Anyone have any hot tips for exercising with mild asthma? I have no problems with strength work, but I'm concentrating on endurance and intensity right now, and I get a little panicky when it takes too long to catch my breath. I especially notice problems on humid days. Should I just try to build up my lung capacity with short bursts followed by a brief period of recovery? After a fifteen second all-out burst, I don't feel ready for another one for at least two minutes, and I feel pretty shaky and exhausted after twenty minutes or so of these "bursts," although I try to add them on at the end of a 60-minute cardio workout. Is it even the asthma acting up at all, or could it just be something I need to push past, something caused by years of sedentary living that I've only begun to change in the last three years? Any ideas?
Exercising with asthma
- Thread starter wutherhi
- Start date
Gettingfit
Cathlete
No experience with it. I say speak to your doctor. Let him know what your fitness goals are & ask his opinion.
I'm ready to take the next step! http://www.smilies-world.de/Smilies/Smilies_klein_1/a_smil09.gif
I'm ready to take the next step! http://www.smilies-world.de/Smilies/Smilies_klein_1/a_smil09.gif
Aquajock
Cathlete
Hi, Wutherhi! Although I do not have asthma, my older brother was born with it, and in spite of that he was a great competitive swimmer in his youth. In my ACE studies I've also read that swimming is very good for people with asthma, including exercise-induced asthma, because it really forces you to regularize your breathing patterns. Maybe you could consult with a personal trainer who's skilled at working with people with chronic breathing conditions and add swimming into your weekly program for cardio and muscle endurance.
Just a thought -
Annette Q. Aquajock
Always With A Watery Suggestion
Just a thought -
Annette Q. Aquajock
Always With A Watery Suggestion
caricampbellcool
Active Member
I have asthma, but it generally isn't a problem with strength training, only cardio. I can always tell the difference between an asthma attack and being out of breath, due to the tightness in my chest. It is entirely possible that you are out of breath just from working intensely. You could try using your rescue inhaler during one of these spells and see if it helps. I can't make a judgement regarding whether it is asthma or not, but if you aren't used to those high intensity spells you are definitely going to have a harder time catching your breath.
Cari
Cari
TarHeelMom
Cathlete
Shari,
My son and I are both asthmatic -- mostly allergy-induced, but according to our allergy/asthma doctor anyone with asthma is susceptible to experiencing exercise-induced asthma at some point. She says this is a very common occurrence when an asthmatic is exercising in cold air (running outside, for example) or is involved in a strenuous cardio activity for long periods of time. Being around environmental allergens can aggravate the situation.
So for me, for example, I have to be careful about keeping my exercise space dust-free -- one of my worst allergies. If it's getting dusty I'll get wheezy for sure about 15 minutes into a cardio tape. I also can guarantee wheeziness if I try to run in cold weather -- sets me off every time.
My son has no dust allergy but unfortunately is allergic to pretty much everything green and pollen-filled. He plays high school soccer which is, needless to say, outdoors, very vigorous and goes on for 50-minute halves. He plays center midfielder which means he plays the entire field and is running continuously. He's in great shape but sometimes still gets wheezy and tight-chested sometimes during his games, particularly if it's high-pollen season.
Ask your own doctor about this before you try it, of course. But our doctor's instruction to us was to take one dose (two puffs) of our albuterol inhaler (brand names Ventolin or Proventil) about fifteen minutes before exercising. That's the standard/typical prescription asthma emergency broncho-dilator inhaler that you usually take every 4 to 6 hours until an asthma attack is under control. Alex carries a canister in his soccer bag and I have one in my exercise space. Our doctor also said that if we are involved in high-capacity cardio and still feel tight-chested and wheezy 40 to 60 minutes after the initial dose, we could take one additional dose during exercise.
The effect of the medication is immediate and feels great if you've been feeling constricted. But albuterol, as I'm sure you know, elevates your heart rate slightly so you have to be aware of that and factor it into your perceived exertion test or heart-rate monitoring.
This must be a pretty common instruction from asthma physicians, because there are about a half-dozen strapping young dudes on Alex's varsity team who whip out those inhalers just before the warm-up at every game and at every practice. And these are beautiful, healthy young men, let me tell you. Sometimes I see those inhalers reappear at half-time, although these guys are in such tremendous cardio condition that one dose before the game seems to do the trick most of the time. I know Alex hardly ever needs to use his inhaler more than once.
