“Members complained to me about


a male member who used the rowing machine. The flywheel blew the smell of his body odour all around the room. I dreaded doing it, but I called him on the phone. He was initially very friend- ly when he heard my voice, but a lot less so when he heard why I was call- ing. It did solve the problem (he told me that he wore the same T-shirt mul- tiple times), but it was very awkward for both of us.” club owner Vancouver


“I dreaded calling the member or


“It's kind of like when someone's


fly is down. Most people want to know.”


and that I noticed the body odour as well. My advice for others is to be sym- pathetic to the situation, and to un- derstand that it's probably unknown to the person you're speaking to or at least unintentional.” gym supervisor Whitby, Ont.


talking to him in person. So instead, I posted a friendly message in the lock- er room. It noted that there had been some complaints about body odour and then gave some bullet tip remind- ers about proper hygiene at the gym. I added a funny cartoon to keep it up- beat. I made sure to post it at the time the smelly member was in the gym, hoping he might realize that it could possibly be directed at him.” club manager Toronto


“Sometimes you can joke about it


with a member. I once mentioned to a long-time and very friendly member, who ran outdoors for 45 minutes until his clothes were soaking wet that his T-shirt was on inside out. He told me


WHAT TO SAY: “I'm pretty straightforward. Ideally


I already have a relationship with the person and they understand that the conversation is about assisting them not just resolving a complaint. I say something like, ‘I wanted to talk to you was because we've had concerns ex- pressed from some patrons about your body odour, and I've also noticed it myself.’ From there I will know if they are aware and/or willing to talk about it. If yes, the next steps are easy. If they are unaware and not willing to talk about it or if they deny that there's an issue and don't want to talk, it gets a bit trickier. But the hard part has al- ready been done.” gym supervisor Vaughan, Ont.


that he wore it right-side out one day and inside out the second day! My spon- taneous reaction was something like, ‘Seriously? That’s gross!,’ which I think surprised him but definitely got the point across (if not terribly professional- ly). He didn’t spend much actual time in the gym so I didn’t get complaints about him. But I noticed that the inside-out shirts disappeared after our interaction, which I’m sure the other men in the locker room probably appreciated.” club manager Winnipeg


» Summer 2018 Fitness Business Canada 23


Dear Members: This is a friendly reminder about the importance of


good personal hygiene while exercising. Some members have recently mentioned that


unpleasant body odour from fellow members has caused them to cut their workouts short. Please do a double check before coming to the gym to


be sure that you are prepared with deodorant and clean workout clothes. We all want to work hard, so let's keep the gym


environment as distraction free as possible. Thanks for your attention to this, and keep up the great work everyone!


Bob manager ABC Fitness


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