How does regular exercise affect asthmatics? What types of sports are recommended if someone suffers from asthma? How often and for how long should asthmatics exercise and what should they pay attention to during training? Petra Schreiber-Benoit answers these and other questions and has tips on how to prepare for clients with asthma.
Bronchial asthma is one of the chronic inflammatory respiratory diseases. It affects around 300 million people worldwide. In asthma, endobronchial obstruction can occur due to bronchospasm, mucous edema, hypercrinia (excessive gland secretion, e.g., of saliva), or dyscrrenia (formation of a gland secretion that deviates from the norm) with mucostasis (disturbance of mucus outflow, e.g., from the bronchi). Allergic and exercise-induced asthma are distinguished.
Regular exercise increases the exercise tolerance
The fear of an asthma attack during sports or a so-called obstruction, i.e. a narrowing of the airways with shortness of breath, is justified, but untrained people with a lower exercise limit already have an increased risk of suffering exercise-induced shortness of breath during everyday activities such as climbing stairs. This is why exercise therapy is very important, especially for an asthmatic, because targeted exercise therapy training increases the exercise tolerance and thus automatically increases the obstruction threshold.
Sports and exercise therapies have an enormously high benefit in prevention and especially in secondary prevention, because those who train profit from the positive effects of sports. Evidence-based, this also applies to people with bronchial asthma. Exercise is life and improves the physical and psychological well-being enormously! If an asthmatic avoids exercise for fear of coughing, whistling breathing, or shortness of breath, performance decreases more and more, and even the slightest everyday exertion leads to increased shortness of breath. The progressive inactivity eventually leads to social isolation. A vicious circle from which targeted exercise therapy can protect.
Exercise for bronchial asthma
Regular exercise in bronchial asthma is beneficial to health and has a number of advantages for patients. It is, for example
- an important supplement to drug therapy
- Increases physical and mental resilience
- has a positive effect on the cardiovascular system and lung function
- strengthens the musculoskeletal system
- strengthens the respiratory muscles
- increases the depth of breathing
- improves oxygen uptake
- improves peak flow values (the maximum flow velocity of the respiratory air)
- increases the obstruction threshold
- promotes the removal of mucus from the lungs
- improves self-cleaning of the lungs
- has a positive effect on the parasympathetic nervous system
- increases physical well-being
- strengthens self-confidence
Which sport is useful?
In principle, there are hardly any restrictions on the choice of sport for asthmatics. Even top-class sports are possible with asthma. This is shown, for example, by Claudia Pechstein in speed skating and David Beckham in soccer. In general, individual preferences and the current state of health play a major role in choosing the right type of sport. If you suffer from allergic asthma, you might want to do your sports indoors instead of outdoors, especially in the spring - when there is a lot of pollen in the air.
If one suffers from exercise-induced asthma (BIA), special attention must be paid to the intensity of the sports sessions. Endurance sports with a constant intensity, such as jogging, cycling, hiking or swimming, are best suited for people with asthma because they put an even load on the body. Swimming is particularly suitable because of the warm and humid ambient air, which is low in allergens. However, swimming pools with too much chlorine can lead to irritation and asthma attacks and should be avoided.
Sports with high stress peaks such as tennis, paddle tennis, squash, ball sports such as foot, hand, basketball or volleyball, in which short stress phases alternate with rest phases, are possible with increased attentiveness and should be well planned. Martial arts, pump, step, hot iron or functional training are also possible. Here, asthmatics should know their own limits and adapt the interval-like load phases, weights or resistances to the individual degree of exhaustion; it is best to approach these slowly under professional guidance. A good sense of body awareness is the basis for all types of exertion, so that you can moderate your exertion according to the shape of the day.
Prerequisite for training: measurement of breathing air
Before you start your training, you should make an appointment with a lung specialist for a check-up. Knowing your personal exercise tolerance is a prerequisite for effective training. An asthmatic should know his daily peak flow value. The maximum rate of exhalation can be easily measured with a peak flow meter before each exercise session. With this device, asthmatics can check several times a day how good their respiratory function is right now. A value above 80 percent of the personal best is a good condition to start training. If the value is below 60 percent, training should definitely be postponed.
