Exercising with asthma? Getting back into fitness

[PookieDo]

I am so so so unfit, I used to be a bit fitter but I have a couple of health issues

1. Asthma - my lungs burn so badly if I try to run, so I don’t. My peak flow at its best ever is 550 and I am currently at around 475 consistently.
2. Ruptured L4/5 disc a year ago - steroid injection into spine (avoided operation for time being!)
3. I’m now overweight

I am scared of irritating both these conditions so I avoid strenuous exercise which isn’t helping. I was immobile/crutches for a few months and packed on the weight. This hasn’t helped my lung capacity!

Right now I am walking at a fast pace 3-4K a day, more if I can handle it. Everything seems to burn in and out and I know I need to keep going. Anyone have any tips on what I could/should be doing to push it a bit? FYI I can’t do swimming and can’t afford a gym. No local pools I can afford or have suitable swim times (I work and is mainly free in the day).

I am considering one of the fitness DVD’s, like a shred but I don’t know if this will be me biting off way more than I can chew

My peak flow has never gone above 500 (rarely above 450) yet I've run a couple of half marathons. However my back is in better shape! I suggest booking a meeting with your asthma nurse (who will have access to your medical history) and see what they suggest.

Regular brisk walking is a good start. Pilates , tai chi or yoga, to build up core strength for the back?

Good luck!

Thanks!
Do you find yourself breathless when you exercise? I feel like I am more breathless than I should be during just a fast walk!

Is your asthma being managed correctly? It doesn’t sounds like it is under control if you are getting so breathless? I think you should get your treatment reviewed.

Snap - I've got L4/L5 (slipped it about 20 years ago) AND asthma! I am congenitally lazy and tbh the slipped disc plus asthma are the only reasons I exercise. I was lucky enough to get some great NHS advice when I slipped the disc (I was very young, still growing, so although it was a severe prolapse they were keen not to operate and so was I). Also have a fab asthma nurse. So here's what I've learned for what it is worth, and with caveat everyone is different:
Asthma - nurse advised me to take blue inhaler 15 mins before exercise. It does no harm and can keep you from worrying about your chest tightening up. My peak flow is rarely above 500 (and I do half marathons now - running really has improved it) and the cold and wet affects my breathing. Having a puff before I exercise has helped a lot. If you're wheezing while out, slow down but keep going, try not to stand still.
Disc prolapse - walking, running etc are all fairly high impact so can make you stiffen up or cause you pain. Plus you are anxious about causing yourself pain, understandably, and in my experience that makes it more likely that the asthma comes on. I was taught by the back clinic I attended (pre-Tory cuts) that it is best to have a strong core and quite a bit of flexibility first (and this was long before the core-obsessed exercise fashion so I believe the advice!) Have you tried gentle yoga or pilates? Your GP may be able to advise on NHS based classes which are usually free or cheap; local universities sometimes have physio departments where students in training will offer pilates classes and/or physio; and in my experience it is always worth asking hatha yoga teachers if they can do discounts (the first yoga class I went to was mainly for people recently released from prison and none of us paid very much, but richer customers paid the standard price, and no one knew). Pilates got rid of my sciatica and I learned some excellent stretches which I still use for pain management and before running. I did not run or walk long distances until my pilates teacher thought I was ready (2 years). Before doing so, I moved on to weights at my local council gym. If I had known about athletics clubs I would have found out that my local one offers FREE sessions to beginners and focuses on core, gentle weights etc. Worth looking at. Once my back muscles were strong, I was able to walk much more easily. You can also search for 'pilates for back pain' online if there is nothing available locally.
I was overweight, in constant pain, and I was told by one doctor I would always walk with a limp. Now I am really happy with my weight, I rarely have any pain, and I run half marathons without fear of wheezing or sciatica. This is all down to the brilliant advice and help I got. I hope it helps you a bit.

My peakflow has never got got to 500. Wow, if only! My highest ever reading was 480 but usually I'm around 430.

You should be breathless when you exercise! I think there's a tendency for asthmatics to blame asthma when exercising rather than face up to being unfit instead. I know I've done this in the past and it's only when my fitness has improved that I've admitted to myself that it wasn't asthma limiting my breathing but my lack of cardio fitness.

Being overweight will also make breathing harder. I recently lost over 4 stone through exercise and I did an exercise where I carried sandbags weighing the same as the weight I lost up and down stairs. Holy cow!! I was dead. Made me realise that no wonder I was out of breath and exhausted carrying that extra weight around. It was quite scary actually.

You need to keep up the brisk walking and try to increase the distance if you can. As long as you aren't wheezing, try not to worry too much about being breathless. You will improve if you push yourself. If you have concerns, go and have a chat with your asthma nurse first.

Have you got access to a bike to try some cycling? Would that work with your back? (I'm not sure so...)

Thanks you all!

I can’t sit on a bike, my lower back area just wouldn’t be able to put up with it very long, I try to avoid horrible seating 😂

I have tried Pilates, I was given it for weeks by a physio after I had the spinal steroid injection and it did help. I still do some of the exercises but I always have excuses - too small to do a video in my lounge really, can’t afford £6-8 per class!

Both my legs have permanent nerve damage so I think it is just a lot harder for me to do what other people do for exercising. I tried yoga in a class and couldn’t do most of the poses as can’t balance well or bend legs very easily and it was quite embarrassing.

