The Gym

after being in hospital for just over 2 weeks with asthma (including ITU) and then again 2 days later (after picking upa nasty infection form my stay in hosp), i wqas not very pleased to find out form my school (6thform) that as part of my BTEC sports course i will have to attend the local gym and do a fitness programme for myself, which i must do, in the gym. It must consist of all the equiptment to train each fitness component ( such as cardio vascular fitness etc).

Teachers are well aware of my time in hospital yet i still have to go to the gym, asthma is still not good and pf rarely fo above 250 (best 480) i jave warned them that i don't think it is a good idea (especailly as excercise is big trigger for me .... the las time i did that i ended up havin a bed attack!) that i go and am suprised as i am not allowed to do any sport in school wothout a consultants letter! and am worried that i will have an attack and end up back in hospital, which i cant afford since ive missed mearly a month off from school!

Any ideas how to tackle the situation????

Also will the local gym allow me to use the gym becasuse of my asthma?

katie xxxx

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Hi Katielou

Have you thought about maybe doing another course, if your asthma is triggered by doing excerise then maybe stduying sport isn't the best idea, but if that's what you really want to do then they should make allowances for you and help you as much as possible, have you tried talking to your principle?

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Hi

You say you are to design a fittness programme for yourself, therefor it must be safe for you and within your capability.

I go to a small local gym and the programme worked out for me is very gentle. It involves a small number of repeats with only a little weight on each machine used and only 5 mins at a low setting on the exercise bike and similar on the treadmill. If I start to feel breathless I cut down the repeats or the time depending on what I am doing.

The beauty of an individual programme is it is just that - for you. It isn't like being involved in a sport where you have to work at the pace of others as you would in ordinary sports.

Also how many components are they expecting - I started with just two exercices for lower body and two for upper and two very gentle cardio vascular, one to start with and one to end with. Try to find out more about what is required before panicking. Also remeber that a personal programme is often worked out for people with health problems and so is often very gentle. A gym isn't just for fit people.

All the best

Molly

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erm i guess i can make allowences if i have to desgin my own fitness programe - i forgot that - but stilli think is takin a risk as i really dont want to go back in!

and as for my course i LOVE sports and have always done it with my asthma - just not to my best ability and as i would love to become a physio or pe teacher then it is required!!

[yaf_user681_26410]

Hi Katielou,

Just a quick reply as am at work. I got referred to the gym by GP. That meant having a supervised fitness programme designed to suit me and my health needs i.e. asthma. It also meant going at a cheaper rate. Being supervised the trainer was around to prevent me from sending myself into an asthma attack. You say you have to design the programme yourself but there is nothing to stop you having guidance along the way which a trainer can do.

ange xx

[yaf_user681_26410]

Hi Katielou,

Just a quick reply as am at work. I got referred to the gym by GP. That meant having a supervised fitness programme designed to suit me and my health needs i.e. asthma. It also meant going at a cheaper rate. Being supervised the trainer was around to prevent me from sending myself into an asthma attack. You say you have to design the programme yourself but there is nothing to stop you having guidance along the way which a trainer can do.

ange xx

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Hi Katie,

I would suggest you don’t participate in any cardio sporting activities until your pf and symptoms are controlled to your own individual ‘pb’

As a sporting enthusiast, and severe asthmatic I’ve been able to participate in all my favourite sports when my asthma has been well controlled. However when my enthusiasm used to get the better of my sensible side, and I tried to go running, swimming, to the gym etc with uncontrolled symptoms I would end up feeling worse, and, in the long/short term take longer to recover than if I’d just rested a few more days, weeks even.

When your lungs are still recovering from a recent exacerbation, the worst thing you can do is to put your body under more stress, which is basically what all sporting activities do. My ‘safe’ pf for exercise is 250 upwards. You are much younger than me so your ‘safe’ pf for exercising should be much higher!

As part of your course you could try and devise an exercise programme to suit asthmatics, either younger or older. There are many bona fide journals/ periodicals that include all sorts of articles relating to asthma and exercise programmes, including Thorax and Sports Medicine for starters. You can access these journals online. But you do need an ‘Athens’ password/username. Your school/college library should have that info.

How about starting off by going to the gym and finding out what a ‘normal’ exercise programme is for a none asthmatic, same age/gender person as you?

You could also find out if there are any gentle stretching/yoga classes on offer, which you might be able to participate in while recovering. Most elite athletes include these sorts of none aerobic activities within their overall fitness training/conditioning programme.

Good luck

Mia

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Katielou,

I think you should go and see the person who is in charge of disabled students. As someone who as asthma you are covered under the DDA by having reasonable adjustments to your education.

I wonder if the disability person could support you in making some sort of reasonable adjustment such as taking a friend and designing a programme for them? Or being allowed an extension so you could do this yourself but when you are feeling better.

I don't think people realise how long it takes to get better with asthma, but maybe the disability person will understand better and be able to advocate for you since the teachers of your course don't seem to be listening.

Beth

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spoke to treacher and sed that i am definatley not doin it and i ave to design one for her ....its quite funny as pe teachers seem to be the ony people who understand pf and was not happy with mine lol thanks for all the advice ... panick over until the asthma nurse tommorrow not a pleasnt thought !! katie xxx