Train Hard, Smell Less: Hygiene Rules Every Muay Thai Fighter Should Follow

Let’s talk about something that sometimes get overlooked with talking about Muay Thai training and the gyms we do the training in: hygiene.

It’s easy and obvious to focus on technique, conditioning, and fight prep, but the reality is that your cleanliness (or lack of it) has just as much impact on the people around you as how you know how to dial down your power or if you aren’t prioritizing the right things for clinching. Whether you’re new to the sport or years deep into your fight journey, understanding hygiene in the gym is not just about avoiding infections, but more about respect for your training partners, the space you train in, and honestly, for yourself.

Personal Hygiene

Let’s talk about body odor. Yes, the gym is a place where we sweat (and occasionally bleed), but there’s a difference between the smell of hard work and just plain neglect. Show up clean. This means:

• showering before training if you’ve been out all day sweating
• use of deodorant
• always wearing clean clothes to the gym
• having short and clean nails
• washing your hands before training starts

Deodorant, a nail clipper, and a clean shirt should be in your training bag, ready to use, just in case.

Body spray, cologne, and perfume are not substitutes for deodorant. Masking and adding on a scent is not the same as actually getting rid of the scent – hence the name of the product. Also, BO mixed with cologne is a terrible combination. Don’t put your training partners through that.

If you are someone who enjoys manicures, stay away from long nails, especially the fake ones. Long nails make it hard to punch properly (because you can’t close your fist tightly), increasing chances of injury. Plus, having long nails also means you are excluded from some partner activities such as clinching. If you wish to learn everything you can and participate in all your gym has to offer, keep your nails short.

After training, always shower thoroughly with soap. Allowing sweat to sit and dry on your skin is allowing bacteria to breed.

Basic personal hygiene doesn’t just protect others; it helps prevent things like staph, ringworm, and other skin infections from spreading. If you’ve ever had to stop training for a week or more because of something you picked up someone’s questionable “rash” or using shared equipment, you already know how frustrating (and preventable) it is.

If You Sweat a Lot, Take Extra Steps

Everyone sweats, but some people sweat more than others. If you’re one of those people, you know it – you are in a pool of your own sweat while everyone else has some sprinkles. It’s not a bad thing, but it does mean you need to be a little more mindful.

Bring a towel and extra shirt. Wipe down your body, your sweat puddles, and the equipment you use. Be aware of how your sweat affects your training partners, especially during clinch and sparring – it can be a hazard when the floor is slippery and people are focusing on not getting their kicks caught.

Sick? Stay Home. It’s That Simple.

One of the most inconsiderate things you can do is come to training when you’re sick. People know this, yet they refuse to stay home. Muay Thai culture can sometimes glorify the “push through it” mentality and never taking a rest day, but there’s a big difference between pushing through sore muscles and dragging your flu into a sweaty, enclosed space where everyone is breathing heavily and wiping their faces. Not to mention if someone who is fighting soon catches whatever you have, they might have to pull out of the fight.

If you’ve got a cough, runny nose, fever, or anything contagious (including skin stuff), stay home. Go on a run in your neighborhood. Work out at home. Train once you’re no longer a walking petri dish. You’re not proving anything by showing up sick; you’re just increasing the chance that your teammates will have to miss training because of you.

Wipe Down Gear and Equipment After Use

This one is simple but often ignored. After using heavy bags, pads, or any gym equipment, wipe it down. Even if you don’t think you were “that sweaty,” it only takes a few seconds (not to mention the fact that bacteria is still present whether or not you sweat a lot). If your gym provides sanitizing spray and paper towels, great. If not, ask what their sanitizing routines are.

Not wiping down equipment is lazy, full stop. It’s also how gyms start to smell like unmaintained locker rooms. Help make the gym a place people actually want to be in.

Keeping Your Gear from Smelling

As soon as you are done training, your own gear needs to be wiped down and sanitized. However, harsh solutions aren’t always a good fit for leather and synthetic leather gear. A cheap solution that’s great for most situations is to make a vinegar solution (1 part vinegar to 3-4 parts water) in a spray bottle to sanitize your gear (no, it won’t smell like vinegar). The inside and outside of your gear needs to be sprayed, then immediately aired out when you get home. The area you place your gear in should have plenty of air flow, like a balcony.

