It's fairly common to breathe heavily when you exert your body. As you exercise you use the muscles in your body. Those muscles must be continually supplied with oxygenated blood in order to function. This means your lungs need to pull in more oxygen in order to supply the blood your heart pumps to your muscles. Still, some types of breathing problems are more than your body's natural processes. Losing your breath during exercise can be a scary experience if you suffer from certain medical conditions.
Causes
Feeling short of breath when you exercise is usually a normal reaction to your increased level of activity. As you slow down, your breathing should stabilize and you can breathe normally. When you can't catch your breath or have trouble getting enough oxygen into your body, you could be suffering from a medical condition, such as exercise-induced asthma or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Exercise-induced asthma is an asthma attack triggered by exercise. It has the same symptoms as an asthma attack because your airways tighten and breathing becomes difficult. When you have COPD, you have a chronic disease the results in the swelling and irritation of the airways, a reaction that can be exacerbated by exercise.
Risk Factors
Talking to your doctor to determine your risk factor for chronic conditions as opposed to a natural reaction can help you understand why you're losing your breath during exercise. A few other risk factors come into play to make you more likely to lose your breath. Going from a sedentary state to physical activity can cause you to lose your breath, simply because your heart is weakened and needs to work harder to supply your body with blood. Being a smoker or having a bronchial infection puts you at greater risk for COPD, and having diagnosed asthma makes you more likely to suffer with exercise-induced asthma.
Treatment
If your shortness of breath is simply a normal reaction to activity, slowing your pace can help you catch your breath. If your shortness of breath is the symptom of a medical condition, your doctor may suggest certain oral medications to help reduce bronchial swelling for easier breathing. You may also receive a rescue inhaler to use in the event of a sudden attack. Regular visits with your doctor can allow you both to evaluate your condition and discuss various treatment methods.
Prevention
Slowly working up to a level of physical activity that you're comfortable with can help you avoid shortness of breath. Allow your heart and lungs to become stronger with low impact exercise before you attempt higher impact exercise. By constantly assessing your comfort level, you can stop before you lose your breath. When you have a condition such as COPD or exercise-induced asthma, low impact exercises that allow plenty of stops and starts to catch your breath are best. Swimming is especially appropriate, since it often takes place in the warm, moist environment of an indoor pool, ideal to prevent inflammation of the airways.
