We’re in the zone yet again: As Delhi’s air pollution levels hover between ‘unhealthy’ and ‘very unhealthy’, a group of physicians at the Heart Care Foundation of India have asked for the cancellation of the city’s always awaited Airtel Delhi Half Marathon, to be held on October 21. “Not running is not the solution,” says Dr Sangeeta Saikia, co-founder of Delhi Runners Group (DRG) that mobilises everyone from beginners to the seasoned sportsperson, to get moving in a country that sorely needs people to exercise more.Yet, doctors have a cautionary note: “Your respiratory rate is higher than usual during exercise and it can damage your lungs when you inhale deeper. Exercise in pollution can precipitate a heart attack or stroke in those who are susceptible. These include people with arterial blockages, especially silent blockages (when you don’t know you have one), since there is the combination of physical stress and pollution,” says Dr KK Aggarwal, national president, HCFI.So what does one do in a polluted city, besides the obvious choice of running on a treadmill in a gym? Dr Deepak Chaudhary, a sports medicine physician and full-marathon runner, who will be taking part in this year’s ADHM, says over the weekend, when he needs to do his long runs, he tries to venture a little distance from the heart of the city, to an area with greenery. Last year, he says the race sprinkled water on the track to ensure as little dust flew.Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptionsThis is in contrast to walking, where one foot is always in contact with the ground, the legs are kept mostly straight and the center of gravity vaults over the stance leg or legs in an inverted pendulum fashion.A characteristic feature of a running body from the viewpoint of spring-mass mechanics is that changes in kinetic and potential energy within a stride occur simultaneously, with energy storage accomplished by springy tendons and passive muscle elasticity.The term running can refer to any of a variety of speeds ranging from jogging to sprinting.The theory proposed considered to be the most likely evolution of running is of early humans’ developing as endurance runners from the practice of persistence hunting of animals, the activity of following and chasing until a prey is too exhausted to flee, succumbing to “chase myopathy”You can also monitor the city’s pollution levels to see when the best time is. Dr Adil Rizvi, chief of Cardio-thoracic surgery, PSRI, Delhi, says that he has downloaded an app that measures the air quality index. When it’s too polluted outdoors, he’ll stay in and exercise on the treadmill. Since there’s no substitute for cardio, it’s a fine balance to maintain. A healthy diet loaded with antioxidants and pranayama may not be able to offset the pollution, but they can keep your general health up.Young men, who are overly preoccupied with building muscles, have a significantly higher risk of depression and weekend binge drinking.A new study by the Norwegian University of Science stated that they also have four times the probability of using legal and illegal supplements and anabolic steroids.The study also shows that 10 percent of men have what is thought of as the more common type of body image disorder. the term “fitness” increased in western vernacular by a factor of ten.[6] The modern definition of fitness describes either a person or machine’s ability to perform a specific function or a holistic definition of human adaptability to cope with various situations.These can be further divided into absorption, propulsion, initial swing and terminal swing. Due to the continuous nature of running gait, no certain point is assumed to be the beginning. However, for simplicity it will be assumed that absorption and footstrike mark the beginning of the running cycle in a body already in motion.
