LIFESTYLE
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Timely Information for Personal Success
Exercising with Asthma By Tim Lencki
1) First and foremost, ask your physician if it’s all right to begin exercising. e all know that exercise 2) Make sure your day-to-day is good for our health, asthma is managed. but it is particularly 3) Always make sure to suffiimportant for people with asthma. ciently warm up with some Among the many benefits of exerlight activity and stretching cise, the strengthening of the for 5-to-10 mintues before lungs is beneficial for people with your increase the level of asthma. intensity. While being active is impor4) At the end of the workout, be tant, the physical exertion that sure to spend another 5-to-10 activity creates can trigger asthma minutes cooling down with a symptoms. This is called exercisesimilar type of light activity. induced asthma (EIA). However, An easy walk would be a exercise can still be an important good choice. part of your lifestyle if you learn 5) Make sure that people you how to manage asthma. exercise with know that you Asthma is most often manifests have asthma. itself in cold or dry air. When you 6) Always have your inhaler are at rest, you breathe air in available should it be needed. through your nose, where the air is warmed, moistened, and filtered If you do get EIA while exeras it enters your body. When exercising, stop what you’re doing, cising, you need more air (oxygen) at a faster rate, therefore, we take your inhaler, and wait until you’re free of symptoms before breathe it in through our mouth, and it doesn’t get filtered. The air- resuming your exercise. If the ways in our body react to the cold, symptoms do not go away, or if they return while you’re exercisdry air and the muscles around them begin to tighten. Symptoms ing, stop exercising for the rest of the day and see your physician. of EIA include wheezing, coughMake it a goal to exercise 30 ing, and tightness in the chest. minutes three to five times a These symptoms can occur during week, and at a level that makes OR after exercise. If you have asthma, follow these tips when continued on Page 2 exercising:
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Employee Assistance Report
Lifestyle Tips Insert
Move a Little More Each Day
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hat are some of the biggest roadblocks to an active lifestyle? One is that we don’t know how to begin exercising propertly. Others include thinking that we don’t have enough time to exercise, and simply sitting too much. Let’s focus on that last point. Over 64% of Americans are overweight because they don’t get up and move around enough. We sit in waiting rooms, we sit at our desks, we sit while we’re watching TV, we sit while we’re watching our kids play sports, and we sit in our cars. What’s the solution? We need to find more ways to move around. You don’t have to start a rigorous exercise program right off the bat. If you are a continued on Page 2
May 2007