Gym Cleanliness – why your gym should be regularly cleaned

Hitting the gym is a great way to sharpen the mind, become healthier and physically fitter, and with the public becoming more health-conscious they look for local gyms that are close by.So, when a new customer comes to your gym you want to leave a lasting and positive first impression.  Making sure that all equipment is clean and members come into a welcoming environment.However, there are some areas of a gym that can be a magnet for bacteria, viruses, and infections. Here are just some of the high-risk areas that you need to be aware of:

• Weights, weight machines and exercise balls – These types of equipment aren’t cleaned as often as other fitness equipment, leading to bugs and viruses such as colds and even MRSA to grow and spread. It’s been stated that free weights had 362 times more germs than a toilet seat (not a very nice thing to handle when trying to keep fit!).
• Exercise Mats – Exercise Mats are one hotspot for microbes that cause skin infections such as athletes’ foot, cold & flu, and Hepatitis A.
• Cardio Machines – Sweaty treadmills, elliptical and spinning bikes are more likely to be cleaned down after use than weights but even when cleaned 63% of machines that have been disinfected still have traces of the cold virus.
• Locker Room – Humid locker rooms are the perfect environment for the growth of viruses and infections such as Staph, Strep and MRSA. Also, as customers come in from outside, they bring in other germs and bacteria that can cause stomach flu.
• Showers – Like locker rooms, showers can be the perfect environment for bacteria and mould to grow – becoming riddled with fungi and organisms that can cause infections like athletes’ foot.

Not regularly cleaning gym equipment or using less effective cleaning products can have a detrimental effect on your gym. Statistics have found that 56% of gym-goers expect their gym to be germ-free and if a gym was perceived to be unclean, customer satisfaction rates would fall from 83% to 43% and customer retention rates to fall from 90% to 52%.To keep customer satisfaction and retention rates high, you could show that your gym is a clean and healthy environment, encouraging customers to use hand sanitisers before using equipment and use anti-bacterial wipes to clean machines and weights down after use. Implementing a regular cleaning schedule, making sure that staff are regularly cleaning all areas of your gym. But if this is something that you or your staff can’t maintain, why not hire someone else in to do it for you?So how can A&R help you?We at A&R Cleaning services pride ourselves on providing and maintaining high standards of cleaning within the sports facilities industry. We know that any gyms aim is to provide a safe and clean environment for customers. And so when cleaning, we use industrial cleaning products that are effective at disinfecting – killing bacteria and viruses such as MRSA alongside using innovative equipment and our colour code cloth system.Not only can we provide you with our effective cleaning system and products, our staff can regularly clean anytime during working or closed hours and any staff absences are covered my our mobile cleaning team.