Hands make some of the best vehicles to spread germs like bacteria, fungi, and viruses. In BJJ, you expect to be using your bare hands frequently: on the mat, grabbing the gi, and most certainly to defend against your sparring partner. It's no surprise skin infections are prevalent.
Hands - The SUPER highway for germs
Your hands are tools that touch EVERYTHING: money, gas pumps, blowing you nose, shaking hands, flushing a toilet, opening doors, eating food, touching various things throughout your day.
Here are two simple crazy simple rules that everyone in combat sports should follow to reduce prevalence of skin infections.
1) Wash your hands before you train.
2) Wash your hands after you train
Why wash your hands before you train?
You and your fellow students are actually bringing bacteria right into class from after a full day's work. 30% of the population carries staph, 3 out of 10 people. Combine that statistic with a busy day at work and you have the perfect recipe for dirty hands. You drive straight from work to the gym, and train. Without washing hands before training, you are putting yourself at risk, your sparring partners at risk, and subsequent classes on the mat at risk for picking up anything that is left behind by your hands. It is also possible to infect yourself if dirty hands touch a wound.
Why wash your hands after you train?
Washing your hands after your train should be a no-brainer as general procedure. However, more specifically, you should know that staph multiplies at the rate of every 30 minutes. Cleanse your hands so you don't spread germs to your body parts, wounds, to loved ones, your steering wheel in the car, food, or anything your hands could touch.
By following two simple rules of washing your hands before you train and after you train; it will keep you, your training partner, and your gym safer.
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