Gym Temperature

ubersonic

ubersonic

ubersonic

Soldato
Joined
26 May 2009
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22,229
Hi, this is gym related honest, basically we're an air conditioning company and for years we have been having running battles with sports centre managers because many moons ago some know it all printed an article saying gyms should be maintained at 16 degrees and it spread like wildfire however the later article where it was rescinded after it became apparent that exercising at 16 degrees increased the probability of muscle damage never received the same publicity and so lots of sports centre managers are always trying to demand that the temperature be maintained at 16 degrees.

To make things worse CIBSE have now gone and stated that all new build gyms should be maintained at ~14 degrees, firstly that's quite difficult/expensive but more to the point I can see it being a lot worse for the people exercising that at 16.

So basically I am hoping somebody can point me in the direction of a website or pdf from some recognised health/fitness body either stating about the risks of muscle damage at low temperatures or better yet stating gyms should be maintained at X degrees so I ca use this information as ammunition against the stupid.

Thank you.
 
I WISH that my gym was anywhere close to 16 degrees, it has aircon but still gets silly hot, once when it was full it was so humid that all the mirrors misted up. When it's hot I find exercise so much harder, in my old gym we had no heating at all from November - January and that was perfect, must have been 10-12 degrees max, bloody lovely.
 
The local community sports center that has a little gym I go to only just turned off the heating last week, it's been on since I joined in december :( oh how id love air con
 
Air con in my gym is set to 19 degrees. That's as low as it goes. Tbh that's plenty chilly enough could probably have done with dropping another degree or two over the weekend.

16 degrees would be too cold imo especially for people not doing CV. Climate control in cars you tend to find around 19 degrees is a comfortable cool. 16 gives you a bit of a chill.
 
Morba said:
Post it up, i'm interested in the findings of any research. Especially as in winter I train in my garage, where the barbell is generally freezing to touch :p
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Well ill try and link the sources in a bit, but this is an excerpt with figures from the email im currently writing to all the managers who have been whining:

HSE regulations specify an absolute minimum temperature of 13 degrees centigrade for an environment where physical work is undertaken by individuals wearing normal (“street”) clothing. In addition to this the Education regulations 1999 require that any gym in an education establishment must maintain an absolute minimum temperature of 15 degrees centigrade.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), International Fitness Association (IFA) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) all agree that the minimum temperature for physical exercise should be 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius). This is because when gyms are kept below 68 degrees, the risk from injury increases due to the fact that cold muscles are more susceptible to pulls and strains.
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I absolutely burn up no matter what the temperature! Our gym has no air con and it is horrible. Personally when running I would like it closer to -10C. :D

In fact why am I doing the great north run is the summer, and looking to walk thousands of miles across deserts and mountains in the sun? I should be trying to run a marathon across Antarctica or something, lol.
 
I've never been too keen on air conditoning really. Granted it wakes you up, keeps you perky but I just prefer staying warm. I've always worked out in gyms without it though. It's only the last few years it's been fitted into my current gym.
 
LA Fitness keep hassling me to join them - every month because my Pole school uses the studio there and they have our details.

Its like a sauna.. I only have to walk to the studio through the gym and I am sweating!!!

Things like this make me happy I pay extortionate rates for a proper air conditioned gym at Nuffield.

BB x
 
BrightonBelle said:
Things like this make me happy I pay extortionate rates for a proper air conditioned gym at Nuffield.

BB x
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Nuffield is crazy expensive! Not as much as David Lloyd mind, they wanted £80 a month for full time access with no racket sports... pretty much laughed in their face.
 
My uni gym has posters around it saying something like 'keeping the air conditioning set to 24 degrees saves X amount of electricty compared to lower temperatures'. It's a disgrace how hot it gets in there especially as half the walls are glass so its like a greenhouse in summer.
 
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