Breathlessness when riding

Trickyupnorth

Not sure if this is exactly the right place for this post, but it seemed the most appropriate :?

I commute Monday to Friday, 2.5 miles each way, and I've been doing this for about a month.

For the first week I was completely hopeless and had to keep stopping, now I'm managing it much better and I go the 'long way' back home of about 6 miles a couple of times a week to try and get fitter.

The thing is, I've been reading on here that when riding you should be able to hold a conversation quite comfortably and not be out of breath. But, within about 90 seconds of beginning my ride I'm out of breath. My legs are fine, but I'm huffing and puffing like mad. Will this go away in time as I get fitter, or am I doing something wrong?

If I went much slower then I might as well walk :oops:

Cheers

Richie

peanut

Hi Richie
well done for embarking onan exercise program.
If you are not warming up properly with a few minutes gentle cycling to increase your heart rate gently then you will get out of breath quickly, anyone would.


we don't know much about you or your bike .It would be very helpful to know your age group, fitness and weight and type of bike

If for example you are using a MTB bike with fat off road type tyres at low pressures then it would probably seem to you like you are trying to cycle through thick treackle :roll: If this is the case then you would benefit by either changing the tyres for 25-28c and pump them up to about 85lbs or get a more appropriate bike

If you haven't had any exercise for a long time I would strongly advise you to get assessed by your Doctor first. .
It could be that you might have a bit of a chest infection or bronchitus or asthma etc ?

Let us have a little more information and we'll do all we can to help.

Trickyupnorth

Thanks for the reply.

I'm a 37 year old couch potato with just about zero fitness. My last exercise, of any merit, may have been in the early 1990's. <----:oops:. I'm 6ft tall and weight 15 stone, I also have a bit of a gut that I'd like to see the back of.

My bike is a Scott Sportster P45 and, according to the lad at work, it has big wheels. I think he said 700b or 700c???. The tyres are pumped up well I think, at least they feel really hard to me. They don't seem to be 'thick' like mountain bike tyres.

I've seen the doc etc and all's well. He seemed impressed that I was actually going to do some exercise. Must be rare for him these days

Thanks again

Richie

Not Another Hill

It will get easier and you will be able to breathe more easily as you get fitter. I was nearly physically sick going up the first hill when I started cycling 5 years ago. it took 6 months before I could do my 10 mile on/off road loop (admittedly hilly) without having to push the bike up bits.

Stick with it. Build up slowly your time on the bike.

jerry3571

It could be Asthma; now it's about as bad as it gets for Hayfever . My mate can't run at the mo and I'm always bad in June.
-Jerry

Infamous

Just keep at it. You already said that you have improved, from having to stop in the first week, to increasing the distance a month later.

The more you do it, the easier it will get. Ignore the "you should be able to have a conversation" nonsense, you want to be riding as hard as you can every time over 2.5 miles.

Why not time it and keep trying to beat your best time.... you will definately see the improvement.

Maybe in a month or so, try running it rather than cycling, that will give your fitness a huge boost.

biondino

I promise you, it's purely being unfit, simple as that. The fact you're already noticing significant improvements demonstrates this. A couple of years ago, after not riding at all during the winter, I got out my bike to cycle to my parents, 3 miles away. The bike felt great, so I zoomed up to (the previous summer's) cruising speed. Less than half way to their house, on a flat road, I had to stop and get off the bike or I'd have vomited.

6 weeks later and it was like I'd never been off the bike. In a few weeks time you'll be unrecognisable, half a stone lighter, no longer puffing climbing the stairs, you'll sleep better, your mind will be more alert, your libido will increase (and you'll be better able to perform ). It's the biggest win-win situation I know. Nice going

Trickyupnorth

Thanks again for the replies and words of encouragement 8)

I have a tiny little Cateye computer fixed onto the stem thing (??) and the first week I did my commute it was taking me 17 minutes to do 2.5 miles :oops: but now, about a month later, I'm doing it in a little over 10 minutes. So I'm getting better, slowly.

I've noticed my average speed over the journey is getting slightly better as well.

