Easing the asthma

[SaraMarie24]

Hey all! About to workout and was curious-does anyone find that working out eases their symptoms?

[Minushabens Asthma Captain]

It certainly used to, in a sense anyway. For many years (after I got my childhood/early adulthood asthma under control) I used to cycle a lot. Even before that, as a teenager/early 20s I used to walk miles & miles pretty much every day.

If you're not familiar with the UK, I live in a town in northern England which sits on the edge of the Pennine Hills; it is characterised by hardly having a street in the town that is flat. My bike journey to work was downhill all the way, bar the last bit...25 minutes; home it was the opposite & I could do it in about 45 minutes. I used to challenge myself not to let my feet touch the ground. The last bit was a 0.75-mile very steep uphill climb to home. My wife used to laugh at me collapsing through the door, but it was genuine exertion not asthma.

My son has had asthma since he was a baby as well, but has always played (UK!) football. He is rarely troubled nowadays by asthma.

Unfortunately for me, complications around the time I turned 50 have impacted on my ability to walk or cycle, but that's a lot to do with my asthma having been badly mismanaged as a child. So I'd say absolutely 'yes', exercise is probably a very powerful tool for symptom management.

[SaraMarie24 in reply to Minushabens]

What a great challenge for yourself! I can imagine how those roads must be. They seem like they’re great for getting any workout in! Thankfully my asthma hasn’t gotten in the way much and using my inhaler as needed has helped me get through it. It’s been cold here. Which has been a bit of a trigger for me, and at times I’ve wondered if working out would cause a flare up because of the temperature . I do workout indoors though, which I think is good with the cold and snow we have going in. We do what works!

Thanks for the reply and have a great day!