it burns to breathe?

[Razgriz]

hi all, just a quick question for the experts here. I played some basketball with a friend earlier today, and after playing for a little while, it was burning to breathe whenever I exerted myself. I am out of shape lol :\, first time going the gym/doing anything really physical in months. Google says that I may not breathing properly? I breathe through my mouth. TIA.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Well, how frequently do you work out? If you're typically sedentary or are in poor cardiovascular shape, the lungs can feel a burning sensation. This is a result of no exercise adaptations in muscle cells. Untrained individuals have more fast glycolytic muscle fibers (compared to fast oxidative glycolytic fibers), which use carbohydrates as their fuel. The carbohydrates create more CO2 per O2 consumed. The lungs can't diffuse the CO2 out of the blood quickly enough, resulting in a pH increase in the lungs (thus the burning). Work out more frequently at lower intensities. As you train your body to the type of stimulus you want to do, it will adapt.

Also, it COULD be the way you breathe. In the nose, you have little conchae (bony shelves with mucosa around them) that increase surface area. That increased surface area allows for greater humidification of the incoming air. If you breathe through your mouth, you're allowing dryer air to get into the lungs. The dry air may be irritating your bronchi. When you're working hard though, it's hard to breathe in and out of your nose. My bet's more on the first explanation.

 

[Razgriz]

thanks for the information. looks like I'll be getting a routine set up and see if that helps any.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

2 reasons for this usually:

1) You're coming down with a respiratory infection, bronchitis, or something along those lines.

2) You're really out of shape and overexerting yourself way too much during physical activity.

So if you're not sick, then welcome to old age buddy.

 

[bobsmith1492]

Feel the burn, it's good for you; it means you're working hard enough to get in better shape.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Feel the burn, it's good for you; it means you're working hard enough to get in better shape.

Uh, that typically refers to skeletal muscle and it's still incorrect in that case. You can work hard without getting a burning sensation in your lungs (which signifies some form of damage btw) and get in better shape. Your lungs aren't the things that need to adapt - your muscle cells are. If you feel something in the lungs, you need to tone the intensity down and work your way up without injury.

 

[bobsmith1492]

Seriously? If you've never run hard enough to breathe hard enough to make your lungs burn, you've never really pushed yourself to the limit.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Seriously? If you've never run hard enough to breathe hard enough to make your lungs burn, you've never really pushed yourself to the limit.

A trained athlete knows how to push himself. As an untrained individual, the OP does not. If you push till your lungs burn every time, chances are you're not going to stay with it. You need to manage intensity. If your lungs burn, I'd bet your heart rate is higher than it should be and increases your risk of cardiovascular trauma. You ease into exercise. If you don't, your risk of injury and drop out are high. You don't want people who are new to exercise to push it to the limit.