If you are living in a city, the thought of running along a wooded path, breathing crisp clean air may be the stuff of fantasy. Most of the metropolitan cities are polluted. It’s necessary to keep yourself fit whether you’re living in a city or a village. If you don’t get time to engage yourself in a brisk walk, then it’s time to engage yourself in some indoor exercises.
What happens during a brisk walk?
You breathe faster, inhale deeper, generally with an open, panting mouth. These rapid breaths are meant to infuse your bloodstream with more oxygen. But you end up inhaling microscopic particulates and toxic gases. These stimulate hyperactivity of the airways, cause coughs and sneezes. You miss out on the basic filtering functions of the nasal passage also. So exercising in the polluted outdoors can lead to decreased gas exchange in the lungs and more fatigue than exercising in the gym.
What you can do instead of a brisk walk?
Exercise indoors as much as possible. If you must step out for your walk, keeps an eye on the “AIR QUALITY INDEX”, which supervises the density of pollutants generally found in cities. Distribution of pollutants is not even throughout the air, so seek for area-specific readings. Try to find quiet and clean paths that are not closer to heavily trafficked roads. If your park is near to the roads, you can use a mask that has proven to adequately filter PM2.5 particles and fits perfectly along the contours of your face.
Final Thoughts:
If you have an outdoor job, the amount of supplementary time outdoors, even to exercise isn’t a piece of great advice. A brisk walk is wonderful for one’s health but in today’s atmosphere, it could be fatal and can jeopardize your health.