Is it weird to shower at the gym?

Posted by lilfaeri@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 73 comments

I’ve been going to the gym for a few months now and I almost always shower at the gym before leaving.
I cannot stand being all sweaty and then just getting in the car and going home / going to work. I feel like I need to have a quick shower to refresh, then get changed into clean clothes before I carry on with the rest of my day.

My brother and a few of my friends think it’s really weird that I shower at the gym and don’t just wait until I go home.

To be fair, I don’t often see other people using the showers… so maybe I am the weird one?

[-]

Supergoose5000@reddit

This is an absolutely insane question.

[-]

lilfaeri@reddit (OP)

I know but I feel so outnumbered because everyone in my life thinks I’m the oddball and I just wondered if I really am in the right or not. They’re all “gym bro” guys so I thought they’d know more about gym etiquette etc than me

[-]

Supergoose5000@reddit

Dude shower at the gym. It's a gym don't over think it. Do your mates also question you buying coffee outside your home?

[-]

Dry_Extension_9850@reddit

From what I’ve seen/smelt at the gym, the gym bros could do with showering more often.

[-]

ciaodog@reddit

I know! Walking around in your gym grime! Why?

[-]

budgiebirdman@reddit

You probably are an oddball, but you do you - if you want a shower at the gym have a shower at the gym; everyone can be right by doing what's right for them. Insisting that one side has to be correct is the odd thing.

[-]

CandleAffectionate25@reddit

What would be weird is showering at the gym and then getting right back into sweaty gym clothes...

[-]

BabaSarah@reddit

It's weirder not showering at the gym

[-]

IsOkay_No@reddit

I shower at home but in fairness all my stuff is there

[-]

Then_Wheel_3561@reddit

Getting back in your car all sweaty and nasty is way weirder than having a shower at the gym

[-]

DarthKrataa@reddit

only if you're doing it in the wrong changing room

[-]

liltrex94@reddit

I don't go to the gym, but I swim. I have to shower afterwards and it is very normal for others to also.your friends are weird

[-]

DreadLifter@reddit

No it's not weird at all.

I'm generally going home after the gym so just shower there. As I usually train in the evenings the gym showers are pretty rank by that time of day. When I trained in the morning before work I'd sometimes shower at the gym but they were push button showers with lava temperature water so I'd generally wait until I got to work and shower there.

[-]

Neither_Process_7847@reddit

If it was that weird, they wouldn't be providing showers.

[-]

Amazing-Visual-2919@reddit

Weird not to shower.

[-]

simmyawardwinner@reddit

not wierd at all, it clears the pores after a big workout and stops you from being smelly sweat or clammy. who cares what they think. there are showers there for a reason. enjoy your shower 😃

[-]

DellaMorte_X@reddit

I’ve only not showered at the gym when I lived very close by and prefer my own but otherwise it’s completely normal. Don’t let them wind you up.

[-]

NortonBurns@reddit

It used to be de rigueur, everybody did.
The younger generation now seem so body shy they'd rather stink than get clean where anyone else might see them.

That's what I'd call weird.

[-]

ciaodog@reddit

Ah yes its generational..

[-]

lilfaeri@reddit (OP)

yeah this seems to be it. my brother and friends are all early 20s and find it incredibly weird, embarrassing or just awkward to shower anywhere that’s not home. i guess they don’t want to lose aura

[-]

International-Wear57@reddit

You people care WAY too much about what others think, oh my life! Why else would the gym have showers?

[-]

Ok_Raspberry5383@reddit

If I'm going to work straight after then of course I'd shower in the gym, but if I'm just going straight home then why wouldn't I shower in my own shower where all my cleaning products are, etc. I'd have to bring all that plus an extra towel to shower in (don't want to use my sweaty gym towel).

[-]

Yellow_cupcake_@reddit

Not weird at all. Personally I am a home-showerer, but that is because I am a woman with long hair and I try to line gym days up with hair wash days (I have an exciting life I know). My fiancé on the other hand showers at the gym, and I regularly see the showers in the women’s changing room in use.

[-]

chartupdate@reddit

Do your friends imagine the gym supplies shower facilities just because they look nice?

[-]

ciaodog@reddit

I know bloody hell, one of the perks of the membership is the hot shower! Who are these savages wasting their chance for a free 10min hot bloody shower!

[-]

littlebird2446@reddit

Your brother and your friends are absolute weapons. On what planet would showering at the gym be weird.

[-]

Mundane-Topic-8214@reddit

I would never shower at the gym if I was going home. I would go home in my gym clothes and shower at home.

I would only shower at the gym if I was going somewhere else straight after.

[-]

SofaChillReview@reddit

Dunno I don’t want my car to smell of sweat and save on water showering at the gym

[-]

Virtual_Opinion_8630@reddit

Seat cover and windows down/air con

[-]

stargasm420@reddit

It's not weird, I shower at the gym but I live in a van, if I had a home I would absolutely shower at home and not the gym

[-]

gothmog149@reddit

It really depends. If you're heading straight to work after or to some social engagement, then of course you shower - otherwise the alternative is you smell of body odour and sweat. If your brother and friends think that's weird then they have serious hygiene problems.

HOWEVER, if you are going to the gym and heading straight back home - I'd consider it more normal to just jump in your car and head back to you can shower in comfort in your own place. I would never 'opt' to use the gym showers, it's more necessity.

[-]

AttentionOtherwise80@reddit

My husband worked in Central London and a number of staff ran or cycled in to work. They had a shower installed so they could freshen up when they got there. No-one wants to sit next to someone who has come straight from exercising.

