoyable than it was horrendous to my fellow gym goers.
I doubt this has any bearing on the discussion at hand, but I thought It would be nice to share.
Equinox does a decent job of cleaning bikes between spinning classes and wiping down the cardio machines. They also have hand sanitizers and tissues located throughout.
Here's a tip (if you can): don't shower or change at the gym. You avoid disease and don't have to see the fat, tattoo-covered chick's vajayjay.
@Kojak:
Fantastic mental image. That'll take care of my Afternoon Smile Quotient.
I, too, have let them rip by accident at the gym. Unfortunately mine usually occur on the treadmill, so those poor sods next to me have no choice but to endure it, or stop their treadmill workout midstream.
I also manage to let some go during Road Runner's races. I often picture an overhead shot of the pack just as I disperse the gas. I imagine a concentric ring of runners slowly shifting away from me, like ripples on a pond.
that's one way to win a race.
Out in my NYSC in Queens, I've seen someone wipe down a machine post-use once, maybe twice, in the past six months or so. Since when did this become acceptable? Back in the dark ages when I first started going to gyms, I was told to wipe down a machine after using it--always. And most other folks I saw back then did so as well. I don't expect everything to be Sanitized For My Protection By Unseen Elves, but as regards consideration for the other, are we in an ever-quickening, collective race to the bottom?
Um, did Gothamist read the article to which it linked? The paper tested for "various bacteria and MRSA, the antibiotic-resistant staph infection known as the superbug" but it didn't, as you say, "uncover" any:
"No traces of the superbug were found"
"The lab results did not find any pathogens"
Um, did Gothamist read the article to which it linked? The paper tested for "various bacteria and MRSA, the antibiotic-resistant staph infection known as the superbug" but it didn't, as you say, "uncover" any:
"No traces of the superbug were found"
"The lab results did not find any pathogens"
Okay, this thread is really disgusting. But I must weigh in on NYSC: They've introduced a lot of cleaning products in the past several months to my branch (94th & Broadway), available for anyone to use.
But all too often, I see people drip sweat all over machines and the floors around them and just LEAVE it that way. Not even a token effort use their towel to wipe them off. It is incredibly inconsiderate and disgusting. Who raises these people? What do they think the next person is supposed to do? It never ceases to amaze me.
I go to NYSC, and it's GROSS! I make liberal use of their giant blue bottles of hand disinfectant. And do you really think wiping a machine off with a dry towel makes much difference? "Token effort" is right! We should be wiping them down with disinfectant. That's what I do before I use them - I spray a paper towel with the disinfectant and wipe the handles of the elliptical.
I wear long sleeved t-shirts and long sweatpants to the gym, and disinfect my ankles and lower arms after using the exercise machines that touch exposed skin. The showers are just too gross to even think of using. I just disinfect with the spray, then run home and shower.
Yuck, yuck and yuck.
Oh yeah, wiseguynyc, I go to the 94th street one too. But only when I don't have time to make the pilgrimage to another branch that's much cleaner. I'm not spilling the beans on which branch that is! I don't want all the slobs (who think they're not the filthy ones! ha!) flocking there to ruin it for me!
The people who work there are much more polite, too. The 94th street staff are really crass and slackadaisical.
Oh yeah, wiseguynyc, I go to the 94th street one too. But only when I don't have time to make the pilgrimage to another branch that's much cleaner. I'm not spilling the beans on which branch that is! I don't want all the slobs (who think they're not the filthy ones! ha!) flocking there to ruin it for me!
The people who work there are much more polite, too. The 94th street staff are really crass and slackadaisical.
On the 6 train a few years ago I saw a really crusty (you could smell him from 10 feet away!) homeless guy standing next to a pole at one end of the car. Everyone in the car was giving a him wide berth, and we watched in horror while he dug around his ass with one hand. He was really going for gold and shortly took the 'bad' hand out and rubbed it up and down the pole.
Right after this the train stopped and he got off. A crowd of people got on and rushed into the space homeless guy left behind. Several people grabbed hold of the pole with both hands while the half of the car screamed in horror, our warnings unheard or understood.
I think of this every single time I ride the train.
Well, I'm glad other people agree that the 94th street NYSC is gross. Considering it's a relatively new branch, they need to clean up their act (and don't even get me started on all the machines and TV screens there that don't work!)...