I’m East Asian. My ex (also Asian) said I smelled bad sometimes after exercising, but my current partner (not Asian) says I don’t have any body odor. I do think that when we go to the gym together, their smell far outweighs mine. I can’t smell myself at all, but then again, people are usually habituated to their own scents.
Sometimes, though, when I was a child, my father would come home from the gym, and we could all smell him from a mile away. I don’t know if that’s because the gene skipped him or if it’s just because humans generally think their close family members are stinky.
It’s nice to talk about this when my armpits aren’t in danger of being sniffed by several drunk friends.
This is the same reason why people who have cats can’t smell the strong cat urine smell of their own home and clothes, or why cigarette smokers have no idea how much their clothes stink.
Now explain why despite the NUMEROUS no smoking signs, EVERY SINGLE BUS STOP ALWAYS has some asshole who thinks I want cancer, and feel entitled to dominate my air space. I either walk away from the bus stop, or breathe their cancer sticks.
IME no one is immune to gym odors. There are still many fats and proteins secreted by non-apocrine glands that are digestible by bacteria, so to eliminate body odor entirely we would probably need to evolve strong antimicrobial secretions or something.
Sweat rinses much of this bacteria-food off of us, but since we started wearing clothes it just transports the bulk of it to what we’re wearing (now stinky gym clothes).
That’s why showering before a workout is so effective for controlling gym odors: most of the bacteria and its food ends up in the drain rather than your clothes. Showering after is then mostly to rinse off salt.
Anyway I imagine the times you’ve smelled people after the gym were simply the times they skipped that pre-workout shower.
I’m East Asian. My ex (also Asian) said I smelled bad sometimes after exercising, but my current partner (not Asian) says I don’t have any body odor. I do think that when we go to the gym together, their smell far outweighs mine. I can’t smell myself at all, but then again, people are usually habituated to their own scents.
Sometimes, though, when I was a child, my father would come home from the gym, and we could all smell him from a mile away. I don’t know if that’s because the gene skipped him or if it’s just because humans generally think their close family members are stinky.
It’s nice to talk about this when my armpits aren’t in danger of being sniffed by several drunk friends.
Olfactory fatigue
This is the same reason why people who have cats can’t smell the strong cat urine smell of their own home and clothes, or why cigarette smokers have no idea how much their clothes stink.
Now explain why despite the NUMEROUS no smoking signs, EVERY SINGLE BUS STOP ALWAYS has some asshole who thinks I want cancer, and feel entitled to dominate my air space. I either walk away from the bus stop, or breathe their cancer sticks.
IME no one is immune to gym odors. There are still many fats and proteins secreted by non-apocrine glands that are digestible by bacteria, so to eliminate body odor entirely we would probably need to evolve strong antimicrobial secretions or something.
Sweat rinses much of this bacteria-food off of us, but since we started wearing clothes it just transports the bulk of it to what we’re wearing (now stinky gym clothes).
That’s why showering before a workout is so effective for controlling gym odors: most of the bacteria and its food ends up in the drain rather than your clothes. Showering after is then mostly to rinse off salt.
Anyway I imagine the times you’ve smelled people after the gym were simply the times they skipped that pre-workout shower.