Investigation of the influence of the level of physical activity on the air exchange requirements for a gym

In recent years, the number of gyms all over the world has increased. One of the major problems in the case of gyms is to provide the required quality and quantity of fresh air. For this purpose, several experiments have been conducted inside a gym, where athletes have performed carefully selected sets of exercises during individual measurements. Using the measured air parameters, the carbon dioxide (CO2) generation rate was calculated. The obtained results were compared with other existing laboratory studies and the concordance was very good, especially for lower physical activity levels, where other recommended methods in the literature usually operate. For higher levels of physical activities carried out in the gym, the obtained results are also very promising for future research, as such data is scarce. A graph was created, showing the dependence of the CO2 generation rate and the required volumetric air flow rate, respectively, on the level of physical activity. From the calculated volumetric air flow rates for different levels of physical activity we were able to assess the current state of the applicable national legislation in this domain. The results have pointed out the need to revise these national regulations, in preparation for new specifications regarding the fresh air ventilation rate in gyms.