Sanitizing and allowing gear to dry are the golden rules to preventing smelly gear. This, in turn, can help your gear last much longer, giving you your money’s worth. The last thing you want to do is to leave your wet gear to rot in your training bag or car.

Handwraps, Training Clothes, Laundry

You should never wear the same handwraps or training clothes more than once without washing them. This goes for Muay Thai shorts as well.

When you do laundry, skip the fabric softener. It leaves a residue on athletic fabrics that can trap odor and break down the material over time. Use a sports detergent or a cup of white vinegar in the fabric softener compartment to kill bacteria and help with odor (no, your clothes will not smell like vinegar). When washing your handwraps, put them in a laundry bag to prevent it getting tangled with your other clothes, and the Velcro possibly ruining some of your fabrics.

Sometimes, you don’t have enough pairs of handwraps. In a pinch, airing out your handwraps (along with your gear) immediately after training, and allowing them to completely dry, is okay if you need to use them again. But use your judgment – if the wraps still reek after allowing them to dry, buy a new pair from the gym or ask your teammate ahead of time if they can bring extra wraps for you.

Loaner Gear Is a Temporary Crutch, Not a Long-Term Plan

Almost every gym has loaner gear: gloves and shinguards. It’s there to help people try out a class without buying a full kit. Or as a temporary plan while the newbie is waiting for their own gear to arrive. Or if you rarely forget your gloves at home. But loaner gear is not meant to be your permanent solution. It’s a backup plan, not your plan A.

Gear collects bacteria, skin cells, blood, and sweat. And unless the gym is going above and beyond to clean that gear after every use (spoiler alert: most aren’t), you’re essentially strapping other people’s germs onto your hands and feet every time you use it.

People also don’t tend to take care of gear as well as they could if it’s not “their’s”. Once people pay for things with their own money, they tend to take care of it better to make the investment last longer (and smell less).

Invest in your own gear as soon as possible. You don’t have to go top-shelf right away, just something clean and dependable that only you use. You’re training in a combat sport where close contact is constant. Owning your gear is the bare minimum.

Replace Gear When It’s Time

Gear doesn’t last forever, and it’s not meant to, especially when it’s put through the kind of daily abuse Muay Thai demands. When it gets to the point where your gloves smell like death even after cleaning and airing out, or if your shin guards have tears in them that expose the padding, it’s time to replace them.

Good gear is an investment in your safety and the comfort of your teammates. You don’t want to be the person whose crumbling gloves leave chunks of cotton on the mat, or whose Velcro straps that constantly detach from the glove. Plus, worn down gear must they’re no longer doing their job, which is to protect your hands and legs. This is especially true when it comes to gloves – your hands and wrists have many little bones that get injured easily if not given the proper support.

Stay aware of the condition of your equipment and budget to replace key items when they start breaking down.

Hygiene Is Part of the Culture

One of the most overlooked aspects of Muay Thai culture is how much it’s built on mutual respect. We wai to our trainers, our training partners, and the space we train in. Hygiene is part of that respect, too.

You don’t need to be perfect. Everyone forgets their towel sometimes or misses a laundry day. But consistently showing care for your cleanliness and your gear goes a long way in building trust and creating a safe, welcoming environment for everyone in the gym.

Being clean and prepared also shows people you take your training seriously. It says: “I care about my partners, my gym, and my growth.” That attitude will take you a lot further than just mastering one more combo. And if that’s not enough for you to do right by the gym…

Keep in mind that no one wants to train with the smelly person. No one wants to clinch with someone who has week-old handwraps and breathes sickness into your face during sparring.

If you are not already hitting all the points mentioned, take the steps to. Small habits compound, and they’re appreciated.

Clean gear. Clean bodies. Clean training environment. That’s how we keep Muay Thai fun, healthy, and smell-free. Now go buy that giant bottle of white vinegar!