tips for breathing 😎

[ju-ju-]

I want to give any asthmatics and newbies too who may suffer with wheeziness. Apologies as it's very simple but I'm very much learning still so I would appreciate any other tips you have too.

I am an asthmatic, very allergic to animals of the furry kind ( except panthers) and a hayfever sufferer. When I started C25k my breathing was horrific.

So I've managed once again to use up my blue inhaler so I knew I had to go out without my usual fix. I was quite wheezy but thankfully not really bad. I've been reading a lot about breathing and remedies and this is what I did:

1. As I ran I listened to relaxing music to feel calm

2. There are triggers on my run which I worry about ( a really steep bit of hill, road section which is busy etc), I made myself very focussed on not letting them get to me, by slowing up, relaxing my shoulders and breathing

3. When I could feel the wheeze worsening I visualised the tubes in my lungs widening up and letting the air in

4. I focussed on deep breathing right into my tummy

5. At one point a crazy dog went for me ( I don't like dogs) and I immediately started wheezing, but I stopped, did all of the above and off I went again ( why can't people train their dogs properly?!!)

My goodness all of that worked brilliantly, it makes me realise so much of my asthma is stress triggered. I ended up going a bit further on a new route, and to top it all my HR was also decidedly less than usual. I'm posting my Strava stats in the pic so you can see. I hope these tips may help, do you have any?

Happy Panthering

Juju

[AncientMum Graduate]

This is so interesting JJ. I've often suspected my asthma has a stress component too, so I'll bear your coping techniques in mind next time I go out. Brilliant run btw and long too. My sister swears strong coffee is good for damping down an attack but I don't like coffee, so would have to be desperate to try that as a remedy

[ju-ju- Graduate in reply to AncientMum]

I don't like coffee either but I drink gallons of green tea whichalso has loads of caffeine in so possibly worth a try??

[Curlygurly2 Graduate in reply to AncientMum]

Coffee seems to make me wheeze...

[Noaky12 Graduate]

Thanks JJ. I dont suffer from asthma but there are times in my runs that I struggle with breathing & my throat starts to feel constricted which leads me to panic a bit. I dont know if it might be a form of exercise induced asthma or not but I'm certain your tips will help big style. ☺

[ju-ju- Graduate in reply to Noaky12]

Im so glad I hope they do... I think our breathing naturally constricts when we are stressed!

[Sandraj39 Graduate]

Good tips JJ. I'm not asthmatic either but I always try to focus on deep breathing, down in to the bottom of my lungs (by pushing tummy out) and this always helps. It is the shallow, upper chest breathing isn't it, which uses such a small part of our lungs. Think I breathe quite well as a result of doing quite a bit of yoga many years ago!

[ju-ju- Graduate in reply to Sandraj39]

I should do yoga it's so good for breathing and I bet that really helps you??

[Irish-John Graduate]

Thank you for this most timely advice - I thought i was not going to make the first two minutes this morning my breath was so out of control, your visualisations will definitely help me calm down which will help me relax my lungs and chest - that is key for me

[ju-ju- Graduate in reply to Irish-John]

Did any of that help? Struggling with breathing is the worst....

[Irish-John Graduate in reply to ju-ju-]

Haven't had a chance to try yet. Was just after my W6D3 run when I read it. Tomorrow I do my first twenty minutes consecutive run so will no doubt need all the advice.😨 Feeling like your lungs are only the size of uninflated balloons is indeed the worst, and can border on scary at times but so much better now, so VERY much better! than W1D1😄

[GoogleMe Graduate]

When people work out how to train people so they always do exactly as they are supposed to, maybe they can do dogs next...

(We are pretty good at 'training' people on this forum, so there's hope!)

[ju-ju- Graduate in reply to GoogleMe]

Hee hee!!!

[Curlygurly2 Graduate]

Making sure I breathe all the way out seems to help me.

[marco83]

I found written somewhere (I think it was pinterest) that a good way of relaxing the breathing and in the same time reducing the chances of injuries, is to follow your steps and breath 3 steps inhale and 2 steps exhale (so to change the part of the body which touches down on empty).

A long interesting reading about it is:

runnersworld.com/running-ti...

I think it works, the idea behind it is good