I have had several members approach me about concerns with exercising and having asthma.

I have done some research and I will be posting links and the content of them to help our members get more information to educate them about both the risks and rewards.

Thanks.

- Ane

http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Asthma_and_exercise?OpenDocument

The only sport not allowed for people with asthma is scuba diving. Many top athletes in various sports have asthma. Exercise isn't a cure for asthma, but it can help you cope with your condition. That's why regular exercise should be a part of your management plan. Some people who exercise regularly find they have fewer asthma attacks. Despite this, exercise can sometimes trigger or start your asthma.

Exercise induced asthma (EIA)
Exercise-induced asthma is brought on by the physical exertion of exercising or playing sport. Your increased need for oxygen makes you breathe faster and through your mouth. The air is colder and drier because it hasn't been warmed and humidified by your nose.

A tightening of the airways
Cold, dry air can make your airways tighten. Some of the symptoms of exercise-induced asthma include:
Wheezing
Coughing
A feeling of tightness in the chest
Breathlessness
Planning for exercise
You can reduce the chances of experiencing exercise-induced asthma with a few precautions, including:


Make sure your asthma is managed properly on a daily basis
Use your asthma medication around five to ten minutes before you warm up. Your doctor will advise you on the most suitable medication
Always warm up by lightly moving and stretching for 10 to 15 minutes before you play sport or exercise.
Always cool down.
If you get an attack
If you feel the symptoms of exercise-induced asthma:


Stop what you're doing
Follow your asthma action plan. If you do not have an asthma action plan, take four separate puffs of your blue reliever (Airomir, Asmol, Bricanyl*, Epaq or Ventolin). The medication is best taken one puff at a time via a spacer device. Take four breaths from the spacer after each puff of medication.
Wait four minutes
Wait until you are symptom-free before you restart exercising
If the symptoms don't go away or if they return while you're exercising, use your blue reliever as before, stop exercising and visit your doctor.
*Bricanyl is only available in a dry powder inhaler and cannot be used via a spacer.

When to avoid exercise
You should avoid exercise if:


Your day to day asthma isn't under control
You have a cold or the flu
Your peak flow meter reading is less than 80 per cent of your usual best.
Where to get help


Your doctor
Your local pharmacy
The Asthma Foundation of Victoria Tel. 1800 645 130 or (03) 9326 7088
Australian Sports Drug Agency (for guidelines for athletes on medication and sport)Tel. 1800 020 506 or (02) 6206 0200 www.asda.org.au


The only sport not allowed for people with asthma is scuba diving. Many top athletes in various sports have asthma. Exercise isn't a cure for asthma, but it can help you cope with your condition. That's why regular exercise should be a part of your management plan. Some people who exercise regularly find they have fewer asthma attacks. Despite this, exercise can sometimes trigger or start your asthma.

Exercise induced asthma (EIA)
Exercise-induced asthma is brought on by the physical exertion of exercising or playing sport. Your increased need for oxygen makes you breathe faster and through your mouth. The air is colder and drier because it hasn't been warmed and humidified by your nose.

A tightening of the airways
Cold, dry air can make your airways tighten. Some of the symptoms of exercise-induced asthma include:

Wheezing
Coughing
A feeling of tightness in the chest
Breathlessness.
Planning for exercise
You can reduce the chances of experiencing exercise-induced asthma with a few precautions, including:


Make sure your asthma is managed properly on a daily basis
Use your asthma medication around five to ten minutes before you warm up. Your doctor will advise you on the most suitable medication
Always warm up by lightly moving and stretching for 10 to 15 minutes before you play sport or exercise.
Always cool down.
If you get an attack
If you feel the symptoms of exercise-induced asthma:


Stop what you're doing
Follow your asthma action plan. If you do not have an asthma action plan, take four separate puffs of your blue reliever (Airomir, Asmol, Bricanyl*, Epaq or Ventolin). The medication is best taken one puff at a time via a spacer device. Take four breaths from the spacer after each puff of medication.
Wait four minutes
Wait until you are symptom-free before you restart exercising
If the symptoms don't go away or if they return while you're exercising, use your blue reliever as before, stop exercising and visit your doctor.
*Bricanyl is only available in a dry powder inhaler and cannot be used via a spacer.

When to avoid exercise
You should avoid exercise if:


Your day to day asthma isn't under control
You have a cold or the flu
Your peak flow meter reading is less than 80 per cent of your usual best.
Where to get help


Your doctor
Your local pharmacy
The Asthma Foundation of Victoria Tel. 1800 645 130 or (03) 9326 7088
Australian Sports Drug Agency (for guidelines for athletes on medication and sport)Tel. 1800 020 506 or (02) 6206 0200 www.asda.org.au
Things to remember


Regular exercise should be part of your asthma management plan.
Breathing hard through your mouth can sometimes trigger exercise-induced asthma.
Exercise-induced asthma can be controlled with proper medication and a few precautions.

http://blueprint.bluecrossmn.com/topic/exasthma




Do you wheeze during a workout? Do you cough after a morning jog? If so, don't despair. You could be Olympic material. Many athletes at all levels, including about 15 percent of U.S. Olympic athletes, have asthma. Even though exercise can trigger an attack, people with asthma don't have to stay on the sidelines. With the right treatment, practically anyone with asthma can compete in any sport -- even at the highest levels.

