Originally Posted by TrackGuy
My commute involves sucking up diesel exhaust from city buses, garbage trucks and the like
Even if I take the East River MUP, I'm still subjected to car exhaust from the adjacent FDR Drive. I can't change the route, so I'd like to know what everyone is doing in terms of mitigating the damage caused by bad air.
The only thing you can really do, short of wearing a particulate filter, is to make your exertion very light. Your body knows it needs oxygen to burn fuel to feed itself. The more you exert yourself, the deeper and more rapidly you will breathe. You could try holding your breath or conciously breathing more slowly and shallower, but I wouldn't recommend it. With enough oxygen debt (or CO2 build up) your body will realize that you're not doing a very good job of breathing and shut you down to so it can take over.
Even if you don't push yourself to the point of blackout, the O2 debt/CO2 buildup will hamper your performance, diminishing further the return on your exertion.