New member w/questions on working out

Hi all! I stumbled across this forum today as I was looking for answers. I've spent the afternoon browsing through the various topics and learning as much as I can.

I was formally diagnosed with my 1st SP last September although I know know that I have been having them for upwards of 5 years and I had been misdiagnosed all along.

My question is this: I am a very active person, 37y/o female firefighter and I love working out. I have great stamina and I am in overall great shape. The problem is when I push myself very hard I have blebs that pop. I think they are relatively small but they cause great pain which causes me to have to stop working out until they heal back up. Breathing has been a little short but I think I have learned to compensate over the last 5 years. I use inhalers twice a day and just before working out. This is frustrating me to no end. Do I work through the pain or do I force myself to be idle until things heal?

I wasn't told what percentage of collapse I had last time and I did not have to have a chest tube inserted so it couldn't have been that bad. If I keep working out through the pain will it get worse? Is there anything I can do to remain highly active without having to worry about this? Should I switch to a more resistance based workout vs. cardio based exercise? I would appreciate any input anyone can give.

Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 7:15 pm Post subject:

Hello LLD265,

Nice name with your fire department LLD265 Wink

I would say,
If you think you have a small SP going on at the time of work out to stop.
Let it heal some and get back on board. I would think that pushing more air in and out of your lungs working out would not be a good thing. It might force more air into your chest cavity making the air pocket bigger.
Your body can absorb small pockets of air over time as long as the hole is closed in your lung.
The Doctors told me to chill out when I had small ones and not go running around to much for a day or two. Keep in shape. You know you feel better and being a Fire-person its a must. Just take a little time to heal..then jump back into that pool Wink

Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 7:44 pm Post subject:

Do you think switching to a more resistance based training would be acceptable? One where I am not hopping around so much and raising my heart rate? I can't stand sitting still!

I'm seeing my pulmonologist on Thursday and she had told me last time to do what I can but I really like to push myself and my workouts often consist of pushing through the pain (in my muscles) so I wondered if I did the same when I have those tell tale chest pains if I could work through them or if I'd be doing more damage.

In short, I want to know what I can get away with without putting myself down for days at time until the lungs reseal.

Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 7:45 am Post subject:

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 6:15 pm Post subject:

I'm extremely active and workout 6 days/week. Like Hazz said, it's really important to breathe correctly. Breathe from your diaphragm and be sure to exhale each rep at the most strenuous part of each rep. I overlap a little so I'm exhaling just before it gets strenuous until just after. This is actually good for a number of things: It'll keep your blood pressure relatively even during exercise, it will prevent you from holding your breath while your body is under stress which is a big thing if you've had an SP because holding your breath under stress dramatically increases stress on your lungs, and this kind of breathing is also good because it will ensure that you have properly oxygenated blood reaching your muscles. Also, depending on what kind of training you're doing, breathing correctly can greatly improve your results--that's especially important for abdominal exercises.
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Nathan Schmitt
Http://brainchocolateblog.com

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 8:41 pm Post subject:

I really don't have an answer for you unfortunatly. Just more information.

I worked out after each SP once I recovered from tubes and/or surgeries. Then a month later one of the lungs would collapse again. I have stopped working out in the past few months only to have the SPs continue to occur. I have come to the realization that physical activity (to an extent) doesn't seem to affect me.

Cardio workouts are not in my favorites list because I can't breath well due to this problem.
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Smile

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 8:54 pm Post subject:

I hope I don't come off as naive (although I'm sure I will...) I don't know how to breathe from the diaphragm. Is this something I will need to practice until it becomes second nature? Perhaps I will turn to my old friend "google" who seems to know everything about anything!

Thanks for the responses!

Lisa

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 9:31 pm Post subject:

Here's a pretty good example of what it should look like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TUZiiMy1iI

Concentrate on pushing your stomach out and down when you breathe in and try not to move your chest at all. When your chest expands, the way most adults breathe, you're actually using your intercostal muscles rather than your diaphragm--this results in shallow breaths and doesn't allow your lungs to fully fill with air.

The human body is actually designed to breathe diaphragmatically. If you watch a baby breathe, you'll see that they only breathe with their diaphragm. Chest breathing is a stress response and it's generally thought that the ridiculous and constant stress that comes with contemporary society is the main reason that we are such bad breathers.

You'll also find that after you start breathing correctly more and more and it starts to become natural, you'll just feel a lot better overall. It will also improve your physical performance a lot. As a musician and singer, diaphragmatic breathing was the first thing I was taught because you can't get any real volume or power with chest breathing.

Also, I had a thoracotomy 9 days ago and I'm already walking about a mile per day. I'm doing a video blog of the whole surgery process from preparation through the next couple months of my recovery, so definitely check it out if you get a chance--I'd love to hear from you there. Here'st he link: http://brainchocolateblog.com
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Nathan Schmitt
Http://brainchocolateblog.com

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 1:37 am Post subject:

Yup, Nathan is right -- you always want to be exhaling on the most strenuous part of the exercise. Therefore, you should never lift anything that is so heavy that you have to hold your breath to lift it.

The diaphragmatic breathing he's talking about is what they taught me in pulmonary rehab after my surgery. I don't know if it's in the video, but you can get a 2-5lb. bag of rice and put it on your stomach to practice -- you want to see it rise with each inhalation.

Also, weights and resistance training are good because, as your muscles get stronger, they require less oxygen....but walking is also very good for your lungs. Just check with your doctor to see what she recommends, especially since you seem to collapse routinely -- it's always possible the next one could be bigger.

What side have the collapses been on? Has anyone recommended surgery yet?

Mackie
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41F, VATS w/mechanical pleurodesis and parietal/visceral pleurectomy-Sept. '08

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 1:53 am Post subject:

I actually just recorded a "how to breathe" video that I hope is useful. Let me know if there's anything else you're wondering and I'll be sure to add it.

http://brainchocolateblog.com/2010/02/surg-up-day-13-how-to-breathe-correctly-for-real-this-time/

Also, I realized that I didn't answer the main question you asked (resistance v. cardio training). My approach to SPs (and life in general for that matter) is that I'm going to do what I want to do and not limit myself because my lung seems to collapse when I do certain things (since there is no actual definite clinical causation, I'm not going to make my own guesses). If I did, I'd be striving for low grades as my worse collapses have been after terms that I've got 4.0 GPAs.

So, as far as cardio v. resistance, I would say do both. I train about 6 days/week (when I'm not recovering from surgery haha) and 3 of those days are pretty intense weight training since I'm trying to gain weight. I do cardio usually about 5 days/week, also pretty intense, depending on how it fits with my weight routine.

If you get SPs with exercise but you love exercise and if your doctor recommends getting surgery, I'd definitely do that. It sucks for a little bit but giving up something you love if you have the chance and means to fix it is something you shouldn't pass up. There are a lot of people on this forum who can help you get ready if you decide to go that route, and feel free to go through my video blog or email me if you want more specific help getting ready.

My thoracotomy 11 days ago is going WAY more smoothly so far than my VATS even though a thoracotomy is a MUCH bugger procedure because I was extremely well prepared. There's no worse feeling, that I've felt at least, than going into emergency surgery unprepared because of a surprise and more serious collapse.

Anyway, hope all is well.
_________________
Nathan Schmitt
Http://brainchocolateblog.com