Your help is required to maintain a clean gym. It is all of our responsibilities to ensure we have a hygienic place to train. It is very important to make sure that we are all taking cleanliness seriously. Keep yourself and your gear clean: gis, rash guards, spats, shorts, gloves, shin guards, ect. Personal hygiene is important for our health and the health of our teammates but also keeps our academy thriving. What can you do?
1)Wear Clean Training Clothes
- Gi Jiu Jitsu – Wash your gi after every class. Make sure you have a few gis in rotation so you can properly wash and dry your gi thoroughly. Don’t forget to wash your belt too!
- No Gi Jiu Jitsu – Wear clean rashguard, spats, and shorts. Wash these items with a splash of vinegar to get rid of stubborn smells.
2)Wash Your Gym Bag
Your gym bag is the catch all for all the sweaty gear and gis. Often times, this step is over looked. Never leave wet clothes in your gym bag overnight. Bacteria thrives in dark, damp places and the smell is awful. Bacteria can be transferred to clean gear from your dirty bag defeating the whole idea of washing your gear.
3)Sanitize Gear
Remove all gear from your gym bag and sanitize it, even handwraps. These can be thrown in the washing machine in mesh bags. Some of our favorite methods:
- Place outside in the sun
- Wipe down with sanitizing wipes
- Spray with antibacterial spray
4)No Barefoot Off The Mats
Flip flops or some other form of footwear is required when stepping off the mat. Especially in the bathrooms. Barefeet in the bathrooms is just gross. You do not want germs from the bathroom to be transferred to the mats which then get transferred to your body. The lobby gets a massive amount of foot traffic and is the perfect petri dish for breeding of stuff we do not want on the mats that can get on our skin.
5)Trim Finger & Toe Nails
Long nails are like razors and can cut you and your partner. No one wants someone else’s blood on them and then mat also needs to be disinfected. Open wounds are often the culprit for transferring infections. If you do have an open wound, properly cover it. Also, check with your coach. If there is anything suspicious looking, you might not be allowed on the mats.
7)Wear deodorant
Do us all a favor and wear deodorant, your armpits and partners will thank you.
8)Shower (We have a shower in the each locker room)
On that note…shower regularly. This lessens your chances of picking up skin irritations and infections. Your partner will also appreciate you smelling so fresh and so clean. Extra points if you can brush your teeth before class too. We are in very close proximity and bad breath can make the session unbearable.
9)Bring A Change Of Clothes
If you plan on taking more than one class, it is a good idea to bring some clean clothes so you can change in between classes. Getting into your car with sweat soaked clothing transfers bacteria and stank to your car. This smell is super hard to get rid of once it’s soaked in your seats.
10)Make Good Decisions
Don’t train when you are sick. Don’t train if you have some kind of skin funk such as ringworm or athlete’s foot. Protect your training partners and your academy by taking some time off.