[-]

Similar_Floor_7390@reddit

I don't go to the gym but if I did I wouldn't shower there just cos the idea of being in direct contact with the floor everyone has been on makes me shudder

[-]

nikhkin@reddit

No, not really.

A lot of people go to the gym before work. They shower and get ready there.

If you're not too sweaty, or walking / cycling home then you can travel home and shower there.

If you're incredibly sweaty, I'm not sure why you'd want to get into your car and drive home like that.

[-]

FinancialScore9070@reddit

I have a gym membership that I don’t use, just to use the shower at the gym. Tell your mates that, it’ll take some of the heat off you!

[-]

lilfaeri@reddit (OP)

haha thanks for taking one for the team!

[-]

ProofLegitimate9990@reddit

I wouldn’t say it’s weird to shower at the gym, but I would say it’s uncommon to shower just to go home.

Personally they time it takes to sort out my shower stuff and a change of clothes is less than it takes me to get home and shower.

[-]

Tr1c14@reddit

I would shower at our gym but they have glass screens with a not very big frosted privacy area and im fairly sure people would just see everything... and they smell funky. but im a tight arse and go to pure gym so thats probably why

[-]

lilfaeri@reddit (OP)

i could tell from the description that it was pure gym haha

[-]

TheBeardedStoic@reddit

Every single one of my friends think it’s weird that I shower naked in the communal shower at the gym. I don’t give a fuck what they think. You shouldn’t either. What works for you, works for you.

[-]

Dry_Extension_9850@reddit

Not weird at all. I live a 5 min walk away so I would only shower at the gym if I was going to anywhere else straight afterwards. The showers at my current gym are pretty grim but if I’m at a gym that has nice facilities and provides towels I would treat myself to steam, sauna, shower after most my workouts.

[-]

reddiuniquefool@reddit

Showering at the gym seems completely normal to me. Exercise. Sweat. Shower.

[-]

Tosaveoneselftrouble@reddit

I purely go to the gym to shower sometimes, as I live in a very hard water area that dries my hair out and gives me skin irritation. The hotel level water filter and softener system makes my gym membership totally worth it!

[-]

FeedingTheBadWolf@reddit

No of course not. Imagine all the old sweat that would build up on your car seat over time if you waited until you got home.

Your mates are the weird ones lol

[-]

DTH2001@reddit

The showers are always in use when I go to the gym. If I went to one where they didn’t I’d question the hygiene of the attendees

[-]

malin7@reddit

I wouldn’t say it’s weird but I wouldn’t want to carry my towel, shampoo, shower gel, conditioner, moisturiser etc to the gym with me either when if I’m going home straightafter

[-]

Previous_Kale_4508@reddit

I would say it's only weird if your sole purpose of joining the gym was to use the showers.

Try to avoid shaving your chest in there though. 😳🤣

[-]

Kiss_It_Goodbyeee@reddit

This question is weird...

[-]

lilfaeri@reddit (OP)

sorry

[-]

DylboyPlopper@reddit

I shower at home. I’ve got a system.

[-]

lilfaeri@reddit (OP)

yeah it’s complicated. i don’t want to waste water, so i have my own methods

… but they’re all totally normal

[-]

ZiggyThePanda@reddit

It's not weird, but I prefer to shower at home because my toiletries are all there. I also don't want to carry around a towel.

[-]

flohara@reddit

It's weird not to.

[-]

NewSpell9343@reddit

[-]

ThrustersToFull@reddit

No it's not weird. The showers are there for the sole purpose of people using them.

[-]

dick_piana@reddit

No? When I lived like 5 mins away from gym Id shower at home but otherwise shower at the gym. Your friends are weird, or children.

[-]

fire-and-desire@reddit

???

[-]

SadEntertainment1455@reddit

You have paid for the use of the showers through your membership so why not use them. Just wear flip flops so as not to pick up any nasties on your feet

[-]

infieldcookie@reddit

I would never go from the gym to work or social activity without showering. That would be horrible.

I only don’t shower if I’m going straight home afterwards as I prefer my own shower to the gym shower. But I don’t think it’s weird to shower before going home either.

[-]

No-Instance-1728@reddit

I never shower at the gym and I’m totally the weird one for that! Tf gym you go to?

[-]

ReddereDonum@reddit

Only if I'm going somewhere directly after like to meet friends or to work. If I'm just going home then I don't bother.

[-]

Decard_Pain@reddit

Your brother is disgusting if he thinks being covered in sweat is a good thing.

Wyas shower.

[-]

GuybrushFunkwood@reddit

Not at all …. If there’s a plug socket in the changing room it’s also fine to take a George Forman grill and make grilled shrimp with garlic butter …

[-]

carguy143@reddit

I love the showers at my gym, but I also hate feeling all sweaty and horrible after a workout as I'm always too hot as it is.

[-]

mu5tbetheone@reddit

It's not weird

[-]

Kyrptt@reddit

I shower at the gym even if im going straight home.

[-]

Willz_of_Rivia@reddit

No. It's fucking grim to not shower at the gym

[-]

agathor86_@reddit

I don't shower at the gym if I'm going home, but if I was in before work I would.

[-]

Budget_Zombie4078@reddit

I prefer to shower at home if I'm going straight there after a work out, I live close enough that it's either a short walk or a couple of minutes in the car. But if I'm working out before going somewhere else then I 100% shower at the gym. Quiet shower blocks are good, they tend to be cleaner! And I never think it's weird if someone else is showering either

[-]

When replying to submission/post please make genuine efforts to answer the question given. Please no jokes, judgements, etc. If a post is marked 'Serious Answers Only' you may receive a ban for violating this rule.
Don't be a dick to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on.
This is a strictly no-politics subreddit!

Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.