This is pretty disgusting...
The dumbbell you picked up at the gym (probably a month ago at this stage) has 362 times more germs on it than a toilet seat.
So basically, it would have been far more hygienic for you to simply be curling a toilet seat in front of a mirror than your regular dumbbell, although admittedly less effective for muscle building.
A study conducted by
FitRated.com gathered bacteria from three different fitness chains and found that, surprise surprise, gyms are disgustingly dirty.
Treadmills, exercise bikes, and free weights had on average, one million bacteria cells per square inch, compared to 3,200 bacteria cells per square inch on a toilet seat.
It's important to say that not all of this bacteria can make you sick but research showed that around 70% of the bacteria could be potentially harmful to humans.
See, you thought we hadn't been going to the gym all this time because we were lazy, but we were actually being healthy and careful of all the germs.
So what do you do to try and protect yourself from those nasty buggers? Disinfect machines before and after use, wash your hands regularly, don't walk around barefoot and change out of your gym clothes immediately after your workout.
But above all, make sure you check in on Facebook and post to Instagram and Twitter with #Gainz and #BulkingSeason. I mean, what's the point of going to the gym if you don't let people know...?
You can read the
full study here.
