Allergy season can be a bummer for sufferers that enjoy exercising outside. Allergies can have an effect on your performance, mental capacity and overall experience. You're not alone though. According to the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, nearly eight percent of the U.S. suffers from allergies. The following tips will allow you to follow an exercise plan, with a few personal tweaks, to prevent being cooped up in the house this spring and summer.
- Avoid areas where your allergens are most likely to be: If you're super allergic to grass or pollen, try running on city and neighborhood sidewalks instead of inside parks. This can also help you avoid pet allergy irritants like unleashed dogs looking for a new friend.
- Breathe through your nose: Breathing through your mouth, according to Prevention Magazine, doesn't filter out allergy irritants like the nose does. Breathing through the nose can decrease your irritant intake and keep your mouth hydrated.
- Check the pollen count before you head outside: On extremely high pollen count days, it may be worth it to exercise at your local gym or inside your home. Nothing is worse than being hot, sweaty and unable to breathe due to allergens.
- Switch up your exercises: Similar to the previous tip, switching to swimming or indoor walking could help prevent outside allergies from reaching you.
During allergy season, your health is in your hands. Exercise is always good, but not when it can seriously affect your health in a negative or even fatal way. Always exercise caution before embarking outdoors during allergy season.
For other allergy prevention tips, lists of allergy control products or recent allergy-related news, check out our website.
