Gyms ramp up the cleaning during flu season

TULSA - You can't escape germs in public places, but in the middle of flu season, you can protect yourself.         

At places like the gym all it takes is a little extra effort.
    
Planet Fitness and many other gyms in the area usually have disinfectant spray available. The trick is to use it before and after you get on the machines.

Gym-goers like Tadd Schowengerdt already make it a habit to wipe down the workout machines.

"It takes a couple of minutes to do that, versus a few days off work, or ending up in the hospital like you hear about. It's worth it," he said.

Christine King says she doesn't wait until after using a workout machine to clean it.

"They have the bottles and the towels available for us, and whenever I start a machine, I wipe it down. And whenever I finish it I'll wipe it down," King said.

At Planet Fitness, you'll find signs warning patrons about the flu and urging them to wipe down machines all over the gym.

"Right now we don't want our members to be sick. We don't want our staff to be sick, [because] it would cause people to be absent. So it's just better if everybody is just proactive and takes care of it right now," said store manager Anna Sobba.

Sobba says they clean the machines twice a day and employees do checks throughout the day to keep an eye on cleanliness. She says they always do this, but with a severe flu season, they're ramping it up.

"We just want to make sure everyone is on top of everything right now. We want to definitely be more proactive right now with the flu season going around," Sobba said.

Managers also recommend using hand sanitizer before and after your workout.