HIIT and Asthma

So I have been trying to incorporate HIIT into my workout routine once or twice a week. I also have exercise-induced asthma, but have found that pushing myself to a point where I'm almost at a mild attack on a regular basis helps to increase what I can do before my lungs decide to crap out on me. It also means that I ALWAYS have my inhaler with me at the gym.

Anyways, considering that I have asthma and all, I was just wondering what those of you who are more experienced think of my "routine". There's a small (maybe 100m) track at the gym I go to, and I do one lap of flat-out-sprinting followed by one and a half laps of brisk walking.

I have read that some people jog between the sprints, and would like to work up to that, but just can't do it right now. Is trying to jog between sprints a worthwhile goal, or am I getting the same benefits with the walking in between?

Original Post by aimee-grump:

So I have been trying to incorporate HIIT into my workout routine once or twice a week. I also have exercise-induced asthma, but have found that pushing myself to a point where I'm almost at a mild attack on a regular basis helps to increase what I can do before my lungs decide to crap out on me. It also means that I ALWAYS have my inhaler with me at the gym.

Anyways, considering that I have asthma and all, I was just wondering what those of you who are more experienced think of my "routine". There's a small (maybe 100m) track at the gym I go to, and I do one lap of flat-out-sprinting followed by one and a half laps of brisk walking.

I have read that some people jog between the sprints, and would like to work up to that, but just can't do it right now. Is trying to jog between sprints a worthwhile goal, or am I getting the same benefits with the walking in between?

Its really about not dropping the heart rate too low.  So you can either jog to keep it up or walk for a shorter amount of time.  Work up to either outcome as it is the max efforts that are the main part of HIIT, the "off" period is more like the assistance part of the program.

Thanks for the input. I'm working at the maximum level my lungs will let me right now, so will have to just keep going at it until my useless air sacks lungs decide to adapt.

Right now I'm going at the same pace I'd use if I was running away from an angry rabid coyote, so would it possibly be worthwhile to decrease the intensity of the sprints a little bit?

No the focus must be on holding the highest possible relative intensity i.e. aiming for 100%.  As you adapt you will  more than likely become faster but the efficiency gains will mean that you are still hitting your highest possible relative intensity. 

If you need more "rest" between high intensity efforts then so be it  but you should be aiming to lessen the "rest" periods over time to keep your heart rate up.

I have asthma as well, which is generally only aggravated by outdoor exercise during the spring when everything is pollenating. So needless to say it has been pretty bad lately!

My doctor told me to take 1-2 puffs of my ventalin inhaler ~15 minutes before exercising. I have had really good luck with this and feel much better both during and after my workouts. When I do something cardio intensive I actually feel like I can take a full breath to the bottom of my lungs instead of feeling like I am constantly gasping for air.

I don't know if you use a ventalin-type inhaler prior to exercise, but it is something you can ask your doc about. Maybe it will work for you as well as it has for me.

Your routine looks good to me - keep doing what your lungs are capable of and eventually you should be able to push yourself to the point where you can jog in between your sprints :-)

I'm no expert but in my opinion walking during recovery is fine but you don't want to walk too long as pointed out above.  Try 30 second all out then a 30 second recovery before your next sprint.

One of the most effective HIIT programs is the Tabata Protocol.  This calls for a 5 minute warm-up, a four minute HIIT session, and 5 minutes of cool down.  The whole thing is just 14 minutes.  But the key is that you sprint all out for 20 seconds and recover for 10 seconds.  After 8 sprints you are toast.

Now I don't know how your asthma will effect your ability to do these exercises but I would still recommend keeping you rest period equal to or less than you on phase.  Just remember more is not better in the case of HIIT.  Fewer done right is the best.

Thanks for the input everyone :)

I don't know all that much about HIIT, but figured it would be a good way to help train my lungs to be better at more intense exercise rather than prolonged lower intensity workouts. I think I'd fall over dead if I tried the Tabata Protocol, but shortening the length of my rest periods is definitely something that I'm working towards (I used to do 2 laps of the track during rest, so I'm making a bit of an improvement :P)

It's good to know that with HIIT more isn't necessarily better.

I don't use my inhaler before I exercise because I find that my asthma really only shows improvement when I push myself to the almost breaking point. Then I really focus on recovering quickly without the use of my inhaler (controlling breathing and heart rate). I actually haven't used it in a few months because I'm pretty good at going up to, but not past, the point of an attack. I always keep it with me though... just in case.

The main reason I exercise is to help with my asthma. I'm at a pretty good weight for my height (maybe a tad thin), so just want to increase my fitness level and tone up.

In Australia, a lot of doctors recommending swimming for asthmatics.

Many of the great Olympic swimmers (inc. Keiran Perkins - dual 1500m gold medallist and silver at this third Olympics and Grant Hackett) started swimming as child asthmatics.

Just a thought to discuss with your doctor.

If you want to train your lungs with more intense training, how about go for regular interval training first, rather than jumping into HIIT. By definition, when you are doing HIIT, at the end of the 30-40 second you really feel like you just sprint for a 50m dash (i.e. you feel like you're dying, your lung is on fire and you can't talk).  Also if you have been doing long low intensity cardio, just adding intervals will shake up your routine and make it more challenging. HIIT is not really cardio anymore. It's more anaerobic than it is aerobic. Lots of muscle endurance/straining.

I'm from Asia and yes, in that region people with asthma are encourage to swim a lot. And it does help. I come from a family where asthma is hereditary, so I see it in my relatives. I am just lucky enough not to get it.