Fitness Forum - Overbreathing During Exercise

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Q: Overbreathing During Exercise

asked by: brett g on November 6th, 2007

New User

Firstly hello to everyone, i'm new to this and this is my first starting point to possibly finding someone else with my symtoms.
I have breathing problems which occur (or i only really notice) during exercise. I have been generally ignored and told it is unfitness or even ashma by the doctor which was unbelievable as i had recently come 5 in the UK at sports acrobatic tubling and after giving up football to carry on with my tumbling i found after a year i tried to play football but found i no longer could and felt i couldn't get enough air into my lungs, causing dizziness, rawness in my lungs, a general real feeling of discomfort, severe fatigue and dissorientation and a cough lasting hours. This was over ten years ago and i now avoid all them things i used to love (sport) i have tried to get back into football, running etc but it all still leads to this problem. I have had my heart and lungs checked properly at hospital and all are fine and i was handed over to a physio therapist who realised i was overbreathing. I would really love to get into contact with someone who has had something very similar and who has come out the other side with a good solution as i have had so many suggestions but don't know which one to stick to with definate results? Any info or suggestions would be greatly appreciated as i am starting to forget that sport ever existed in my life and i would really love to be able to play football with my future children. Thanks again
Brett

Replies(6)

Maddie34

replied on November 6th, 2007

Moderator

When I was in high school I would have a horrible time going from swimming to basketball. I would spend months getting my lungs accustomed to how I needed to breathe in swimming and then going from that to how you breathe in basketball? I would have to stop and sit out a lot and I would have mini panic attacks because i never felt like I got enough air. It eased off after I got more into basketball. Maybe its the same kind of deal? I'm not sure how you breathe in tumbling.

What did your doctor say?

brett g

replied on November 7th, 2007

New User

Hi Maddie, thanks for the reply.
I have given up going to the doctors years ago as they were absolutely unhelpful and not one of them suggested overbreathing or incorrect breathing just ashma even tho my peak flow tests were always among the best they had seen for my age and size. I have tried persevering with football for a whole season but i'll be totally honest there was no improvement whatsoever. I do remember noticing when i was a tumbler that i would breath very different to everyone else, i would hold my breath alot when conditioning etc and everyone used to tell me to breath but my body was only comfortable holding then taking a few breaths. I think also when performing a tumble i held my breath too but that may be normal as it is a very powerful burst of energy over a short period then a rest before the next one???

Maddie34

replied on November 7th, 2007

Moderator

Yeah, I'm not sure if this is your problem but I know that holding your breath when you run is a big no. It causes you to lose your breath sooner and makes whatever you're doing very hard. Sound familiar? If you go out running try and think about how you breathe so we know this is something you actually need to work on.

Holding my breath was always a problem for me when I ran and I needed to think about how I would breathe during the beginning of the basketball season so I could get back on track. But however you train is how you're going to perform, or at least that’s what I get drilled into my head Wink

So if you hold your breath when you train then that’s what you'll do when you aren't thinking. How you performed when you tumbled doesn't really concern me but holding your breath during conditioning? Not good.

I'm a little curious now. I've asked my teammates that played basketball in high school and they gave me some mixed answers so I'm going to ask a trainer about it tomorrow morning and I'll get back to you with some answers and possible things that may help if I'm right.

brett g

replied on November 8th, 2007

New User

I don't hold my breath when i play football i'm very consious of breathing now, i'm not sure if i breath when i sprint though? maybe not? But i could train without sprinting, just at a high pace and still feel all these symptoms. I feel like im going round in circles as no one has actually seen all these symptoms before and therefore cannot seem to help me. I've tried slowing down my breathing but i just feel like im suffocating myself and i find it virtually impossible. As a child this was my worst fear that I couldn't play sport for some reason, and i used to think... How can people not love sport... Whats wrong with them? It went from being my life to a distant memory that i cant even talk about. I think this has deeply affected me but i hide it and can be quite moody nowadays and have nothing to take my frustrations out in. Sorry for the winge, i just really hope to meet someone who has had exactly the same?
Thanks again
Brett

brett g

replied on November 8th, 2007

New User

I just read my message back and it sounds a bit rude. I really didn't mean it to sound that way, i think im just so frustrated Sad

I do appreciate all your responses.

Maddie34

replied on November 8th, 2007

Moderator

Its no big deal. You're right, I don't know the situation and my symptoms weren't exactly the same so I got ahead of myself. If you know how you breathe when you work out and know that you do so correctly then I am clearly wrong in my possibility and I'm fine you with telling me so.

I'm sorry I don't know how to help you then. Sad

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