So you're keeping your resolution to work out more (and save money).

The question now is: How, and where?

Nearly half of workplaces have onsite fitness facilities, according to a survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. Most are significantly cheaper than your neighborhood gym.

Problem solved, right? But it's not that simple, really.

Say the work gym costs $50 less per week than your local commercial gym -- you'll be pocketing $2,600 a year, not to mention the time and cost of traveling offsite.

But buyer beware: What you save in money at the office gym, you may pay for in awkward situations -- or career suicide.

"What's so critical in having good etiquette in the office gym is remembering: It's in the office," says Leah Ingram, author of "The Everything Etiquette Book: A Modern Day Guide to Good Manners."

"You're not home, you're not someplace where you're an anonymous person. Your colleagues might be there, your boss might be there. You might not think you're making an impression, but you are," she says.

Here are some guidelines:

DON'T TALK BUSINESS

Your co-workers are going to the gym to exercise. Keep the business-related chatter to a minimum, especially if it's of the confidential variety.

Also, be extra careful about office gossip _ the locker room seems like a natural place to discuss rumors, but you never know who's lurking behind the shower curtain.

WORK STINKS

It seems obvious, but if you exercise at the office gym before work or during your lunch break, shower afterward.

"Don't go back after lunch smelling like a football team," Ingram says.

Many workplace fitness centers provide soap and deodorants. Use them _ and if you notice foul smells coming from an employee, point them out politely.

"Personal hygiene is a very delicate topic, the kind that people almost never bring up," says Kerry Patterson, co-author of the book "Crucial Conversations" and chief development officer at corporate training provider VitalSmarts.

"Speak about it directly, bring it up quickly, simply describe what you're seeing," Patterson says.

David Atkinson of Cooper Ventures, which does health and wellness consulting and management, says he recommends that bosses "very delicately approach" issues of personal hygiene to stop the problem before the funky employee becomes a department-wide joke.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT

It's best to err on the side of conservative when dressing for the gym.

It's also best to err on the side of silence if you see a co-worker wearing something you think is inappropriate. If it becomes a distraction, tell a manager and let him or her handle it.

Most dress codes are open to value judgments, Patterson points out. What's "excessively tight or skimpy" for one jogger may not be for another. It's a good idea for bosses to be as specific as possible when telling employees what they can and cannot wear at the gym.

DON'T BE A MEATHEAD

It may be tempting for some people to challenge co-workers to a weightlifting contest or a race on the treadmill. Just don't do it _ unless you're really good buddies, it'll come across as overly competitive and juvenile. The last thing you want is for the office gym to bring back memories of your colleagues' middle school locker rooms.

LEAVE THE LAD MAGS AT HOME

Some men who exercise on elliptical machines feel the need to assert their manliness. Understood. But reading Maxim on the machines may draw more than a few stares -- it could make your co-workers uncomfortable.

Don't sabotage your office relationships or career by gawking at lad mags at the office gym. Same goes for TV shows that aren't age-appropriate or that don't fit the office culture.

"If you work for a very liberal company, I wouldn't be watching Fox News ... You may not know you're being judged," Ingram says.

THE USUAL RULES COUNT MORE

Good manners count _ not only do you need to make a good impression on your colleagues, but you're simply packed into a smaller space. The average square feet per member in a commercial gym is 15, Atkinson says, but in a corporate gym, it's closer to 8 or 9.

Wipe your sweat off the machines, follow the 30-minute rule on the treadmills and ellipticals, dress appropriately, and keep the locker-room nudity to a minimum.

"Everybody has to change their clothes, I understand that. But stripping down, and then walking to the sink to the hairdryer, in the buff -- that's never appropriate in my mind. I don't care where you're working out," Ingram says.

___

Madlen Read is a business writer for the Associated Press in New York. She confesses she once watched Bloomberg News on the treadmill at the office gym.

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