Exercise: A powerful trigger
Of course, you need to take some precautions when you exercise. When a person has asthma, the bronchial passages (tubes that carry air to the lungs) become exceedingly sensitive to their surroundings. Just about anything out of the ordinary -- a little dust, a blast of cold air, a puff of smoke -- can make the tubes suddenly squeeze tight, leaving little room for air to pass through. This is called an asthma attack.

Surprisingly, a good workout can be one of the surest ways to trigger an attack. Just six to eight minutes of strenuous exercise can be enough to cause coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, and tightness in the chest. In fact, many people have "exercise-induced asthma," which means they have asthma only when they exercise. Even patients with persistent asthma may notice breathing problems primarily when they work out.

Exercise is supposed to be good for the lungs, so why does it leave so many people wheezing? When we work out, our airways lose both heat and moisture, especially if the air is cold and dry. One of those losses -- or both -- seems to help inflame the bronchial tubes and set the stage for an attack. That explains why a winter jog around the neighborhood is more likely than a run in a warm gym to cause an attack.

Who's most at risk?

Some sports seem tailor-made to set off asthma attacks. Take, for instance, cross-country skiing, ice skating, and ice hockey, all vigorous sports performed in the cold. A recent study found that 55 percent of elite cross-country skiers and 35 percent of figure skaters showed signs of asthma.

Asthma attacks are also common in sports that require intense, continuous effort, such as long-distance running, soccer, and cycling. On the other hand, stop-and-go activities such as baseball, sprinting, and golf rarely cause trouble. Swimming and water polo don't bring on many attacks, either, probably because pools are so humid.

Staying in the game

No matter what your sport, asthma doesn't have to slow you down. If you wheeze, cough, or feel tightness in the chest during or after exercise, talk to your doctor. Several prescription medications can prevent exercise-related asthma attacks and keep you in the game.

For many people, the best defense is an inhaler filled with a quick-acting beta agonist bronchodilator such as albuterol or pirbuterol. Taken 15 minutes before exercising, it relaxes the muscles around your airway and helps to keep you breathing freely for up to four hours. If the attacks continue, your doctor may prescribe additional inhaled medications such as cromolyn or nedocromil. If your workouts are extremely long, you might try a long-acting beta agonist bronchodilator - such as salmeterol - which can ward off attacks for at least nine hours.

Whatever medication you may take beforehand, keep an inhaler handy while you exercise. (Keep it within easy reach at all times - not in the glove compartment of your car.) If you have an attack, a couple puffs of albuterol or a similar medicine can open your airways and restore your breathing capacity.

You may also want to pack a peak-flow meter in your gym bag. This small, handheld device measures the force of your breath. When asthma grips your airways, the reading will drop. If you have a low reading before or during a workout, you'll need extra medication or an exercise break.

A few simple changes in your exercise routine can also help prevent attacks. Before exercising, try warming up by walking, stretching, and briefly running in place. When the workout's over, a little more walking and stretching can help keep your airways from tightening up. If possible, avoid exercising in places with a lot of dust, pollen, animal dander, or air pollutants. Your lungs don't need any extra irritation. And if you're exercising in the cold, wear a scarf or a mask around your mouth and nose area.

Above all, stay active. Asthma or no asthma, exercise is the best health tonic around. You'll feel like a winner -- even if you never make it to the medal stand.

-- Chris Woolston, M.S., is a health and medical writer with a master's degree in biology. He is a contributing editor at Consumer Health Interactive, and was the staff writer at Hippocrates, a magazine for physicians. He has also covered science issues for Time Inc. Health, WebMD, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. His reporting on occupational health earned him an award from the northern California Society of Professional Journalists.

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When i was about 12 y.o., i did the Swim Team thing for a year. There was a very good swimmer who had bad asthma. She kept swimming, though. For safety's sake, she had one Inhaler at each end of the Pool !!

Emma
:)

Exercise isn't a cure for asthma, but it can help you cope with your condition. That's why regular exercise should be a part of your management plan. Some people who exercise regularly find they have fewer asthma attacks. Despite this, exercise can sometimes trigger or start your asthma.


I found this to be very true for me. I used to be a fanatic about running. I ran in sun, snow, rain, wind, on ice, through puddles,... you get the idea. I have exercise-induced asthma but rarely used my inhaler. The more I regularly I ran, the less of a problem it was. I needed it more when I was not exercising regularly.