If you often struggle with breathing directly after you've participated in cardiovascular activity, you could have a condition known as exercise-induced asthma, or exercise-induced bronchoconstriction. This condition can have many of the same symptoms as traditional asthma, but they're especially apparent after you've' exercised. By understanding more about the condition, you can talk to your doctor about ways to protect your oxygen levels during exercise to catch your breath for less chance of a frightening asthma attack.
Symptoms
You may notice that after you're finished a workout, your breathing seems restricted. You may feel as though you can't get enough air in your body, or you fail to catch your breath. You may also experience an accelerated heart rate or tightening in the chest. You might wheeze with every breath or notice that you feel more tired than usual. These are all signs of an exercise-induced asthma attack, which perpetuates breathing problems following exercise.
Causes
Breathing problems after cardio may not affect you each time you work out. This is because certain things can exacerbate the problem in order to worsen symptoms or trigger an attack. Overly dry air in the winter or drier climates can be a contributing factor to the severity of your attack, as will your level of fitness. You're more likely to suffer an attack when you're out of shape or have skipped exercising for a while. Cardio is most likely to trigger an attack, rather than weightlifting or lower-impact exercises.
Treatment
If you're affected by this shortness of breath, it's imperative that you carry a rescue inhaler when engaging in cardiovascular exercise. If you have a sudden attack, stop the exercise and take your inhaler, resting for a few moments. If you don't have a rescue inhaler, talk to your doctor about getting one. In the meantime, stop the exercise and sit down for a rest until you're able to catch your breath. Even if you're on a daily asthma prevention medication, you should still use a rescue inhaler if necessary while exercising.
Prevention
Prevention is one of the easiest ways to keep an attack at bay. The American Council on Exercise suggests engaging in cardio activities with plenty of stop and go to allow you to catch your breath. Look for low-impact exercises whenever possible; water aerobics, dance and weightlifting shouldn't aggravate your symptoms the way jogging would. Start your exercise slowly to give your body plenty of time to acclimate to the movement.
