New research might make you want to exercise outside.
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Exercise is supposed to make you huff and puff. But a new study on indoor air quality suggests that breathing deeply at the gym might be bad news for your health.
When researchers from Holland and Portugal assessed air pollutants at 11 different gyms during peak hours, the results showed high amounts of dust, formaldehyde, and carbon dioxide — especially in the confined spaces where you take special classes. In high concentrations, this stuff can instigate asthma and other breathing issues, and also tire you out: Suck down too much carbon dioxide, and you could end up with brain fog and fatigue instead of the great workout you signed up for.
Researchers blame poor ventilation, cleaning products, and gym patrons, who produce carbon dioxide every time they exhale. And because everyone breathes deeply through the mouth during exercise, you're more likely to inhale pollutants and suck them deep into your respiratory tract at the gym than in other public places.
This doesn't mean you should stop working out altogether. (Sorry.) In all likelihood, inactivity will threaten your health more than breathing gym air. That said, you might want to alert the management if the air at your gym reeks of cleaning chemicals or smells particularly stale, which are two signs of poor ventilation. At the very least, prop open a door or window to get the air moving in small studio spaces.
And if you're really skeeved out? You could always take your workout outdoors — although there's no saying whether outdoor air is any less polluted.
src cosmo
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