Tech that's making your workout cleaner

Workouts are naturally sweaty ordeals if you’re doing them right. During your exercise routine, you’ll be sweating and touching all kinds of equipment. If you work out in a gym, all the equipment you use is being used by similarly sweaty people; even if wiped down in accordance with gym policies, workout facilities can be breeding grounds for microbial growth and the spread of potentially harmful strains of bacteria. Locker rooms provide an extension of the same problem. Fortunately, scientists and engineers are working on technologies that can serve as supplements for killing bacteria and keeping conditions less vulnerable to spreading bacteria.

Moisture Wicking Clothes

First up, there’s moisture wicking technology, which allows certain types of fabric to “wick” sweat away from the body. Under ordinary circumstances, workout clothing easily becomes saturated with human sweat, providing an uncomfortable and messy experience for the average gym-goer. Moisture wicking clothing, however, draws moisture away from the skin and up to the surface of the clothing item, where it can freely evaporate into the air. There’s been speculation that this may interfere with sweat’s natural function to efficiently cool the skin, but your clothes will be less sweaty, and you’ll have a cleaner, more comfortable workout as a result.

Antimicrobial Clothes

Some companies are taking moisture-wicking fabrics a step further by researching the potential for antimicrobial textiles. The idea here is to embed clothing items with products that naturally kill certain forms of bacteria and microbes; with this in place, body odor could potentially be eliminated, and you could protect yourself from many of the dangerous microbes that lurk in gyms and weight rooms.

Paint That Kills Bacteria

What if the walls of gyms and locker rooms themselves could kill harmful strains of bacteria? That’s the idea behind Sherwin-Williams® latest Paint Shield® Micobicidal Paint product. Paint Shield® Microbicidal Paint kills 99.9% of certain types of bacteria such as Staph (Staphylococcus aureus) and E. coli within two hours of exposure on painted surfaces. What’s even better is that as long as the surface is properly maintained, the paint can continue killing bacteria* on the painted surface for up to four years after its application.

*Kills greater than 99.9% of Staph (Staphylococcus aureus), MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), E. coli (Escherichia coli), VRE (Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis) and Enterobacter aerogenes within 2 hours of exposure on painted surfaces. Learn more about Paint Shield® Microbicidal Paint at; swpaintshield.com

The Ongoing Battle

No matter how many new technologies emerge to help us combat the rise and spread of harmful bacteria and microbes, our workouts are always going to be susceptible to disease causing bacteria. One day, there may be a one-size-fits-all method to protect everyone from everything, but until then, it’s still vitally important to regularly clean and disinfect your workout equipment and leverage these technologies to serve as a supplement for reducing bacteria. The use of an antimicrobial treated surface is a supplement to and not a substitute for standard infection control practices; users must continue to follow all current infection control practices, including those practices related to cleaning and disinfection of environmental surfaces. The battle against bacteria is an ongoing one.