cardio fitness and asthma

brianthebard

I've been weight training for the last 6 weeks and noticed a few kilos of fat shifting as well as some muscle gain. I want to lost more fat but when I went for a jog recently I had an asthma attack and my lungs became tired much quicker than the rest of my body. Is there anyone here that is asthmatic and dealt with this issue effectively or does anyone have any tips on how I can increase my cardio workout without having wheezing attacks?

tunney

I'd suggest that you find a doctor that has experience of treating athletic asthmatics. I'm guessing that your asthma is not exercise induced? What medication are you on at the moment?

I have asthma and I train 12 times a week for at least an hour a time. I still have times that I can't train because of my asthma but the right drugs have calmed mine down alot.

Drapper

I'm asthmatic and I do cardio exercise.

You need to go to your GP and get your lungs stress tested and see if you need an inhaler. I have two.

1. Preventative (can 2 - 4 times a day to keep lungs clear)
2. Ventolin (is the imediate relief spray)

I carry my vetolin everywhere, and in my backpocket when cycling/walking and close beside the pool when swimming (btw swimming is the best exercise for asthamtics)!

First things first get a checkup or a referal to the asthma clinic in BLanch

and Asthma is easy to control and should not stop you frmo exercising!

t-ha

I had a similar problem when I started running. I started using my inhaler pre-emptively before runs and it helped alot.

darraghw

Drapper wrote:

I carry my vetolin everywhere, and in my backpocket when cycling/walking and close beside the pool when swimming (btw swimming is the best exercise for asthamtics)!

did you find when you started swimming first that it was very hard to complete more then 1 or 2 lenghts. for me as soon i start to swim my lungs get very tight. i would consider mysekf quite fit aswel so maybe swimming induces my asthma?

Drapper

it works the lungs very hard! so it stresses out the lungs allot......... a blast or two of ventolin and your off like flipper!

tunney

For some people some pools can be hard on your asthma.

However the stress on your lungs is probably more because of technique issues rather than your asthma.

brianthebard

tunney wrote:

I'd suggest that you find a doctor that has experience of treating athletic asthmatics. I'm guessing that your asthma is not exercise induced? What medication are you on at the moment?

I have asthma and I train 12 times a week for at least an hour a time. I still have times that I can't train because of my asthma but the right drugs have calmed mine down alot.

Not exercise induced. I have a ventolin inhaler but I haven't used it much in the last few months because I don't like having to depend on drugs. I'm looking into alternative treatments at the minute like carrageen moss and ivy honey which are supposed to lessen the symptoms.

snickerpuss

Hello!

I've been looking into trying to get fitter/doing some exercise but i'm a chronic asthmatic and i don't even know where to start. I'm on ventolin twice a day and i've been on about a million drugs, but when i'm bad i can hardly walk up the stairs. :rolleyes: (Grrrr) I am pretty unfit at the moment but i used to be fit and still got wheezy etc...

Any ideas where to start with this? I joined a gym before but i could never really push myself cos i was always threading that fine line between breathless from exercise and asthma attack.

CASEsensitive

You could get a powerlung or powerbreathe to improve your lung capacity, I use a powerbreathe and while it doesn't get rid of my asthma, it has greatly reduced the wheeze.

Drapper

snickerpuss wrote:

Hello!

I've been looking into trying to get fitter/doing some exercise but i'm a chronic asthmatic and i don't even know where to start. I'm on ventolin twice a day and i've been on about a million drugs, but when i'm bad i can hardly walk up the stairs. :rolleyes: (Grrrr) I am pretty unfit at the moment but i used to be fit and still got wheezy etc...

Any ideas where to start with this? I joined a gym before but i could never really push myself cos i was always threading that fine line between breathless from exercise and asthma attack.

do you walk ? how about a few miles (start with 2 / 3 ) of walking on the flat and at about a heart rate of 110-125 bpm. Take it slowly, and try and build up your lung strength!

brianthebard

snickerpuss wrote:

Hello!

I've been looking into trying to get fitter/doing some exercise but i'm a chronic asthmatic and i don't even know where to start. I'm on ventolin twice a day and i've been on about a million drugs, but when i'm bad i can hardly walk up the stairs. :rolleyes: (Grrrr) I am pretty unfit at the moment but i used to be fit and still got wheezy etc...

Any ideas where to start with this? I joined a gym before but i could never really push myself cos i was always threading that fine line between breathless from exercise and asthma attack.

Have you found any alternative treatments that work for you? I managed to stay off the ventolin for a year but I was in a damp cold house last year in college and my asthma came back with a vengence. I know that I can go through most of the summer without taking the inhaler but I don't have a chance for the winter.

CASEsensitive wrote:

You could get a powerlung or powerbreathe to improve your lung capacity, I use a powerbreathe and while it doesn't get rid of my asthma, it has greatly reduced the wheeze.

Is argos the only place you can get a powerbreathe? I've tried every sports shop in sligo but they don't have them.

tunney

Powerlungs - nice idea but not much good. Tried one.

I went through a few cycles of drugs until I found one that allowed me to overcome the problems asthma posed for sports. Ultimately I'm taking a steroid plus long acting broncodilator (?).

Alternative treatments are nice in theory but sometimes you can't avoid drugs.

In the winter I wear something that will cover my nose and month when training in cold weather and I try to breathe through my nose - it all helps.