5 ways to stay safe from air pollution when you\'re exercising outside

One of the best parts of sunny weather is the ability to run, ride a bike, hike or move outside.
However, although there are many benefits to outdoor sports, there is also a disadvantage: air pollution.
Despite the air quality in the United StatesS.
Has improved significantly since the 1990 s, and can still lead to alarming deaths each year
According to a July 2019 study published in the Journal of Medicine, PLOS Medicine, more than 30,000.
Researchers studied more than 750 of the air.
Quality monitoring stations in continental United StatesS.
Found areas with high particle content-
Small inhaled particles in air mainly from cars and buses, power plants and industrial sources-
Heart and lung diseases such as heart disease, stroke and lung cancer have a higher mortality rate.
Lower levels of pollution were detected in the Midwest and Rocky Mountain states, such as New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona, while the highest levels of pollution-
And the corresponding mortality rate.
Found in and around Los Angeles and in southern states including Alabama, Arkansas and Oklahoma City.
However, geographical location seems to be more important than income: Overall, there is more pollution in poor, less local areaseducated areas.
But if you live in a heavily polluted area, don\'t put chibosh aside while jogging in the morning.
Edward Arwal: \"The benefits of active on your blood pressure, heart and brain outweigh the risk of pollution on your health,\" air pollution experts and clinical professors at the University of Southern California\'s Keke School of Medicine told LIVESTRONG. com.
Read more: How aerobic exercise improves brain health cases: when another group of researchers surveyed more than 57,000 Danish adults living in cities with severe air pollution, they found that poor air quality did not offset the health benefits of outdoor activities such as cycling, walking and gardening, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association in July 2018.
Having said that, it is important to take some precautions.
\"When you exercise outside, you actually increase exposure to air pollution due to increased metabolic needs of the body,\" explains Dr. Jack Stewart, pulmonary doctor at St.
Joseph\'s Hospital in Orange, California
\"You are also more likely to be the mouth --
Breathe, which means you don\'t have a nose as a filter.
As a result, you breathe in more contaminants.
\"Fortunately, there are several easy ways to reduce your exposure to these contaminants when you are exercising outdoors. 1.
Check your air quality before you go out for a daily run or bike ride, check the air quality index (AQI)
To determine how clean the air is in your area.
The scale range used by AQI powered by EPA is 0 (
Good air quality, no health issues)to 500 (
Dangerous air quality that can seriously affect health).
Generally speaking, an AQI rating below 100 is OK, although if you are very sensitive to air pollution (
If you have asthma, for example)
Avol says then you will want to schedule your workout indoors until AQI is under 50.
Some applications, such as the air from the plume lab, will tell you in real time what the air quality outside the door looks like and provide some useful tips, such as whether it is safe to eat outside.
You can also check your local air quality by looking at the annual \"air condition\" Report of the American Lung Association, dividing counties and cities into three levels depending on the pollution level of the cityyear period.
Of course, if your city is not among the cleanest, it may not be a reason to move;
But you can think about doing most of the exercise inside. 2.
Be careful to choose your route and stay away from the busy roads, but instead focus on the streets with less traffic.
Avol said: \"Even if you live in a big city, just change your route so that you can run or ride a bike in a community with less traffic, and you can really reduce pollution levels.
Avoid high-rise areas because they can have \"canyons-
Avol added, like \"The effect of actually capturing contaminants onto the street \".
Parks and wooded trails are ideal as the surrounding trees can help filter out air pollution. 3.
Keeping in mind that time is everything, air pollution tends to be worse at noon, so it\'s better to exercise outside in the morning or earlier in the evening, Stewart said. (
Just make sure you do this before or after the rush hour as this is when the pollution is serious. )
Another benefit of these early morning or evening workouts is that they are also often the coolest hours of the day.
\"Heat can make your body more tense, which may make it more susceptible to air pollution,\" Avol explained . \".
Read more: 6 Surprising symptoms of heatstroke and heatstroke you need to know.
Be careful with the mask, N95 mask (
Found online on websites such as Amazon or stores such as Home Depot)
Avol says it can filter out about 95% of the contaminated particles.
But there is a problem: it must be very suitable.
\"It has to snuggle up on your face so the air doesn\'t leak on the side,\" Avol explains . \".
\"But most people don\'t want to wear that tight mask to exercise because it makes them hot and sweaty and they may find it difficult to breathe.
That\'s why if you have any concerns about air quality, you \'d better work out indoors. \"5.
Guide your heart and while exercising, the best way to advocate to protect yourself from air pollution is to make sure it\'s not there in the first place.
\"Your priority should be to vote for candidates who support public interest in clean air,\" George Thurston of ScD, professor of environmental medicine and population health at New York University School of Medicine, New York City, told LIVESTRONG. com.
You can also put pressure on lawmakers to support the Clean Air Act.
Signing the Bill tells President Trump, the Environmental Protection Agency and your representative in Congress, pollutants-
Free air is important to you.