This is crazy *yawns*

Lately i've been doing the craziest thing whenever i get really into a cardio session...i start yawning..like uncontrollably! The strange thing is that i'm definatly not tired, but it seems to happen when i get really short of breath. Has anyone else done this and/or know how to explain it?

i have no idea if it is true but, i laugh because my friends and i do the same thing and we always say when one does is lactic acid ! i know dumb. sorry i don't have a real answer but i would like to know too

I was always told that a yawn is your brain trying to get more oxygen for the body, so your brain tells your throat and mouth to open wide and take a deep inhale.  Maybe try paying closer attention to your breathing when you are working out.  I know if I don't, I simply don't breathe enough and I crap out half way thru my workout.

But i do breathe enough during my workouts...thats the weird thing. I always inhale deeply through the nose and exhale out the mouth..you know everything you're supposed to do. I just don't know how to explain this constant yawning...

I heard the same thing about lack of oxygen... Or, maybe you're just bored :)

I often yawn, and yawn a lot when working out. I'm told its really common.

As for why? Science hasn't been able to answer the question of the yawn (according to NOVA and an NPR segment.. there're probably more difinitive sources than my memory). Apparently we don't acctually get more oxygen from yawning.. you inhale a bunch and immediately exhale it rather than letting your blood collect it.

Also curious is why talking about yawning or seeing someone yawn increases the likelihood that you'll yawn. Its a fun way to check if the cute guy nearby is watching you too ;p

I don't do it when I exercise but when I read out loud, I yawn almost nonstop.  It's really weird.  I'm not even tired when I read to my son. 

lol I've yawned like 7 times reading this thread, and typing this reply, just from seeing the word "yawn" so many times.

I've also heard that when you yawn, your body is trying to get more oxygen, which is why you do it when you're tired - your brain is trying to wake you up.  I'd say that's most likely the reason you're doing it, since you say it happens when you become short of breath.

It's actually never happened to me, and I'm really interested to learn that it's so common!  Our bodies really are amazing lol.

I just recently read in a fitness magazine that yawning while exercising is a way for the body to cool itself down quickly. Perhaps, next time, position yourself nearer to the air vent or fan in the gym while doing cardio and also be sure you are hydrating consistently throughout your workout.

Yawning, otherwise, is a primal way to signal that its time to sleep. In ancient times, the leader of a large group of people (nomads, for eg.) or animals would yawn to consciously let everyone know that its time to stop and sleep. The yawn would spread throughout the tribe or herd - no one really knows how it worked, but it did.