When you walk into the gym, you can see all the gymnasiums marked with the word “antibacterial” and many people are relieved by it and are convinced that if you use these antibacterial devices, you can sleep well in the sweaty exercise and protect your health. This seemingly symmetrical perception is a highly misleading area of error.
Anti-bacterial devices are, in principle, “excessive”. Such devices are typically coated with special antibacterial coatings or incorporate antibacterial elements into the materials of manufacture, such as nanosilver particles, which can continuously release silver ions, interfere with the cell wall synthesis of bacteria and disrupt their metabolic processes, thus inhibiting the growth of common pathogens, such as coliform and golden spherical fungi, and reducing microbial loads on the surface of the apparatus for a certain period of time. When a large number of fitness enthusiasts rotate their devices, the antibacterial function reduces the bacterial “relay” transmission and establishes the first line of defence for the public fitness environment.
But it is far from sufficient to protect the health of users by relying solely on anti-bacterial devices. It is the human body itself that bears the brunt. During the exercise, people sweat in large quantities, sugar, protein and salt in the sweat, “showing a feast” for bacteria. When users sweat their instruments like rain, they are left on the surface, and even if they have anti-bacterial properties, they cannot sustain a continuous flow of “breeding” supplies, and bacteria are immediately “re-emergenced” and proliferating rapidly. Moreover, the skin textures and nails on people’s hands are the “sheltering place” of bacteria, in which the fungus of which are hidden “displaces” when they are seized, opening up a new “colonial expansion” against which anti-bacterial devices are inexcusable.
Moreover, the space complexity of the gym should not be underestimated. The air circulates in relatively closed indoors, with poor ventilation, a cold cough in a given region, the foams of the virus being carried, influenza viruses, nasal viruses, etc., may attack others at any time. There is also the ground, as an area that is frequently trampled, the mud and disease of the soles of the shoes, the dust rises in people’s travel, the bacteria “crawling” scattered everywhere, the polluting devices and the surrounding environment, so that the local advantages of the antibacterials are offset by the whole “dirty disarray”.
In addition, there is a limited “conservation period” for the antibacterial function of the apparatus. As the frequency of use increases and the time is extended, antibacterial coatings are worn and stripped, and antibacterial components are gradually lost and their effectiveness is significantly reduced. A commonly used treadmill, which is used daily by a large number of people with a high intensity, may have minimal antibacterial effect in months, becoming a common device, but it is often difficult for users to detect it and still relies blindly on its protection.
A multipronged approach is required to ensure the health of the users of the gym. The gymnasium operator, on the one hand, cannot focus solely on antibacterial equipment, but also on improving the ventilation system to ensure that indoor air is constantly fresh and the disease concentration dilutes; and on a regular basis, it cleans up the ground, walls, and so on, and eliminates bacterial breeding soil. On the other hand, members are provided with cleaning materials such as disinfectant wet towels, hand-washing fluids and promotion of the use of pre- and post-cleaning devices, cleaning of hands and cutting the transmission chain from the source.
For exercise lovers, they carry their own towels, and when they exercise, they are laid on the surface of the instrument to prevent direct contact with other people ‘ s sweat residue; they take a timely bath and change their clothes, and they do not wear sweaty clothes on their bodies for long periods of time and do not give bacteria the opportunity to take advantage of them. At the same time, attention is paid to their physical condition and to avoiding visits to gymnasiums in case of illness, in order to prevent infection.
Anti-bacterial equipment in gymnasiums is useful, but it is not a healthy “safe box”. Only when users and operators are fully aware of the complexity of health security and work together on all aspects of prevention can the gym truly become a “invisible hotbed” for the strong body. Let’s not be confused with a single antibacterial “photoring” and embrace full health with action.
