Starting in elementary school, I developed a sort of exercise-induced asthma thing. I don't think it's technically asthma, and I don't get attacks or need an inhaler, but when I stress my cardiovascular system, my lungs seize up and my airflow drops precipitously.
Yoga and kung fu have been my exercises of choice for this reason. Yoga emphasizes breath and exercise together, while kung fu is a form of exercise that allows for frequent breaks. Unlike, say, dragon boat racing, where taking a break mid-race would not go over well with the rest of the team (last year I offered to join a dragon boat team before realizing, oh yeah, that would kill me).
Lately I've been doing a lot of solo yoga, which I'm really starting to appreciate. As much as it's nice to have a teacher push you to work harder, once you're experienced enough to practice yoga on your own I strongly recommend it. You really learn to enjoy picking postures and movements that agree with what your body wants.
For my particular lungs, for example, I've recently cut out the Sun Salutation B's. For those of you who don't know yoga, these are a series of movements near the beginning of a class (at least, this is the case for ashtanga-influenced yoga) that seem specifically designed to get the lungs going by pushing the cardiovascular. For most people, this is a great warm-up to get the body ready for more strenuous work. For me, however, it just knocks the wind out of me and leaves me playing catch-up for the next several poses. I find that by skipping these sequences, I'm better able to manage my air supply, leading to a better overall workout. And the better your exercise feels, the more likely you are to do it again.
Everyone is different of course. This is just my experience with my particular lungs. Your mileage may vary.
No comments:
Post a Comment