How Healthy Is Exercise In The Polluted City Air?

Exercise is good for you and you must do it regularly to remain fit, but does that also apply while air pollution? How okay is exercising in the polluted city air? Let’s find out.

Cities are becoming ever increasingly popular as places to live and work since the modern ages began. It means more houses, more residents, more traffic, more pollutants in the air. Athletes who like to go outside have to either come to terms with the existing conditions or drive out of town. This also costs time and money. Urban residents ask themselves all the more whether it is still healthy to be active in a big city.

The uncertainty among urban athletes is increasing. From the driving ban on diesel vehicles to Odd-Even driving measures, people are concerned about whether they can go outside during the last three months of the year. Due to the bad Air Quality Index(AQI), the city air is too dirty to do sports in it with a clear conscience.

Many people living in cities are prone to heart and lung conditions much more than the people who live in rural areas. After taking a stroll in the bad city air, city residents experience more symptoms such as cough, shortness of breath, and sputum. Even in healthy people, the beneficial effects of walking are prevented by environmental pollution. The researchers found these effects in connection with the high pollution levels on the busy road.

Air Pollution And Exercise: Should You Give Up The Sport On Busy Roads?

Pollution certainly affects the lungs, however, it does not mean that one must not go outside to take a walk or exercise in the open. Movement in the city is far more useful than the adverse effects of increased pollution in the air. Healthy city dwellers who regularly exercise outdoors should not limit their sporting activities under any circumstances.

Anyone who plays sports also knows that exercise in the forest or the park, i.e. where the air is cleaner, is more fun than on a busy road. The automotive industry and its vehicles, as one of the main causes of air pollution in the cities, must take more effective measures to improve air quality so that people can continue to do sports and exercise in cities in the future.

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Many people with lung diseases often feel how dirty the city air is through the appearance of symptoms such as an urge to cough or shortness of breath. Patients with chronic lung diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as well as cardiovascular diseases should therefore limit their stay in the particularly polluted inner-city regions at times of particularly high pollution, as far as possible.