3 Digital Gym Etiquette Tips We All Need to Follow

When you're exercising at the gym, you know there are certain rules of thumb to follow—like, wipe down your machine when you're done. I mean, that's just common sense! But in this world of social media—doesn't almost everyone have her phone somewhere on her person while working out?—there are some digital rules you should keep in mind too, according to Randi Zuckerberg, founder-CEO of Zuckerberg Media and author of Dot Complicated.

* Limit your picture taking. You should be proud of all those milestones you hit at the gym—absolutely! But Zuckerberg says that you should also try to keep the pic-taking to a minimum—specifically focusing on major successes, such as lifting a specific weight. Taking pic after pic (or, ugh, selfie after selfie) is distracting to everyone else.

* If you're going to do a selfie, make it a selfie. It invades other people's privacy when you're posing prettily and they're sweating in the background of your Facebook pictures or Instagrams. Nope!

* Don't stop your workout to text or tweet. If you're on the machine but pause or slow down just to respond to a tweet or text a friend, it's super-annoying—especially for the people who may be tip-tapping their toes, waiting for you to finish, so they can move on with their own exercise sessions.

What are your phone-at-the-gym pet peeves?

The Most Popular Songs to Work Out To

Billboard have paired up with Spotify to poll their users (as well as those users' workout playlists) to generate the top songs people use for their workouts.

Here's a handy graphic to explain:

And the actual playlist you can use for your own workouts!

What are your favorite songs to work out to?

Would You Rather: Do a Short, Intense Workout, or a Longer, More Leisurely Workout?

So what do you think: is it better to blast some calories in a one-hour intense bike ride, or over a longer, more meandering walk?

Research has been back and forth on the topic--it wasn't too long ago that studies suggested a quick burst of high-intensity exercise may do a body extra-good--but now a new study is suggesting that long, slow walks may actually be better for you. Researchers say that standing instead of sitting whenever possible helps, too. 

According to a study published in PLOS ONE, volunteers who spent two hours standing and four hours walking each day had healthier insulin levels and lower triglycerides than when they spent an hour at the gym cycling. While the four hours of leisurely walking burned about the same number of calories as the one hour of cycling, the other health benefits were notable, say researchers. Triglycerides didn't show improvement with vigorous exercise, but were 22 percent better when volunteers spent less time sitting and more time walking.

There has been lots of research pointing to the fact that too much sit-time can have serious health consequences (like, uh, premature death. Eep), so this study may just be another piece of evidence that it's worth getting up from your chair and taking a stroll as often as possible.

4 Places at the Gym That Just Might Get You Sick

Want to hear something gross? (If you don't want to hear something gross, you should maybe skip to the third paragraph of this post. But it helps prove a point! So...you know, read at your own risk.)

At my last gym, I noticed something that can only be described as truly yuck: previous shower-ers (or maybe just one who was extra-prolific?) were blowing their noses in the showers, sans tissue, and leaving the evidence for all to see. Without going into a rant about it (why? Why wouldn't you just use a Kleenex before hopping in the shower?), it was a reminder that, while gyms are good for us, and most facilities do their absolute best to keep things hygienic and tip-top, things can be germy.

In fact...want to know the places inside a gym that are most likely to get you sick? Sure you do!

Barbells, dumbbells, and weight plates. A basic sneeze can send 100,000 infectious particles into the air at 200 miles an hour--when someone catches those buggers with their hand instead of a tissue (or even an elbow), they can transfer easily to handheld gym equipment. Before you lift weights, spray down the equipment (gym etiquette says to do this after you're finished with your set, but how many people really follow that?).

Water fountains. A study from the University of Arizona found that 28 percent of gym surfaces are gym havens, and water fountains scored high on the list. One way to head off those bacteria? Bring your own water bottle!

Locker room floors. The moist floors are ripe for fungal and wart viruses (ew). Bring your flip-flops for showering, and never reuse the sweaty socks you've just worked out in.

Your own gym bag. This so makes sense: how often do you rush home and throw everything from your workout (including the bag) into the washing machine? I totally don't--my old socks sometimes live in my bag for weeks. Germs and bacteria gravitate toward sweaty workout clothes, so keep the dirty duds from touching the clean ones--a plastic bag can do the trick.

Today's Workout Motivation

Not feeling it today? If you need a little motivation to get to the gym or go on that lunchtime jog, here you go...

This Under Armour commercial has to be one of the best ever made:) There's something inspiring about seeing all these strong women working hard and feeling great.