How to make the most out of showering at the gym?
December 9, 2010 1:32 PM Subscribe
How to make showering at the gym (and carrying wet stuff around) as painless and enjoyable as possible?
Just joined my work gym which has separate showers and temporary lockers but no towel service or overnight locker storage. What are your tips and tricks for making showering and managing a gym bag that will sometimes have clean clothes and sometimes nasty clothes and wet flip-flops, soap, and shampoo bottles a pleasure? Are there special soap containers or shampoo bottles or gym bags I should buy? Anything else you do to manage the transition back to working?
I'm male, low-maintenance, and my work clothes are just jeans/khakis and polos.
Just joined my work gym which has separate showers and temporary lockers but no towel service or overnight locker storage. What are your tips and tricks for making showering and managing a gym bag that will sometimes have clean clothes and sometimes nasty clothes and wet flip-flops, soap, and shampoo bottles a pleasure? Are there special soap containers or shampoo bottles or gym bags I should buy? Anything else you do to manage the transition back to working?
I'm male, low-maintenance, and my work clothes are just jeans/khakis and polos.
Best answer: My gym bag has an opening from the top, and an opening from one end. The opening on the end leads to a pocket that expands into the main cavity of the bag, but the pocket keeps it a little separate. It's not totally waterproof, but I use it to help keep my wet bathing suit away from dry things in the other side. You might look for a bag with that kind of feature for holding your shampoo and such.
A big factor is making sure that as soon as you get home in the evening, you take everything out of the bag and leave it open to dry and air out. That'll keep it from smelling horribly like the dirty things you took out of it, when you put clean things in it tomorrow.
posted by jacquilynne at 1:43 PM on December 9, 2010
A big factor is making sure that as soon as you get home in the evening, you take everything out of the bag and leave it open to dry and air out. That'll keep it from smelling horribly like the dirty things you took out of it, when you put clean things in it tomorrow.
posted by jacquilynne at 1:43 PM on December 9, 2010
I used to hang my wet towel over the back seat of my car while I went to work. It's leaned back a bit, so the towel hangs into airspace, not flat against the seat. At the end of the day, bring towel and gymbag in the house and replace/repack as needed.
posted by CathyG at 1:51 PM on December 9, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by CathyG at 1:51 PM on December 9, 2010 [1 favorite]
Large ziploc bags.
posted by not_on_display at 1:57 PM on December 9, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by not_on_display at 1:57 PM on December 9, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I use a small microfiber towel. It's absorbent enough that it works as well as a larger one. I dry it under my desk, somewhat hidden from view. The clothes stay cooped up unfortunately.
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 1:57 PM on December 9, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 1:57 PM on December 9, 2010 [2 favorites]
Best answer: 1. 2 small gym bags: clean/dry and wet/dirty
2. all in one shampoo/body wash (adidas is the one i like)
3. fresh towel every AM along with work clothes in the dry/clean bag. (wear gym cloths
4. shower, wet towel and dirty gym clothes into wet/dirty bag.
5. i love it! so great to be freshly showered and go right to your desk.
-c
posted by chasles at 1:58 PM on December 9, 2010 [1 favorite]
2. all in one shampoo/body wash (adidas is the one i like)
3. fresh towel every AM along with work clothes in the dry/clean bag. (wear gym cloths
4. shower, wet towel and dirty gym clothes into wet/dirty bag.
5. i love it! so great to be freshly showered and go right to your desk.
-c
posted by chasles at 1:58 PM on December 9, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Micro-fiber towels are a must. I like the Aquis Adventure towels. I also purchased what the seller called a "wet bag" from etsy. It's a waterproof bag that's more durable than Ziploc and reusable.
posted by Colonel_Chappy at 2:31 PM on December 9, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by Colonel_Chappy at 2:31 PM on December 9, 2010 [3 favorites]
I'll leave some clothes (especially pants and ironed shirts) at work from time to time if I know I'll be taking a long bike ride in, or similar. You could even take a week's worth once in awhile to avoid wrinkling and lugging it around in general.
That doesn't help with the wet clothes problem - which I hated until I started at a gym with locker/laundry - but it might be a good idea to lessen the load otherwise.
posted by kcm at 2:31 PM on December 9, 2010
That doesn't help with the wet clothes problem - which I hated until I started at a gym with locker/laundry - but it might be a good idea to lessen the load otherwise.
posted by kcm at 2:31 PM on December 9, 2010
Seconding the micro-fibre towels. They dry superfast. If you have even a coat hook in your workspace, you can have them dry within an hour or two, depending on the ventilation in your building.
I *don't* recommend sealing in anything wet, with ziploc or other 'wet bags'. Your clothes will be 10 times the nasty when you take them out if you seal in any sweat or shower water. As long as they aren't staying your gym bag for more than 24 hours, your sweaty gym clothes won't make the whole thing smelly, especially if the bag is open to the air at the top.
For soap, I prefer a body wash to bar soap at my work gym, because you don't need to think about storing it in any particular way.
posted by Kurichina at 2:45 PM on December 9, 2010
I *don't* recommend sealing in anything wet, with ziploc or other 'wet bags'. Your clothes will be 10 times the nasty when you take them out if you seal in any sweat or shower water. As long as they aren't staying your gym bag for more than 24 hours, your sweaty gym clothes won't make the whole thing smelly, especially if the bag is open to the air at the top.
For soap, I prefer a body wash to bar soap at my work gym, because you don't need to think about storing it in any particular way.
posted by Kurichina at 2:45 PM on December 9, 2010
If you work out early in the day, you could leave the dirty clothes & wet towel in the locker to air out until the end of the day, then pick them up on your way out. This depends on how convenient it is to stop by the gym again when you leave. Things don't air out that much in a locker, but it's probably better than in your gym bag. Also, this way you don't have a bulky gym bag sitting around your cube.
posted by pompelmo at 5:34 PM on December 9, 2010
posted by pompelmo at 5:34 PM on December 9, 2010
Best answer: previously
Designed for a lady gym goer, but still a lot of good info in there!
posted by paddingtonb at 11:54 PM on December 9, 2010
Designed for a lady gym goer, but still a lot of good info in there!
posted by paddingtonb at 11:54 PM on December 9, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by BobbyDigital at 1:40 PM on December 9, 2010