The thing with being out of breath is that my breathing returns to normal almost straight away, certainly within a couple of minutes maximum. Just when I am out of breath it seems that my lungs can't take in as much oxygen as I need :shock:

Thanks again

Richie

over-the-hill

Warming up is vital. The older you get the more important it is. 2.5 miles doesn't give you much time to warm up. It would take me that distance to warm up!

Mettan

Trickyupnorth wrote:

The thing with being out of breath is that my breathing returns to normal almost straight away, certainly within a couple of minutes maximum. Just when I am out of breath it seems that my lungs can't take in as much oxygen as I need

Richie

That situation improves as you get fitter - with regular riding you'll likely notice significant improvements over a 6 month period - if you do the same route regularly over a 6 month period you'll notice that at the end of the period your heart rate will be lower and breathing easier at any particular point on the route (assumes same speed/intensity) - it's certainly a nice feeling when you start to experience this phenomena - things start to feel "easy or easier" at any particular point on your route.

Koworld

Hi chaps, hope you don't mind me adding my question to this thread? Seemed like the most appropriate one...

Does anyone use any breathing techniques before riding? I'm asthmatic, the main resultant problem being that I use less than my full lung capacity. It's really noticeable on hard runs - I can feel the air only going into the top third of my lungs and can hardly even detect my diaphragm working (yoiks - pahahahaha).

To be clear - it's not an asthma attack but rather a legacy of 30 years of not breathing to capacity. Sometimes it's fine and I can literally feel the air filling my lungs and it's rather nice!

Any thoughts?

Details:
- Ride a 12 mile rough-track + road circuit twice a week and have done so, pretty consistently, for three years
- Hybrid bike with 700c tyres inflated to 80psi
- Use Fartlek technique including 5 sprints and an endurance finish
- As for me - overweight 38 year old but with low resting heart rate and excellent recovery rate

All help gratefully received!

Infamous

To strengthen lungs:
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/p ... REATHE.htm
(get the red one).

and just keep riding.... more than twice a week if possible. With fitness training you want to always be improving and increasing the workload. Increase mileage (by 10% a week is a good figure) every week if you can.

Koworld

Cool - that looks like a generally useful tool for somebody like me.

To be clear though - sometimes I get full lung capacity and sometimes I don't. I'm pretty sure that I should be able to, pre-cycle, do *something* to be able to ensure that I get maximum capacity each time?

Infamous

The powerbreathe can be used for a lung warm up before a ride.

Koworld

Oh right - in which case that's ideal. Thanks for the tip - really appreciate it

jerry3571

I must admit that my breathing has always been suspect. The Quacks thought for years that I had Asthma, even though my Peak Flow readings were a little low but normal. This has gone on for 20 years with taking Inhalers that didn't really do their job properly. Finally, I got a young Doctor who fancies trying to find out what was going on. We have two other suspects; the first being Acid Reflux and the second being a Hiatal Hernia. Acid Reflux is thought to have Acid come up from the Stomach and inflames the food pipe. This swells up restricting breathing.
The second is the Hiatal Hernia; where the Stomach comes up through a tear through the Diaphragm; causing an impairment to lung function again.
It's about time a Quack did his job after 20 years of breathing trouble. It's a joke! They get £100, 000 a year out of us.
Cheers Jerry

marcthehammer

Hi ..
Ive also got a scott speedster but mine is the s60.Ive been riding twice or 3 times a week for 3 weeks now.(depending on weather) 22 miles round trip to work.I get out of breath but my main thing is that my legs hurt so much i have to stop pedaling now and again.Is this normal? Im 45 5 11" and bout 11stone 8ish.

jerry3571

Maybe try a smaller gear (pedal an easier gear). Don't try to hurt yourself so much. Try doing a harder ride every week or week and a half. Build yourself up before you turn the gas up. Try to pedal at the same pedaling rate as the pros do on the Tour de France.
Stuff like interval training (hard stuff) should really be done after a base mileage of about 1000 miles of easy riding. I do it earlier but that's just me.
Good Luck!!-Jerry