You heard the saying “you are what you eat”? Well, I would like to add another….”you are what you breathe”. Clearly, air quality can have a significant effect on athletic performance and health. Depending on where you live, you may or may not be familiar with air quality issues. Having grown up in the Los Angeles basin, I can tell you first hand that air quality is an important consideration when exercising outside. I now live in Phoenix, and due to it’s rapid growth and expansion, we too, now have an air quality problem. Without going into physiology of lung and body function, I will assume we all agree that air quality impacts our soccer lives as players, coaches, etc. It has a significant negative effect on our health.
Coaches should consider the following: Check your local weather channel for regular updates on things like: Pollution levels, Ozone, Particulates, Carbon Monoxide, mold, allergens, etc. When these are high or there is a pollution advisory in your area, consider adjusting your practice duration and intensity to accommodate. Even smoke from fires can be a problem, and if the fire is a large one, smoke can drift hundreds of miles. It is important to note that generally speaking, air quality is better in the morning than in the afternoon. Unfortunately, most soccer practices occur after school in the later afternoon and early evening. The proximity of your practice and/or game location to busy roads, and interstates can be a factor as well.
Some are more susceptible: Individuals with respiratory disease like asthma, or recent pneumonia, will be more sensitive to the effects of air quality, so special consideration should be given to those people. Physical exertion in a high pollution environment can cause a severe respiratory reaction in asthmatics, or sensitive individuals. Know who these players are on your team and watch them closely in these situations. If any of your players with breathing problems have an inhaler prescribed by their MD, be sure they always have it with them. Read about Asthma and air pollution.
For additional information visit Airnow or read the document from the EPA titled Air Air Quality and Your Health. (Air Quality is a pdf file, you may need to save it to your PC and then open it from there). An interesting new article in CNN Health discusses health effects of air pollution.
