FitView: Clean Air Fitness
By Efren Martinez
During the month of November, we experienced some of the unhealthiest air unfortunately from all the massive forest fires all across California. During this time we were advised to spend as little time outdoors as possible. This is a real drag for those of us who enjoy exercising outside, myself included. Honestly, if your home isn’t equipped with the latest air filtering systems than the air you are breathing in your home may not be that much healthier inside than outside.
Sure there are Elevation fitness mask and N95 mask that one can use to filter the air, but it’s not 100% full proof especially if you have facial hair plus they are real germy. For myself, I don’t care for any kind of mask for the reason that the air we exhale is roughly 78 nitrogen, 15-18% oxygen, 4-5 % carbon dioxide, 0.96 argon the CO2 being of course used by plants during photosynthesis. That’s all fine if your a plant, but my body requires the cleanest and highest amount of oxygen for exercising. I can’t get that while wearing a mask not to mention the carbon dioxide I just exhaled in the mask is not the smartest thing to inhale back into my body.
My biggest recommendation to maintain your fitness level when the air quality is unhealthy is to go to your local gym where the climate control is carefully and cleanly monitored. If you have a home gym as I do, make sure your Hepa-air-filter in your heating/cooling system is changed once a week versus once a month.
Another idea is to invest in a portable room Hepa-air-filter system. Keep your doors and windows closed and don’t push your bodies to the hard winded extremes during your workouts. You’ll have plenty of time to get back up to speed just as soon as the air clears. Right now let’s stay focused on maintaining your fitness and being smart about it during bad air quality days. This winter if you have a fireplace, please check before you burn on any given day.
