5 Locker Room (Please) Don’ts

by | Jan 26, 2016 | One Health Clubs

Like all of the facilities at One Health Clubs, our locker rooms are a space to be shared, utilized and appreciated by all of our members. The following is a fun (but informative) take on the things we should all consider when sharing the great facilities here at the club. Enjoy!

1. DON’T Air Dry

Hollywood constantly portrays men’s locker rooms as a place to nonchalantly waltz about in your birthday suit, cracking jokes or discussing important plot points. In 1996’s “Jerry Maguire,” Cuba Gooding Jr. remains buck naked while in deep conversation with Tom Cruise — all in the name of “air-drying.” It’s a thing. The Wall Street Journal even ran the article “I Saw Lloyd Blankfein Naked,” which detailed the Goldman Sachs CEO’s locker room habit. Here’s why air drying is a no-no: First of all, you’ll drip water on already-slippery locker room floors. Second, you’re lounging in the buff long enough to make everyone uncomfortable. Keep your towel firmly wrapped around you and remember the LOFO rule: Last Off, First On. Undies should be the final article of clothing removed before showering and the first to be put back on. (And make it a fresh pair, please!)

2. DON’T Take a Selfie

Gyms serve as a natural habitat for narcissists, but that doesn’t mean the locker room is for staging muscle shows. Locker rooms are for getting changed and cleaned up, and selfies are something done in private. Unfortunately, “healthies” (selfies taken in yoga poses or while exercising) are a trend now, thanks to the likes of Gisele Bundchen and Heidi Klum. If you must selfie/healthie, do so on the gym floor and not in the locker room. You may think it’s a snapshot of your awesomeness, but others may think it’s a snapshot of their nakedness. In 2004, The United States Congress passed the Video Voyeurism Prevention Act that prohibits the photographing or videotaping of a naked person without his/her permission in a gym, dressing room or anywhere else with a “reasonable expectation of privacy.” Violators face fines of up to $100,000 and/or up to a year in prison. Oops. Play it safe and turn off your cell phone in the locker room.

3. DON’T Use the Sauna or Steam Room Naked or Barefoot

Welcome to the grand prix of gym etiquette: the steam room/sauna! This is where all your locker room trials and tribulations fuse into one epic faceoff showdown. Steam rooms may pose the bigger health risk, as their wet, warm environments create an ideal petri dish for bacteria and fungi to flourish — everything from athlete’s foot and jock itch to more serious conditions like herpes simplex and antibiotic-resistant staph like MRSA. In other words, never sit in a steam room with your bare butt on the tiles and/or your bare feet on the floor.

4. DON’T Blow-Dry Your Body Parts

Certain personal maintenance issues really shouldn’t be performed in the presence of a public audience. (And, yes, locker rooms count as public.) Clipping toenails, squeezing blemishes, removing dental fixtures, spraying cologne all over the place — all big no-nos. But one practice with an alarming number of firsthand-witness accounts online is this one: Aiming a gym’s communal blow-dryer at damp hair growing well below one’s neckline — and usually with one foot planted atop a locker room counter. Need we say more?

5. DON’T Urinate in the Shower

Two decades after that infamous “Seinfeld” episode in which George nearly loses his gym membership after he was caught urinating in the locker room shower, medical experts in 2014 finally debunked the commonly held belief that human urine is sterile. In fact, 33 different types of common bacteria are found in our wee, and it jumps to as many as 77 types if your stream emanates from an overactive bladder. That alone should cause a “pee pause” for the overwhelming 80 percent of the population who admit to urinating while showering (according to a “Today” show poll). Don’t be a George — hold it in when showering at the gym.

The above 5 were selected as our favourites from an article written by Matthew Link. To see the full article click here.