Our gym seems to have a broken heating system, and the temperature stays around 12-14 degrees. I sweat during my workout and then cool down afterward. Does it make sense to keep training there or should I find another gym?
The key thing is not to stay in wet clothes after your workout, even if it feels like you just sweated and will dry quickly. Bring dry t-shirt and shorts with you, change right there in the gym while it's still warm from the exercise, and only then head out.
But here's the thing: in that kind of cold, your muscles and joints take way longer to warm up, and you risk pulling something if you rush with the weights. Give yourself 15-20 minutes to warm up properly, don't skimp on that.
The issue isn't really the cold gym - colds come from temperature swings and humidity, not the cold itself. If you train properly dressed in 12-14 degrees and dry off afterward, you can totally avoid getting sick. It's just that working out effectively in those conditions is harder: your muscles take longer to warm up, injury risk is higher, and it's less enjoyable. So the real question isn't whether you'll catch a cold, but whether you actually want to train there in the first place.
If you like the gym otherwise and moving is a hassle, here's what you do: change into clean dry clothes right after your workout - don't sit around in sweat. Grab a hoodie or fleece and throw it on over your sweaty body right away - that'll help you cool down gradually instead of dropping temperature fast. Take a warm shower, but not hot. Even better - wear a sweater under your tank top during the workout and peel it off as you warm up. Sounds weird, but it works.
If you still can't make it work with this or you're just tired of freezing, then yeah, find a decent gym. Workouts should feel good, not like you're suffering through them. Plus, management clearly doesn't care about customer comfort, so who knows what else might break down there.
Change clothes into dry stuff right in the locker room after your workout - don't wait until you get home. That's the main thing - wet clothes on your body in a cold room create the perfect conditions for getting sick, even if you're sweating a lot and feel like you're warming up. Bring a change of clothes with you and change right there while there's still some residual warmth in the gym.
Second thing - don't give in to the temptation to head straight out into the cold after training. Give yourself five to ten minutes in the locker room to cool down a bit and get used to the temperature. A sharp transition from the gym to the cold fall air is actually worse than training in the cold itself. Plus, keep a layer of clothing - a hoodie or light jacket - in your bag specifically for post-workout. You can leave it there.
As for the gym itself: if everything else is fine there (equipment, crowd size), there's no reason to leave because of the temperature. Actually, working out with proper form in a cold gym is even better - your focus is sharper and there's less risk of injury than in a stuffy room. The main thing is just stick to these basic rules about clothes and transitions.
Don't wait for your body to "get used to" the cold on its own - it doesn't work that way. And don't think you can just harden yourself during workouts by training in wet clothes. That's a guaranteed path to getting sick, because your muscles heat up, you sweat, and then you cool down fast in an unheated room. The contrast really is brutal.
The key is not to stay in that in-between state of being "hot" and "cold." Right after your workout, change into dry clothes straight in the locker room, even if it feels like you barely sweated. Bring a full set with you: t-shirt, shorts, socks. Plus, think about the transition - before training you can dress a bit warmer than usual so you don't freeze during the first few minutes in the cold. And here's what a lot of people miss: if the gym is cold, don't sit around in the locker room to "cool down" after you change - just leave. The humidity in the locker room and drafts can finish what the cold itself didn't start.
If you're careful about all this, training at 12-14 degrees is totally doable. But if the gym isn't heated at all - it also matters how long this situation will last. If it's temporary, deal with it. If it's going to be indefinite, then yeah, it makes sense to find a decent gym so you're not turning every workout into a gamble.
Bring a warm hoodie or sweatshirt with you and throw it on right after your workout while you're still warm - this helps you retain heat and keeps your body from cooling down too quickly.
I also trained in a cool room and noticed that the main thing is not to sit around in sweat after your workout - even five minutes in the locker room can trigger a runny nose. Bring a bigger towel with you and change clothes right there, don't be lazy about it - it actually works better than any preventive measures.
I had the same experience - trained in a half-frozen garage, and at some point instead of just changing clothes, I decided to "harden myself" and rode home in a wet shirt. The result was predictable: two weeks on the couch. Then I figured out it wasn't about the cold itself, but how you deal with it.
Now I bring warm layers and put them on right after my workout, still in the gym - no hanging around in wet clothes in the cold. I don't forget a towel either, to dry off the sweat before changing my shirt. The key is not letting your body cool down in wet clothes - that's not hardening, that's messing with your immune system. If the gym is really freezing, you can even skip changing during the workout, but right after - no question, you go dry.
As for the gym itself: 12-14 degrees isn't critical for training as such - when your muscles are working, you won't feel the cold. If everything else about the gym works for you (equipment, vibe, convenience), there's no need to switch just because of temperature. But if the management has completely given up on heating and keeps promising they'll fix it "sometime," better not risk it and find a decent place. A cold gym is one thing, but combined with careless owners, you can't expect anything good to come from it.
Log into answer.
