Like any other asthma attack, exercise-induced asthma can be very scary to a patient and certified personal trainer and specialist in exercise therapy Pedro Forte is warning all asthmatics to take their asthma medication half hour before exercise and not during exercise or when exercise is complete.
“For some people, exercise itself is a trigger and prevention has always been better than cure. I suggest that clients take their asthma medication at least half hour before they embark on vigorous or prolonged exercise or any type of exercise at all”, said Pedro Forte of Forte Physio and Fitness.
According to him, asthma is very prevalent in Barbados and he sees many clients with asthma.
“There is a myth that people who have asthma should not exercise. Indeed Obadele Thompson is an asthmatic and made Barbados proud in the 2000 Olympics but he controlled and managed his asthma, he trained, he looked after his lungs, he knew his triggers”, he added.
Typically an asthma attack in exercise occurs because while we normally breathe through our noses, during exercise we breathe through our mouths. The air is cooler and drier and this acts as an irritant to the lungs. The lungs react by narrowing to the change in temperature and humidity. When we breathe through our noses the air is warm and moistened by our nasal passages.
According to the CPT, clients with exercise induced asthma may have coughing with asthma, wheezing, tightening of the chest, unusual fatigue and shortness of breath when exercising.
“These symptoms typically occur five to almost 20 minutes into exercise and in some cases even sooner than five minutes. If this happens, my client must immediately stop exercise. I do specific questionnaires nonetheless so that I can determine who is asthmatic and who is not. Even for a personal trainer, it is unpleasant to have a client experience an acute asthma attack. But this should not be an excuse not to exercise”, he said.
Bronchodilators (asthma inhalers) should be used prior to exercise.
“I recommend that clients take their short-acting (emergency) beta-2 agonist inhalers. These stop the airways from contracting. Some clients take Intal or Tilade around 15 to 20 minutes before. Clients with chronic asthma tend to be on cortisteroid inhalers as well, to reduce inflammation and the short acting inhaler is for use when asthma is triggered. Many people out there are still confused and are using a cortisteroid inhaler for emergencies. It is important to be an empowered patient and use the right inhaler”, he reiterated.” I ask clients to work with their medical practitioner to determine the right asthma control regimen before exercising and once done, they can exercise. Many Olympic medallists compete and they do have asthma”.
The specialist suggested that anyone could train but should avoid doing so in very cold temperatures (or do so wearing a scarf over the nose and mouth) and to avoid exercising in igh humidity with a high pollen count (pollen is an allergen). He also recommended that exercising with any viral infection was not ideal and to exercise at a level that does not over-exert the body and trigger an asthma attack.
“The pursed lip breathing technique works well in exercise as well, with or without asthma. It is important that asthmatics know that they must exercise like anyone else and not be sedentary, strengthen their lungs and improve lung capacity and generally be healthy”.