Another control option is the FeNO measurement (fractionated exhaled nitric oxide, or FeNO for short). Here, an inflammation marker is measured in the exhaled air, which indicates the current degree of inflammation in the lower respiratory tract. Both measurements are easy to perform yourself using home measuring devices. They provide a good guide to exercise tolerance not only for the athlete, but also for any coach. They also make it easier to decide whether or not athletic exertion is recommended at a particular time. In addition, the subjective feeling of exertion can be regularly queried using the Borg scale. Continuous measurement of heart rate also provides optimal control, especially during endurance training.
Be prepared for emergencies
If the athlete also familiarizes himself with good emergency management, he can build up a safe training feeling. If one knows breath-easing exercises for emergencies, such as the lip brake or the coachman's position, one will be able to practice one's sport more calmly. The emergency spray to expand the bronchial tubes should always be handy in the sports bag. Attention: In case of an acute infection, especially a lung infection, sports activities are not recommended at all, this does not only apply to asthmatics, but to all athletes. And another practical tip: asthmatics should carry an emergency document with them that contains information about the disease, the course of the disease and the medication. The better prepared someone is for an emergency, the more reassured they can exercise and the more likely the emergency will not occur.
What should be considered when exercising outdoors?
For outdoor sports, an asthmatic should be mindful of the weather to avoid extreme climatic stimuli. Nasal breathing filters and warms the air when inhaled. If this type of breathing is no longer possible due to increased exercise intensity, special consideration should be given to climatic conditions. High ozone levels in summer or cold dry air in winter are particularly irritating to the respiratory tract. When ozone levels are high, training in the early morning hours, for example, makes sense. A rain shower lets the allergens "trickle" to the ground - outdoor training, such as a run in the woods, is particularly suitable then. In winter, the lungs should be gradually accustomed to the cold breathing air via nasal breathing.
How much exercise is advisable?
Depending on the level of training, experts recommend initially two to three training sessions per week lasting 20 to 30 minutes. Over time, the volume and intensity can be increased to three to five sessions per week at medium intensity, each lasting 20 to 60 minutes. Overload should always be avoided. A Concordia University study1 shows that exercise as little as 30 minutes per day can significantly reduce bronchial asthma symptoms. So the optimum for health exercise is just half an hour a day to control symptoms of asthma two and a half times better on average than subjects who don't exercise at all. The intensity is generally not so crucial - even a regular walk is enough to feel the benefits.
The warm-up program is particularly important
To avoid a sudden strain on the respiratory system and to activate the circulation slowly, it is advisable to start with a low intensity, especially for outdoor activities. The warm-up training should be slowly adapted progressively to the main phase. Gentle cardiovascular training or brisk walking with conscious use of the arms and coordination exercises are particularly suitable for this. Then follows the actual phase of sport-specific endurance training. Each training plan is based on the respective goal. For basic endurance training, a relaxed run at 60 to 70 percent of maximum heart rate or a value on the Borg scale of 4 to 6 (RPE 10) is suitable. Shortness of breath and breathing difficulties should be avoided by adjusting the intensity. If they still occur: immediately reduce the intensity and take small breaks. The cool-down also becomes more important for asthmatics in order to avoid an asthma attack and to slowly "cool down" the body to its normal level.
What is effective is what is fun
Finding the right type of exercise is a prerequisite for making it easier to integrate into everyday life and then turning it into a health-promoting routine. Asthmatics benefit most from varied and balanced strength and endurance training. It is also the best way to positively influence bronchial asthma. Sports in pairs, with friends or in special sports groups under professional guidance are particularly fun and have a lasting effect. An anti-inflammatory diet and the targeted use of supplements can further support the positive effect of sports on bronchial asthma.
Source and image source: Bodylife
Published on: 26 July 2023