Podcast: Episode 82: The science on physical distancing, face masks, and what works best outdoors, with Beth Bennett

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This is our most authentic podcast!  We recorded this in-person, sitting outdoors, while maintaining a 7' physical distance - those birds you hear chirping in the background are real!

And what could be more important to talk about right now?  Exercising outdoors is the single best thing you can do for your physical, mental, and emotional health ... AND ... we are in a pandemic, where safety (not just your own) is paramount, and physical distancing is the law.  How do we resolve this?

"Outside, where there is moving air, you are moving, there is turbulence to the flow, there is usually a breeze, and that will all cause particle dispersion."

Good tips!

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Beth Bennett

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Comments

Great convo with a legendary person.  I would add to the mask and distancing discussion:  The 6 foot rule is based on the distance a "droplet" will travel from a person who coughs or sneezes before that droplet falls out of the air, based on its weight.  It's not really about normal breathing, which no doubt does involve droplets, but those will be expelled at a lower velocity and therefore travel less far.  A person who is breathing heavily, such as during exercise, will certainly expel droplets more forcefully than normal breathing, but still less than a cough or sneeze (note that coughing and sneezing are literally designed to expel foreign material from the airway).  While air and droplets do pass through a cloth mask, the air flow is very much disrupted, as anyone who wears such a mask will immediately recognize.  The air (and the droplets it carries) that is exhaled through a mask will generally travel much less far from the person than if no mask is worn.  Far fewer droplets will get through if the person coughs or sneezes, and those droplets won't go very far.