Endurance training for people with Asthma

[Quick Start Test Smith]

I have mildly severe asthma. Lately, I have also been dealing with a lot of allergies.

What kind of changes does asthma have on the endurance training that I can do? My endurance (or the lack thereof) has been really holding me back in terms of practice efficiency and fighting ability. If I want to run through 12 kata which are all roughly 30 seconds-2 minutes long), it takes me at least 40 minutes because I constantly have to rest. It's my biggest problem.

[Cole Dano]

That's rough. Asthma was what ended my Ashtanga career.

If it's flaring up there just isn't much you can do. Learning to do calm natural diaphragmatic breathing can help, but if you have to stop you have to stop, don't fight it too hard, it can make it worse.

Have you looked into dietary factors, grain or gluten allergies can really cause problems in this area. Changing my diet was the most important thing I did. I also personally found adding fish oil to my diet seemed to help.

[Quick Start Test Smith]

That's rough. Asthma was what ended my Ashtanga career.

If it's flaring up there just isn't much you can do. Learning to do calm natural diaphragmatic breathing can help, but if you have to stop you have to stop, don't fight it too hard, it can make it worse.

Have you looked into dietary factors, grain or gluten allergies can really cause problems in this area. Changing my diet was the most important thing I did. I also personally found adding fish oil to my diet seemed to help.

Hi, Cole!

My doc put me on a Proventil inhaler to use when I need it and a temporary Symbicort inhaler (just for a month or so to help get it down to a more manageable level). I have allergies to dust and other stuff around here which are being treated with a strong nasal spray.

I didn't think about the fish oil. I have been neglecting it lately, but I will remember to get about 5g a day and see how I feel. I eat paleo 99% of the time outside of plenty of buckwheat waffles and occasional kidney beans.

[Gerald Mangona]

I have asthma (both regular and exercise-induced) as well as allergies. I have beat my asthma and believe that you can too. The problem with asthmatics (especially exercise-induced) is that pushing yourself to near-max exertion levels will trigger your asthma...usually leaving you barely breathing, coughing, and with wheezing for several hours after the onset. So if you have a hard time walking up 5 flights of stairs, it will be your natural inclination to avoid the stairs.

The problem is that avoiding exertion only serves to reinforce your asthma. Consider, for example, what if your "max-exertion" level was to walk up 40 flights of stairs. In that context, 5 is no problem, right? But how can you bring your max-exertion level from 5 up to 40? Answer? Very carefully and very gradually.

Are you working with allergist who specializes in asthma? Working one to help you learn and understand your triggers will be very helpful. Because if you can design your cardiovascular training around avoiding the triggers themselves, you can increase your VO2 max gradually with no symptoms.

For me, I have several triggers:

(1) high-intensity sprinting...working at 90% of max will usually trigger my asthma unless I've spent 20-30 minutes in long, slow, gradual warm-up. Sometimes even a brisk 20 minute walk and then a 10-minute slow jog will get me to the point where I can start doing some high-intensity stair runs.

(2) cold air...pretty simple.

(3) allergies

So by making sure I set up my workouts to workaround these needs, I can now do a 5k in under 24 minutes. I can jump rope for 10 minutes with very little break. And I'm continuing to work on both my aerobic and anaerobic conditioning....very slowly and gradually.

The kata might be "too much too fast", as they say around here. Spend 6 months gradually building up some conditioning and you should be ok.

[Quick Start Test Smith]

Thanks, JMan!

What you describe is basically exactly what I experience. I will concentrate on building up slowly and trying not to aggravate it too much at one time.

[Gerald Mangona]

Thanks, JMan!

What you describe is basically exactly what I experience. I will concentrate on building up slowly and trying not to aggravate it too much at one time.

Great. And slow means slow. When I went on the "Couch to 5k" program, the first workout was just to walk 1 mile. And Josh Naterman wrote a post about someone training to box about doing one long workout a week at an easy pace...no more than 120 bpm. That's good advice for you too.

My "slow day" is a 6 mile hybrid slow jog combine with walking. It takes me over an hour....but the asthma never triggers. When you get to a better condition, you can start adding sprint work/hill work/high-intensity work, etc. But gotta build a good base of aerobic conditioning. IMHO. J

[FritsMB Mansvelt Beck]

Patrick, I do not know how your "mildly severe" asthma compares to my exercise induced asthma, but here is my experience (I train for veterans rowing races). In my case, doing high intensity short interval training without at least a 20 min. warm up is a recipe for disaster, even if I am in (much) better than average aerobic shape. Medical tests showed that I have mild asthma that can flare up severely during high intensity endurance training and racing. An inhaler was prescribed, but I only use it before races (veterans rowing). What helped me most in the end was using a heart rate monitor while training and systematically experimenting on the Concept2 ergometer to find out how my asthma reacted to aerobic and anaerobic training at different levels of intensity with different types of warm up. In my case it took about a year of experimenting on the Concept2 erg to find out when and how to train hard (at above 90% of max. HR) and when to stay at about 60% of my maximum HR (on hot humid days) and when not to train. So, I suggest that you do something similar. Take your time to build an endurance base by training mostly at a low level of intensity (basically what Jman suggests), train smart and get systematic feedback (a HR monitor may be a good idea) that allows you to find out your specific aerobic and anaerobic training zones and how your asthma reacts to training at different levels of intensity in different types of atmospheric conditions. And, don’t forget to track your progress. Good luck.

[Quick Start Test Smith]

Thanks, Fritz. A HR monitor is a good idea. I will work on this.