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
I've got full-blown asthma that seems to be under control for right now (amazing with all the pollen out). For warm-up, I find that doing an easy 400 I.M. and then 4 x 50 free on :50 is a good way to loosen up and get my HR up. If I follow this up with a descending set of something like 5 x 100 free on 1:45, getting 5 seconds faster on each 100, this works really well.
Sometimes I get to practice late and have to use whatever set they are on as my warm-up. I find that going really slow at first and then descending my time through the set seems to work well.
Overall, I think decending sets after a warm-up works really well for asthmatics because you gradually work your way into some really hard efforts. Also, if my flow meter shows that my breathing is not in the ideal zone, I'll make sure that I warm-up a little longer and allow more recovery between swims.
I've got full-blown asthma that seems to be under control for right now (amazing with all the pollen out). For warm-up, I find that doing an easy 400 I.M. and then 4 x 50 free on :50 is a good way to loosen up and get my HR up. If I follow this up with a descending set of something like 5 x 100 free on 1:45, getting 5 seconds faster on each 100, this works really well.
Sometimes I get to practice late and have to use whatever set they are on as my warm-up. I find that going really slow at first and then descending my time through the set seems to work well.
Overall, I think decending sets after a warm-up works really well for asthmatics because you gradually work your way into some really hard efforts. Also, if my flow meter shows that my breathing is not in the ideal zone, I'll make sure that I warm-up a little longer and allow more recovery between swims.
