Does your breath when you lift weights at the gym stink up the air around you?
The guilty are clueless that their bad breath can be smelled 10 feet away. I am always smelling someone’s foul breath at the gym.
There’s no reason for me to believe that my ability to smell is so superior to other people’s that I’m the only one able to smell all that bad breath.
I have to believe that other gym patrons also smell it. Or maybe my sense of smell really IS super sharp?
I seem to be the only person who reacts to bad breath at the gym–by putting my shirt up to my nose or waving my hand by my nose.
I hate to say this, but this problem is almost exclusively limited to men. Hard workouts or lifting heavy weights do not cause bad breath.
On the other hand, there are far more men in the free weights area of any gym, and maybe that’s why it seems that the culprits are always men.
Recently I ventured into the gym for a good workout and was nearly knocked unconscious from the horrendous stench of bad breath from the men.
I hope I’m not coming across as a “man-basher,” but I’m simply telling it like it is.
When not a single woman is in sight, and with every inhalation I get a very foul breath odor, this can be coming from only the men.
And sometimes it’s just one man who’s stinking up the 10 foot radius of air around him wherever he moves.
Is there a reason why, prior to weightlifting that men cannot first brush their teeth? Women, too, should do this. Women are not immune to bad breath.
Good Gym Etiquette: Keep Mouth Closed when Possible
Yes, you need to huff and puff with an open mouth when you just killed a set, but I see men with open mouths between sets when they’re sitting on a bench texting, or standing around in between exercises, not appearing out of breath.
By keeping their mouths closed, this would reduce the amount of bad breath that seeps into the air.
Men will stare at themselves in a mirror between weightlifting sets admiring their trained physiques.
But those muscles mean nothing if your bad breath stinks up a 10-foot radius around you.
Imagine the difference it would make if everyone simply decided to brush their teeth before entering the gym.
If you’re coming from the workplace, either brush your teeth at the workplace, or brush your teeth in the gym locker room before you start weightlifting.
Always carry toothpaste and a toothbrush in your gym bag, or bring these to the workplace. If you’re coming from home, then that’s even easier.
Bad breath is a topic nobody talks about.
So maybe everyone suffers silently, thinking THEY can’t possibly be the guilty men (or women).
As a result, NOBODY brushes their teeth, figuring that only everyone ELSE should.
If you don’t care that your bad breath will sicken someone, at least consider the possibility that you might meet a real hot babe at the gym, and what if you have bad breath?
If you don’t brush your teeth before hitting the gym, assume that you greatly contribute to the stench of mass bad breath at the gym.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
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