Finally there is some much needed
respite from the Delhi heat. The nip in the air, silent nights, warm embrace of
a quilt and the cold yet comforting melancholy.
Delhi has adjusted its thermostat
and wants to cool down. Men will unconsciously follow genetic code and grow
stubbles to keep warm, and farmers will consciously burn their bumper crop stubbles
to ensure our food supply. The thermal power plants continue to power our lives
monthly and weaken our lungs forever. The Diwali sweets and crackers have returned
from exile to rule on our waists and lungs. Real estate dust scatters yet scaffolds
in courts and our lives. Capitalism has unleased festive discounts and in
response we’ve unleashed our gluttony. We relish in oblivion and apathy to continue
amassing wealth and material possessions and add our individual butterflies to
the Butterfly Effect taking place in the climate. #CarpeDiem #YOLO #Swag
#like4like
Now complex brain functions have
processed an even more complicated algorithm and the nerves send the
instructions to the limb – hey, we need to exercise outside with greater
intensity since the running season has commenced.
The more we breathe Delhi while
exercising – like a leech it clings to our insides even more.
Enough now child! It’s the peak
exercise season and peak performance requires speed work, tempo, long runs,
interval training etc., and we want to ensure that an unreasonable amount of Delhi
is inhaled in this noble self-sacrifice? and pursuit of endurance and endorphins.
Professor Alexander Y. Bigazzi of
the Department of Civil Engineering, the University of British Columbia (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308535014_Determination_of_active_travel_speed_for_minimum_air_pollution_inhalation)
quite recently (late 2016/early 2017) has found the minimum dose speeds for
Walking, Running and Cycling at which the amount of inhalation of pollutants is
the lowest. Move faster than these speeds and you will expend dramatically more
energy which in turn will increase your heart rate and respiration and
therefore you will inhale exponentially higher amounts of air + pollution.
The human mind is and will always
remain a mystery -- so without further ado and analysis, as per Prof. Bigazzi, the speeds at which you
will get a ‘decent’ workout while not inhaling exponentially higher units of
Delhi air are as follows:
|
Exercise
Type
|
Speed
(km/h)
|
|
Walking
|
3 to 8
|
|
Running
|
8 to 13
|
|
Cycling
|
12 to 20
|
These speed ranges are for flat
surfaces. Energy expenditure and respiration increases with inclines and
therefore on inclines the speeds have to be reduced. Walking/running/cycling in
the aforesaid ranges will ensure the least amount of pollution inhalation. At
speeds above these there is an exponential rise in effort and therefore more
inhalation of pollutants.
Maybe buy an anti-pollution mask
to go faster than these speeds to not miss out on the “peak season”.
- Aman Yadav
