Breathing problems?

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KimmyBee
KimmyBee Posts: 158 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Im naturally quite a lazy person, but finally decided to do something to up my energy levels and yesterday I started doing the C25K.

By the third jogging session I was really struggling. My body itself was fine, I was all geared up and everything, my body wanted to jog and keep jogging!

My lungs sang a different song, I know to expect to be out of breath, but this was torture, every inhalation felt like my lungs were filling up with water and thumb tacks! and with every exhalation it felt like the insides of my lungs were sticking together!

This cant be normal, can it? I don't smoke, I don't have asthma or any other problems I could possibly think to affect me like this. OR was I just pushing myself too hard? I didn't feel like I had even started exercising properly, so I cant see it being me pushing too hard.

Sorry if it is a pretty basic problem, I'm really not too used to this whole excercise malarky :tongue:

Replies

  • SassyMissDasha
    SassyMissDasha Posts: 614
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    Same thing happened to me. I decided to walk to my inlaws house 10 min away .. that's all. I made it ... but I was dead. Here it is 30 min later and I am still coughing and weezing. Man! I think It's just being out of shape. Our heart isn't condition for that kind of stress yet. It will get better! I hope.
  • h_eloise86
    h_eloise86 Posts: 124
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    I get that.
    (I did used to smoke, but it's been over a year...)
    I drink a lot of water before I work out and sometimes it helps.
    Otherwise I just try to really monitor my breathing and time it to my rhythm.
    Breathe in through the nose and out of the mouth.
    Hope that helps :)
  • relicsloft
    relicsloft Posts: 18 Member
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    i dont smoke either but it really feels like you discribed if i do any prolonged excersize that keeps me breathing deeply... Hiking last year was a hell of thumb tacks and i was doing that for work where i had to keep up with people for over and hour and i thought i was not going to make it. But i think this is kinda like how people who learn how to hold their breath longer underwater, for what ever purpose, they have to trian. Our bodies have to get used to the deep breathing for endurance of activity. By the end of the school year of hiking every week i had greater endurance and kept choosing harder hikes and i was so surprized how much easier i breathed, still huffing and puffing a little but easier. My lungs were not used to expanding and contracting deeply and they are also not ready for the feeling of needing more oxygen, and thats the feeling i think you felt, its how i felt, like sharp poking pains in the lungs, like even just taking breath in would hurt... but you calmed down and your fine, so just keep doing it... run the timer until you feel like that then reast and the next day time it again see if it takes you longer to get to that feeling... but dont over push yourself, if you get hurt your going to be limited on movement and yourgoing to have a harder time making progress. I am excited to be on here and just making little differences for the rest of my life...
  • HealthyChanges2010
    HealthyChanges2010 Posts: 5,831 Member
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    I believe it's the extra weight our bodies are carrying. Seems as they get more used to walking, jogs, anything with a bit more than we used to do that provides our bodies with more endurance it makes our heart stronger, our lungs more able to breathe easier etc.

    Least that's how it's gotten with my body over the last few years. Things I couldn't seem to do in the past that were simple to others are now simple for me so now I push myself harder to continue to strengthen my heart and other organs and build more endurance.

    Even when not overweight a person can be very out of shape, a 'skinny fat' person is the term some use. Your weight might not be over what you should weigh but you're very much out of shape, so the same type of thing happens as when a person is heavier, the body needs to simply adjust to excercise

    Becca:wink:
  • KimmyBee
    KimmyBee Posts: 158 Member
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    Thanks all for your input :flowerforyou:

    I just though it was a really strange situation. IF I push myself to keep going but at a much more relaxed pace my lungs do eventually free up and I can carry on no problems.

    only by the time i can breathe easily my body is knackered :laugh:
  • Thinwithin2010
    Thinwithin2010 Posts: 166 Member
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    I have that too and sometimes I don't even feel I can get in enough air so I start to panic. I know now to start out very slow and work my way up slowly. It is true our lungs aren't used to expanding that much but you can help that along by everyhour take a few very deep breaths about 10 do it for a few days and it can make your chest and back where the ribs are be sore but the muscles are also not used to breathing that deep.. It does get better and don't give up!! Good Luck
  • DrBorkBork
    DrBorkBork Posts: 4,099 Member
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    Give your lungs a few weeks to adjust. It takes a while. For the first month or so after I started doing C25K, I I would cough and wheeze afterwards as though I had bronchitis. These days I just feel like my wind pipe is swelling up, everything else is fine. In all, I would say breathing only gets better over time. Just try to focus on inhaling 3 steps, exhaling 3 steps... slow and controlled. If it doesn't improve after time, talk to a doc.

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