I’ve maintained a gym membership for nearly ten years.
I am committed to taking good care of myself.
I am a vegetarian, and I don’t smoke, drink alcohol or take any prescription medication. I make sure to get eight hours of sleep, consume lots of water and visit the gym five times per week. Every weekday, I arrive at the gym by six o’clock in the morning and workout for an hour before work. I take advantage of the treadmills, ellipticals, stationary bikes, free weights, kettlebells and all the various machines and equipment. I get my heart pumping and work up a good sweat. I usually leave the gym feeling energized, and I then enjoy a much more productive day. Last summer, I noticed that by the end of every training session, I was suffering a severe headache. While working out, I’d often sneeze, cough and complain of a sore throat. My symptoms typically went away once I stepped outside. I eventually got suspicious that there was a problem with the indoor air quality at the gym. I’d started having these health issues right after the facility started running the air conditioner. I mentioned it to the guy working the front desk, and he promised to look into it. Apparently, I wasn’t the only gym member to complain. The gym management finally hired a professional HVAC contractor to service the air conditioner. The technician found that the inner workings of the cooling system were overrun with mold, dust, algae and all sorts of contaminants. Every time the air conditioner ran, it was spreading these allergens into the breathing air.