Terrible BO at the gym

[AG247]

I go to my workout classes a few times a week, and I’m guessing since the weather has been getting warmer(?) people are sweating more.

The issue is that there is frequently a TERRIBLE smell of BO in my classes to the point that I cannot concentrate and feel physically ill. I’m talking BO so strong I am constantly checking myself to make sure it’s not me - it literally PERMEATES the entire room and invades your personal space!

I think, it is coming from certain men since they often work out in t-shirts and hoodies and I’ve been told that kind of smell actually stems from sweating in unwashed clothing?

AIBU to ask the gym staff to say something to the class about hygiene? I’ve mentioned loudly that it smells before but I obviously can’t single anyone out. I don’t understand how people can walk around like that and/or how their friends or partners don’t tell them that they stink?

It's a gym. People sweat when working out. Sweat sometimes smells.
What do you expect the gym to do? Insist everybody showers before and after classes? Make it policy that people need to be wearing freshly laundered clothing to enter gym? Run around febreezing everyone every 5 minutes?

Suck it up

Yeah that would annoy me too! But it's a gym not a tea party so really it should be expected not accepted tho.

How would you not accept it? What would you do to 'solve the problem'?

YANBU the sort of BO you're talking about is a stench upon general stenchiness. I know sweat smells a bit, and to a degree you expect it a bit in the gym - but the nauseating kind is beyond gross and it would make me feel sick too. When I smell it in the supermarkets it makes me heave, must be 10 times worse in the gym. How these people have no self awareness is beyond me. Nose blind OP ?

Clean sweat shouldn't smell.
Yes, people should shower and wear clean gym kit.
It is jusr basic manners.

My sense of smell has been buggered since I had covid. Maybe theirs is too? Or they’re just smelly fuckers.

I think it's often people who work in physical jobs and then work up a sweat in the gym. I used to see my ex's mate in the gym (worked in construction) and he'd sometimes smell a bit beefy if he'd worked up a sweat, but not before. He never smelled when we'd see him on nights out etc.

I work in construction/trucking and in the summer usually shower both before and after working out otherwise I smell a bit. Main reason is that a day of regularly working up a slight sweat means that it can smell a bit stale a few hours later when you hit gym, even if it doesn't smell until you start properly exercising.

I don't even have a very physical job but compared to sitting at a desk there are many more opportunities to 'get a fab on'. Anything north of 20° and I get light sweat on my back if I'm doing something mildly physical in the sun whilst wearing a hardhat, trousers, and hi viz. The hardhat prevents you losing heat through your forehead and hi viz tend to be quite plasticky and don't let off heat well.

A lot of guys don't shower properly in the morn either if they're going to get filthy within an hour on leaving the house. I'll admit I sometimes only have a quick wash if I know I'll be soaking wet/splattered in mud, but if this is the case I'll shower before training.

'get a dab on' not fab

The OP is talking about stale sweat though.

Anyway OP I dunno that the gym will have a general word, but you can certainly ask..

Fresh sweat on a clean body and clothes doesn’t smell.

What's the ventilation like?

And so?

Some workout gear develops a permastink even when regularly washed

Another reason why I like to exercise outdoors, the smell of fresh air

I'd mention the ventilation in the room rather than the smell, and ask if it's working properly as it's affecting your ability to enjoy the class.

Im not a gym dweller but for some reason I have one armpit that smells. I shower every day and wear anti perspirant and yet my right armpit will often smell a bit BO ey by the end of the day

Nothing I can do about it.

It's always men who don't wash their tops between wears. I have the misfortune to come across culprits every so often. It's gross.
Fresh sweat on someone who washes doesn't smell bad.

Not strictly true, can depend on the fibres the clothes are made of and whether they have much breathability

DD's middle school class used to have PE just before maths class. Due to most of them having hormonal changes and not changing clothes to do PE there was a funk around them when they came in. The maths teacher used to spray air freshener around.

In high school a girl entered maths class and loudly exclaimed 'It stinks in here Coach, have you had the wrestling team in here?' (maths teacher was also the wrestling coach).

I'm not sure how either of these approaches would work in an adult gym environment though.

It's the mingers who don't wash regularly or wash their gym clothes regularly who smell. Have you checked whether you are particularly sensitive to the smell by asking someone else if they can smell it too? If so I would speak with the trainer. They won't be the first gym to have had to deal with this.

I doubt there is much you can do sadly, unless you can identify an individual. Even with this, gyms I expect would be reluctant to lose members or restrict them from classes.

I think part of the problem may come from 'basic' gyms and the culture of going to and from the gym having changed into exercise clothes at home.

I wouldn’t be able to handle this. Strong BO is up there with the smell of vomit and stale urine for me. I can handle the smell of shit more than BO and urine.

The stinker needs telling. It’s selfish, lazy and unnecessary.

We used to have a man at our gym that stunk the whole place out and it is grim. Fresh sweat shouldn't smell like that

That's the case for the guy at my gym. His white top is yellow with dry sweat. He absolutely stinks, unfortunately to the point people leave that area. It's really frustrating.