If you work out, it is likely that at some point you've experienced a degree of shortness of breath or weakness during or after exercise. These symptoms are generally your body's way of telling you either to slow down and take it easy, or that there's something else wrong you need to get checked out. Understanding the difference between the two is key to getting back to your workout.
Identification
The whole point of working out is to safely push your body to physical limits. It can be difficult, therefore, to tell when your symptoms of weakness and shortness of breath are a response to exercise or a serious concern. You should stop exercising if you feel shortness of breath and weakness severe enough that you become lightheaded or dizzy, or feel as if you might faint or can't take a full breath.
Causes
A host of factors could be contributing to your exercise symptoms. Dehydration causes dizziness and lightheadedness, due to an imbalance of electrolytes in your system. When you're dehydrated, your body has too much or too little of certain minerals, according to MedlinePlus. This imbalance causes symptoms such as weakness and dizziness.
Shortness of breath can be the result of regular or sports-induced asthma, where your airways have trouble opening up and allowing air in. This reduces the amount of oxygen in your system and may also cause dizziness, lightheadedness and a feeling of panic. Another cause could be not eating enough before your workout. As your body depletes the glycogen in your blood, it turns to other systems in your body for fuel, such as muscle tissue, which can cause a feeling of weakness. If you're overweight, fat in your abdomen can restrict the lungs, making it hard to breath.
Effects
Getting short of breath or weak while you're working out can cause serious problems if you're not careful and depending on what type of equipment you're using. If you're running on a treadmill, be sure to use the emergency clip and attach it to your clothing. If you begin to feel weak and fall or pass out, the emergency clip will automatically stop the treadmill belt once it is dislodged from the console. Always lift weights with a partner, that way if you feel too weak to continue a repetition, you have someone to help you remove and re-rack the weights.
Prevention/Solution
If you frequently experience shortness of breath as you exercise, you may want to talk to your doctor about your solutions. If you're overweight or obese, your doctor may be able to help you tailor a workout plan that can help relieve your shortness of breath, which will improve over time as you lose the weight. Your doctor can also help test you for asthma or sports-induced asthma and get you on medication to help treat it. For weakness during exercise, be sure you're getting enough to eat before and after your workout to properly fuel your body. Drink plenty of fluids as you exercise to replenish the body's water content and avoid dehydration.
Considerations
Water is a great way to keep your body hydrated, but when you're participating in strenuous exercise and losing lots of sweat, you're also losing electrolytes such as sodium, potassium and calcium. Sports drinks contain many of these essential electrolytes, so drinking them as you work out may help curb the weakness. If you're a smoker, giving up cigarettes can also help your shortness of breath during your workouts.
