Hi all... I am new to this forum and seeking information that I haven't been able to find elsewhere. But surely someone knows.... anyway...
I have mild asthma, but it is induced by heavy exercise, and seems the worst when we do sprints without much rest, especially with zoomers.
My question is, how can I train the hardest without kicking off my asthma? What are the best sorts of sets or training practices? (And how can I modify existing sets without messing up my lanemates?). Sometimes our coach will ask us to do sets where we severely limit our breathing. Are these good for me or bad??
I do have an inhaler, but it doesn't seem to help with the exercise-induced asthma (only the cat-induced type). And I am always careful to warm up and cool down.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
Roberta
Thanks for your reply. I wish I could get the kind of health care you describe -- and I have pretty good health insurance. Instead, I seem to get the kind where they throw something at you (usually medication) and send you on your way. I'm skeptical that I'll get anyone to care about a mediocre middle-aged swimmer who'd like to swim a little faster. (If I was having trouble breathing in my everyday life, that would be a different story). I'm sure there are doctors who'd be willing to work with me, but my impression is that they are few and far between. I will, though, be more diligent about using my spacer with my inhaler as you suggest, and see if that helps.
I wasn't suggesting that I limit my activity in any way. Rather, I thought I could work out smarter, rather than work out less, if I knew what to do. For example, you say that warm up is important for asthmatics, and my experience definitely bears that out. But what sort of warm-up? My impression is that long, slow warm-up is good at first, but that I can't go right from that into speed work. I need some sort of transition, but I'm not entirely sure what the best transition is -- what kind of set to do in between. (build-up build down sets? a medium speed set? etc.) I thought perhaps someone would have studied this. But maybe the reason I haven't been able to find any information on this is that no one has. :(
Thanks for your reply. I wish I could get the kind of health care you describe -- and I have pretty good health insurance. Instead, I seem to get the kind where they throw something at you (usually medication) and send you on your way. I'm skeptical that I'll get anyone to care about a mediocre middle-aged swimmer who'd like to swim a little faster. (If I was having trouble breathing in my everyday life, that would be a different story). I'm sure there are doctors who'd be willing to work with me, but my impression is that they are few and far between. I will, though, be more diligent about using my spacer with my inhaler as you suggest, and see if that helps.
I wasn't suggesting that I limit my activity in any way. Rather, I thought I could work out smarter, rather than work out less, if I knew what to do. For example, you say that warm up is important for asthmatics, and my experience definitely bears that out. But what sort of warm-up? My impression is that long, slow warm-up is good at first, but that I can't go right from that into speed work. I need some sort of transition, but I'm not entirely sure what the best transition is -- what kind of set to do in between. (build-up build down sets? a medium speed set? etc.) I thought perhaps someone would have studied this. But maybe the reason I haven't been able to find any information on this is that no one has. :(
