Degraded air quality poses serious risks for athletes, with impacts that extend across health, performance, and recovery. During strenuous exercise, pollutant exposure intensifies—exacerbating respiratory and cardiovascular strain, impairing cognitive and psychological function, and creating lagged effects that disrupt long-term training.

The Athletic Training Whitepaper examines these challenges in depth, drawing on research that connects degraded air quality to reduced athletic capability and heightened health risks. The paper emphasizes the critical role of timely forecasts and observational data in guiding adjustments to training schedules, locations, and intensities.

This paper explores how degraded air quality impacts:

• Acute performance — physical, cognitive, and psychological function during exercise

• Health risks — heightened exposure to pollutants during strenuous activity

• Lagged effects — long-term consequences on training and recovery cycles

• Training strategies — using forecasts to guide safer, more effective sessions

  
  

With athlete health and performance on the line, this whitepaper underscores the importance of integrating air quality intelligence into training decisions.

Download the whitepaper to understand the health and performance implications of air quality on athletes.