I most certainly use asthma as an excuse 😂 and I know I will have to have the disc out again if it happens again, because it’s weak now very prone (it’s happened twice in 4 years)

I did the same walk today that I struggled on the other day and didn’t struggle hardly at all! Asthma seems ok at present

I’m about 2.5 stone overweight so it’s not insurmountable really and I just need to be more positive and just bloody get on with it 😂

Going to try DVD with my friend at her house, combined with walking

Thanks for motivating me. If you can do it so can I!

Good on you. And do use kind friends for encouragement. Yes you need to get on with it, but I was terrified of injuring myself again, for years. The pain of a prolapse is terrible and asthma can also be scary. Take it steady, and focus on the core when you can, and do surround yourself with people who will reassure you when the fear gets huge. The more you can get those core muscles to work, the less chance of the disc coming out again. (Know what you mean about yoga - I close my eyes a lot to avoid seeing other people, my hamstrings are so tight! I do it with a pal who is double jointed, so she gets pain through being too flexible - you can't win!)

I also think I need to kind of help myself get over how traumatic it was when the disc ruptured, sounds silly maybe but it was 7 months of complete and utter hell. I never ever want to go through that again.

I initially hurt myself AT THE GYM 😂 on the lateral pull down thing. So I was a bit uncomfortable and then an emergency happened at work that involved heavy lifting, carrying etc.

I started off just stiff really then over the next 2 months I basically just stopped being able to stand upright, walk or move properly. I was an actual real hunchback with a limp. GP was like ‘have some pills’. I ended up on a crazy amount of gabapentin which made me a zombie but did not sleep more than 2 hours at a time for 5 months, waiting to try to get through the system for sometime to actually see what it wasn’t just ‘a bit of back pain’ by the time I got the MRI I don’t even know how I laid in the machine 😂 (drugs) they offered me the operation but said let’s try the injection for now/first and within 2 weeks I was off all drugs!

So now I am terrified of hurting myself but know I am not helping myself by being a couch potato

If you are considering a fitness DVD don't do Shred!!

I have asthma, 3 4 stone overweight and decided to do Shred. Couldn't do it, hurt my knees with all the jumping and got thoroughly despondent. Plus you feel like you want to die.

I am currently doing the Low-Impact programme on Fitnessblender and enjoying it soooo much more. All their videos are free but to pick a programme costs about £8 and you can use it as many times as you like - I picked Low Impact as no jumping so good for beginners and it is suiting me much better. Am getting short of breath but in a good way - and a week in I am noticeably fitter.

Also the trainers are much less annoying

Do you use your reliever inhaler (e.g ventolin) inhaler before you exercise? My peak flow at best only ever reaches 450 and generally hovers around 400. I walk about 4 mikes a day and run a couple of times a week and I find it helps if I take my reliever before I go out. I used to do Pilates which really built up my core strength (but unfortunately the class closed) - this helped my stamina and helped me understand how to control my breathing which helps

Yes i take it
Cold air really annoys my lungs so I wear a scarf over my mouth, but then this can be quite annoying and feel restrictive

I honestly think I am out of breath because I am very unfit

I either need to buy a DVD or buy it on Amazon as going to do it at my friends. Any other suggestions? I’m not going to Shred, it looks evil!

something you can watch on a TV or a laptop iyswim

Just looked at fitness blender - so all free? What do you pay for?

I too have asthma and prolapser discs and arthritis in shoulder. Swimming has been a game changer for me. It has meant I no longer need my preventer as lung capacity has increased so much.

I am fit - run half marathons, about 20-25 miles a week. I developed asthma recently and it hasn't stopped me.

To begin with, I didn't know how to manage it, so took too much blue inhaler. Now I have a brown one daily, I barely use blue, though I always take it with on a run.

Part of the breathing thing for me is that I worry if I forget it on a run, which of course affects my breathing! So I am not sure what is really happening.

At my recent asthma check the nurse said they want to see a 430 peak flow; it was actually 480.

So, don't panic, do build fitness up slowly and do take blue inhaler when you need it.

Yes all the videos are free! The couple running it are great.

You pay for the videos being put together into a focussed programme e/g abs or upper body or fit but all the cost goes into running the site.

I picked it as I really needed low impact and everything else is HIT which I can't do, and they have an adaptation for everything and talk through things v calmly.

Going to give this a go on fitnessblender

I really can’t afford a gym, pool or classes - I’m single parent and it all has to be free!

I like swimming but my only local pool is one of those pools that you can only swim in as an adult if you don’t have a job during the day!

I have a symbicort preventer

That is frustrating. Is it a Local Authority pool? Is it only used for lessons in the evenings?

PookieDo that was my major motivation! Plus not having to show my fat body to anyone else. The only equipment they use are a mat and handweights - theirs are some v fancy dumbbells but I can barely lift anything and started out with a pair of 0.5kg weights - the shame!

I've slowly moved up -2kg! but they also have a lot of workouts that are no equipment at all.

Yes - lessons every single day into the evening. Then most of the sessions are ‘family fun’ which means being jumped on by a million 10 year olds 😂 or adult clubs
Saturday is lesson and then closed for parties
Sunday is fun swim then closed for private or the clubs

Clubs for older kids/adults is actual swim clubs, competition practice type thing

Cold air triggers me too so I do the same with a scarf when I’m walking (I walk at lunchtimes when I’m at work and walk 2.5 miles back to the station everyday). When I run I have a zipped top with a hood that I can zip up over my mouth. Couch to 5k apps are free - that’s how I started running again after a long break. It leads you in slowly with short (2 min) runs interspersed with walks. Something like that might help you work into it slowly so be more able to manage your breathing.

How do you even overcome the burning lungs when running? They just burn so much!