Just a personal aside -- Seeing all those buff young things lined up in a row on the bench using inhalers is a disturbing sight. I think the fact that so many kids have asthma is some kind of sad commentary on our environment. Maybe it's just me, but I swear I don't remember seeing anything like this when I was growing up, or even when I was around college athletes.
My two cents' worth.
This treatment keeps Alex and me comfortable and it's what our physician instructed. But again, PLEASE clear this with your own doctor before you try it, and if you use albuterol before exercising be careful to factor that into your heart rate control.
http://www.clicksmilie.de/sammlung/sport/sport003.gif Kathy S.
My son and I are both asthmatic -- mostly allergy-induced, but according to our allergy/asthma doctor anyone with asthma is susceptible to experiencing exercise-induced asthma at some point. She says this is a very common occurrence when an asthmatic is exercising in cold air (running outside, for example) or is involved in a strenuous cardio activity for long periods of time. Being around environmental allergens can aggravate the situation.
So for me, for example, I have to be careful about keeping my exercise space dust-free -- one of my worst allergies. If it's getting dusty I'll get wheezy for sure about 15 minutes into a cardio tape. I also can guarantee wheeziness if I try to run in cold weather -- sets me off every time.
My son has no dust allergy but unfortunately is allergic to pretty much everything green and pollen-filled. He plays high school soccer which is, needless to say, outdoors, very vigorous and goes on for 50-minute halves. He plays center midfielder which means he plays the entire field and is running continuously. He's in great shape but sometimes still gets wheezy and tight-chested sometimes during his games, particularly if it's high-pollen season.
Ask your own doctor about this before you try it, of course. But our doctor's instruction to us was to take one dose (two puffs) of our albuterol inhaler (brand names Ventolin or Proventil) about fifteen minutes before exercising. That's the standard/typical prescription asthma emergency broncho-dilator inhaler that you usually take every 4 to 6 hours until an asthma attack is under control. Alex carries a canister in his soccer bag and I have one in my exercise space. Our doctor also said that if we are involved in high-capacity cardio and still feel tight-chested and wheezy 40 to 60 minutes after the initial dose, we could take one additional dose during exercise.
The effect of the medication is immediate and feels great if you've been feeling constricted. But albuterol, as I'm sure you know, elevates your heart rate slightly so you have to be aware of that and factor it into your perceived exertion test or heart-rate monitoring.
This must be a pretty common instruction from asthma physicians, because there are about a half-dozen strapping young dudes on Alex's varsity team who whip out those inhalers just before the warm-up at every game and at every practice. And these are beautiful, healthy young men, let me tell you. Sometimes I see those inhalers reappear at half-time, although these guys are in such tremendous cardio condition that one dose before the game seems to do the trick most of the time. I know Alex hardly ever needs to use his inhaler more than once.
Just a personal aside -- Seeing all those buff young things lined up in a row on the bench using inhalers is a disturbing sight. I think the fact that so many kids have asthma is some kind of sad commentary on our environment. Maybe it's just me, but I swear I don't remember seeing anything like this when I was growing up, or even when I was around college athletes.
My two cents' worth.
This treatment keeps Alex and me comfortable and it's what our physician instructed. But again, PLEASE clear this with your own doctor before you try it, and if you use albuterol before exercising be careful to factor that into your heart rate control.http://www.clicksmilie.de/sammlung/sport/sport003.gif Kathy S.
Thank you all for your encouragement. I've received excellent suggestions and strategies for every single obstacle I've mentioned. It helps so much to get new ideas, to hear stories from people who have already overcome many of the problems I'm just now encountering. Because of this forum and your encouragement, I can now do all of the lunges Cathe can throw at me (and with heavy weights!) where before I could only do a few of them while them holding onto a broomstick with no weight. I've increased my strength, and I'm improving significantly in endurance and intensity. I have discovered I CAN do step. I'm NOT too clumsy or too slow. (Although I'm not quite up to Cathe yet, I will be soon). I've even gotten a handle on planks (I haven't mastered them quite yet, but I will.) You all are terrific! Thank you so, so much!