Hi. I am a new masters swimmer and I am wondering if something I am experiencing happens to a lot of others. Soon after I started swimming regularly with a masters team I started feeling this occasional tightness in my chest. I didn't even think it would have anything to do with swimming, so even though I am only 26, I was worried about my heart and went to a doctor. She said it was probably just stress and did an EKG which turned out fine and told me not to worry. A couple months later, I still feel it once in a while, and I think it might happen more often after hard FLY/*** workouts. I was thinking about going back to the doctor to see if it is a muscular thing, so I was just wondering if it was something common. Anyone had this?
Laurie
Parents
Former Member
I'm new to this board, and one of the reasons I came looking for a discussion board was to ask the very same question.
I get a tightness in the chest, but not during my workout. For me, it's an occasional discomfort over the next two or three days. If I don't work out for a few days, it becomes less frequent, but it still happens. I, too, notice it more often after I've done a workout with fly. It feels like muscle soreness or bruising right behind the sternum more than pressure, but stretching doesn't seem to help it. Occasionally I'll also get a strange little spasm that lasts a moment or two and disappears, but it doesn't seem to correspond to any particular type of movement or situation.
The discomfort really isn't a problem, but there's sometimes a feeling of being short of breath that accompanies it. It's worst in the morning, during my walk to the train. Strangely, even though I feel out of breath, I can still push my physical performance without getting dizzy or feeling as though I'm going to pass out. In fact, if the tightness or shortness of breath is still there when I get to the pool, it disappears as soon as I start swimming.
The asthma comment has me wondering, because when I was a child I was never able to run in cold weather. In less than five minutes my lungs would burn so badly I'd have to quit. I grew out of it, but I recently read an exact description of those symptoms as a type of asthma. I never saw a doctor about it.
Reading over this, I realize it sounds worse than it is. It's really just a minor nuisance, but we've been so conditioned to think "heart trouble!" at the first pain in our chests that it automatically seems serious. I just posted because if anyone has any ideas, I'd like to hear them.
I'm new to this board, and one of the reasons I came looking for a discussion board was to ask the very same question.
I get a tightness in the chest, but not during my workout. For me, it's an occasional discomfort over the next two or three days. If I don't work out for a few days, it becomes less frequent, but it still happens. I, too, notice it more often after I've done a workout with fly. It feels like muscle soreness or bruising right behind the sternum more than pressure, but stretching doesn't seem to help it. Occasionally I'll also get a strange little spasm that lasts a moment or two and disappears, but it doesn't seem to correspond to any particular type of movement or situation.
The discomfort really isn't a problem, but there's sometimes a feeling of being short of breath that accompanies it. It's worst in the morning, during my walk to the train. Strangely, even though I feel out of breath, I can still push my physical performance without getting dizzy or feeling as though I'm going to pass out. In fact, if the tightness or shortness of breath is still there when I get to the pool, it disappears as soon as I start swimming.
The asthma comment has me wondering, because when I was a child I was never able to run in cold weather. In less than five minutes my lungs would burn so badly I'd have to quit. I grew out of it, but I recently read an exact description of those symptoms as a type of asthma. I never saw a doctor about it.
Reading over this, I realize it sounds worse than it is. It's really just a minor nuisance, but we've been so conditioned to think "heart trouble!" at the first pain in our chests that it automatically seems serious. I just posted because if anyone has any ideas, I'd like to hear them.
