Exercise at Thirty Thousand Feet

The travel industry is a multi-billion dollar business with a great many passengers taking non-stop flights. There are some flights referred to as long haul service. The plane is actually in the air for up to 18 hours. Passengers during such flights are at risk of developing deep vein thrombosis or DVT. This condition presents when a person sits for an inordinately long period of time. When an individual develops DVT, blood begins to coagulate or clot in one particular area. This clot can travel internally to specific areas of the system such as the lungs. If this should occur the results may be fatal.

Certainly, airlines have recognized that DVT is a problem and an issue associated with long international flights. They make reference to it in their flight magazines suggesting the passenger stretch his or her legs or get up and walk up and down the aisles every hour or so. A person who is accustomed to long flight journeys naturally is at the highest risk of developing DVT.

So what can you do about it? The problem is found in the seating within aircraft. The seats are housed close to one another in order that the airlines can fill the plane up as much as possible. This means you are squeezed into a small space for hours on end. It is not likely that the airlines are going to make an adjustment as to space. They create the tight seating arrangements in order to keep profits high. Therefore, all you probably can do is realize that DVT can become an issue if you don't take care to get up and stretch every hour on the hour. What else would you suggest in the way of exercise at thirty thousand feet?

Another recommendation, outside of walking up and down the aisles every hour, is to attain plenty of exercise once you are on the ground. Take a brisk walk sometime after your flight touches down. Find the exercise equipment in the hotel and work out on the treadmill for about an hour. Or if you travel to a far-off location often, you might attain a local membership to a health facility or gym. Whatever your preference it's advisable you stay as mobile as possible when you are on the ground; and accompany activity on the ground with walks up and down the aisle of the plane on the hour; every hour.