Fitness Tip of the Week #8, I Hate Being Sick

Welcome back everyone for another great tip! A couple days were particularly rough for me this past week as I woke up one morning with a cold. It really affected my ability to do the workouts I had planned. I decided to do some research on the cold, and illnesses in general, and give you all a tip you can use to help keep yourself healthy and active, rather than laying in bed like me with chills and a miserable headache.

The best preventative measure is to wash your hands with soap. Pretty basic. The key is washing with the soap and water. The common cold is not bacterial, but viral, meaning antibacterial soap does not ‘kill’ the cold germs. The physical act of rubbing your hands under the water is what washes them off. The antibacterial soap is used to actually kill bacteria that can cause illnesses such as staph infection.

Here’s an interesting story that covers hand washing, and also mentions studies done on the use of antibacterial soap. http://www.fstribune.com/story/1183525.html

Lots of schools are now taking measures to prevent the spreading of the swine flu by putting soap dispensers in the classrooms. But, take the next step and wash with water too.

So, when you are at the gym this week, make sure you take a minute when you are done to go wash with soap and water. Most gyms have a policy that people should use a towel to wipe off equipment they use, but this doesn’t mean you should be confident everyone has. Bacteria and viruses can survive several hours outside the body on surface, such as dumbbells, plyo balls, or handrails on cardio equipment. Just take a minute or two to wash your hands after going to the gym.  and maybe you will have prevented yourself from getting a nasty cold. I guess if you do, you will never know!