Do people actually shower twice before training and after?

This is one of those legendary internet topics where everyone who posts on it showers multiple times per day, etc.

My real world experience from training a lot of different places over the years is that probably half the dudes on the mat haven't showered in days. Some might not shower after either.

Somehow we manage to survive.

I never shower before. I always shower after, although sometimes it can be a few hours if I had to travel far. Works for me.

When I was brand new to jiu jitsu and i didn't even know what the guard was I rolled with an upper belt whose gi always stank. It happened 3 or 4 times on different occasions that I knew it wasn't a one off thing. His gi smelled liked after getting it super soaked in sweat/mat funk, he literally tossed it in the trunk of his car, let it marinate for a few days, then takes it back out and uses it again on the next training session! I don't know if he did that on my purpose but your post reminded me of him. He long ago quit that gym.
 
When I was brand new to jiu jitsu and i didn't even know what the guard was I rolled with an upper belt whose gi always stank. It happened 3 or 4 times on different occasions that I knew it wasn't a one off thing. His gi smelled liked after getting it super soaked in sweat/mat funk, he literally tossed it in the trunk of his car, let it marinate for a few days, then takes it back out and uses it again on the next training session! I don't know if he did that on my purpose but your post reminded me of him. He long ago quit that gym.

I was rolling with this guy one day. I had to say something.

"Your gi smells like you just left it in your trunk since last time you were here. Did you?"
"Haha yeah you got me. I was just too busy."
"Yeah well buy another gi if you're too busy. It smells horrible. Don't come back again with a gi like this."

A couple weeks later.

"Sniff sniff. Dude what the fuck I told you."
"Umm uhhh sorry."
"I'm not fucking kidding here."

He took a break for a while after that.
 
Showering after is a given; showering before though can actually disrupt the protection of your native flora, making you more vulnerable ironically.
 
Yeah showering before is overkill. And of course in a vacuum if you asked, would you rather roll with someone freshly showered and someone not anyone would choose the former.

But it's just not reasonable. But again depends on you r situation. If you have a job where you work up a sweat all day, than yeah should probably shower. If you work indoors in an office then probably don't need to.

Really ... If you smell shower, if you don't ... Don't...
 
Wash your gear (crotch) before.

Take a hores bath.

All to often you get a huge waft of jizz, shooting for a double on a dude that hasn't showered before training.

I used to be very blazee about showering and fresh clothes and shit.
Now I'm paranoid about that shit.

Remember what Kevin Randleman said: "don't train with dirty people".
One nasty ass staph infection.

Clean underwear before training as well.
 
Showering after is a given; showering before though can actually disrupt the protection of your native flora, making you more vulnerable ironically.

lol - where did you get that little nugget?

A unicorn's ass?
 
You don't shower after rolling on the mats with a bunch of sweaty dudes? Are you for real? How do you have a woman? Do you want to get staff, Mrsa, or other infections? Because that's how you get staff, Mrsa or other infections...
Well now we live together...

Never had anything go wrong from my solo days...

Don't know what to say...
 
I am on injury break from bjj currently.

In the past.
I would shower before to wake up, get ready.
Have to shower after to avoid fun stuff like ringworm.
Head to work at hospital. Really need to shower after.

3 in one day.
 
why would you be smealing if you have shower before on the day? Unless you are a sweaty mess... there’s no reason to shower right before training...

yeah, just spray some Cool Water or Drakkar on you before training.
 
yeah, just spray some Cool Water or Drakkar on you before training.


Im more of a bay rum guy myself. Or pull out some of the green irish tweed if you're really feeling fancy.
 
Last edited:
When I return from work, if I have time, I take a full shower before the class, and if i don't have a lot of time, I just do a quick splash on the smelly parts (armpits, bum, balls, dick, feet...) and apply a neutral powdery deodorant. <Moves>

After the class, I shower in the gym.
 
I go straight from work, so I only shower after training.
 
I've showered prior to training before.

I always shower right after training at the academy.
 
During the week I commute an hour from my place of work to Jiujitsu. So no I do not shower beforehand. With that said I really do prefer to.... just to scrub my buttcrack and taint and feet. Especially after wearing loafers or boots all day.
 
Showering after is a given; showering before though can actually disrupt the protection of your native flora, making you more vulnerable ironically.
correct, showering right before training will actually do more harm than good because of this.
if you shower in the morning there is absolutely no need to shower again before training.
also, wash your gis and belts.
 
correct, showering right before training will actually do more harm than good because of this.

I don't think this is true. If you shower before training you have a 100% chance of being less offensive to your training partners. While there does seem to be a a heightened risk to the showerer of infection, the absolute incidence is still small. Some people naturally have more noticable/offensive body odor than others (sadly, I am one). I shower before class because if I don't I smell like a three-day old armpit within 15 minutes.
 
Is this a troll thread? Can't tell.
 
OP:

I think twice a day is a bit much. I shower once right after daily class and that's it. I think the main problem is people who don't use deoderant or have poor bathroom hygiene. The latter is more common that I thought.

I also made a mistake when I first started out by using Body Axe spray before getting on the mats. Apparently women do NOT flock to you like flies on shit like the ads would make you think. Quite the opposite :(

So yeah just be reasonably clean and not a slob.
 
Back
Top