Air pollution: Should you exercise outdoors?

This is an automatically translated article.

Outdoor exercise is often more responsive and preferred than indoor exercise. However, with the worsening of air pollution, should you exercise outdoors?

1. Air pollution when exercising outdoors

There are many sources of air pollution. In which, most of the sources of air pollution come from reasons such as:
The rapid growth of vehicles; Dirt in the air and from plants; Wind is a means of transporting tiny dust particles everywhere; Traditional fuels such as leaves, wood, firewood.... Pollution at construction sites; Mining and farming activities also cause negative impacts on the climate and the purity of nature; Operation of power plants. There are many reasons why air pollution in the living environment is getting worse and worse. Sometimes, when we exercise indoors or live in a closed room, it is difficult to avoid this pollution that affects health. However, exercising outdoors with environmental conditions containing waste bacteria will seriously affect health.
When you practice we are often reminded to regulate our breathing, especially in yoga and aerobics. Breathing will make you receive oxygen to provide for the circulation of the respiratory system. Besides the benefits, we still know that if we accidentally inhale CO2 or the fumes of the exhaust gases, it can cause gas poisoning. The more deeply you breathe, the higher the risk of unhealthy gases entering the lungs.

2. Outdoor exercise can affect health if not when polluted?

Sometimes the harmful effects of environmental pollution when exercising outdoors will not appear immediately. It is possible that toxins accumulate for a long time until our immune system is weak to detect it. Therefore, you need to pay attention to some of the following symptoms to soon detect health problems originating from air pollution:
Frequent or sharp headaches; Eyes, nose, throat showing signs of irritation; Increasingly impaired breathing capacity, possibly damage to the breathing tube; Asthma increases your risk if you are exposed to polluted air; Lung diseases; Having a heart attack or worse, leading to a stroke; Have cardiovascular disease; Having lung cancer. In suburban or rural areas, the air is quite fresh because vehicles and the environment are not affected by emissions as much as in urban areas. However, determining the exact harm and time of illness when exercising outdoors with a polluted environment has not really had any research results that give accurate conclusions.

3. Solutions to protect your health if you still choose to exercise outdoors

Exercise is a method of improving health, but nature is a good condition for us to have a refreshing spirit. Therefore, facing the risk of air pollution, we still want to exercise outdoors. However, to minimize the risk of lung disease and serious health effects, you should still pay attention.
To ensure that the danger level when exercising outdoors is as low as possible, please implement one of the solutions to reduce your exposure to polluted air. You can only reduce it but it's hard to get rid of it, so if you can, you should still decide again whether to exercise indoors. Here are a few suggestions to limit the effects of air pollution on your health when you exercise:
Control the level of air pollution in the training area When you join the fitness club You will always be provided with information about pollution levels as well as suitable places to exercise. Or you can ask for advice from local officials or seek information through doctors to find a suitable place to practice.
With the development of technology, the environmental situation is often updated in detail. This may also be a useful reference for you. In addition, you need to pay attention to news from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the press and current affairs to quickly grasp the updated information on the situation of environmental pollution in the living area.
Choose the right time to ensure safety for your health During the day, there will be times when the pollution density is low, this can be an opportunity for you to do safe outdoor exercises . For example, the recommended time not to exercise is midday or afternoon. This is the time when the smog and climate do not favor you, so you need to pay attention not to choose this time to ensure health safety
Peak hours in the early morning and late afternoon are when vehicles move around. switch back and forth. Smoke and dust from vehicles and industrial waste are discharged high. This is the time when you should sit in the room to avoid damage to your lungs from pollution.
Do not select an area with high pollution warning You can find out and update information about locations with high pollution density. You also need to avoid areas where there is smoke to avoid being exposed to secondhand smoke. Normally, you need to keep a distance of at least 500m from polluted areas to avoid maximum health effects.
Choosing to exercise indoors Sometimes because the outside environment is too polluted, you can change your morning exercise plan indoors. This can be applied in classrooms or on days when the weather is so bad that the above solutions cannot be solved.
Ensuring a training environment that limits air pollution plays an extremely important role in our physical activity. Especially if you have asthma, sinusitis, diabetes .. or some other dangerous disease. To ensure and increase the level of safety for your health, you can consult with specialist doctors to make the most reasonable choice decision.

Please dial HOTLINE for more information or register for an appointment HERE. Download MyVinmec app to make appointments faster and to manage your bookings easily.

Reference source: mayoclinic.org