11 ms·
Why winter exercise can be especially hard on the lungs
- xyzelement 6y agoIn covid times, I'm finding it much much easier to breathe while running because off the mask. Seems to keep the breath both warmer and more moist.
- curmudgeon22 6y agoThat's the recommendation further down in the article: > Both Giesbrecht and Kennedy say a simple face covering, such as a fabric mask, neck warmer or scarf, can go a long way to protecting the lungs from being irritated. > "If you cover your mouth, you're essentially warming the air and humidifying the air in a very productive manner," said Kennedy. "So essentially, your lung has to deal with less cold, dry air."
- seibelj 6y agoI’m looking forwards to being able to wear a mask (forever?) without being looked at sideways no matter where I am. Even a bank, etc. I used to catch a ton of sickness from the subway, I’m sure this will cut it down. Exercising and keeping my lungs warm is yet another plus.
- Rendello 6y agoI was always jealous of the mask as a fashion accessory in East Asian countries, and now that masks are commonplace, I'm much more comfortable walking outside in public
- tata202008 6y agoSame applies to my experience biking. I’m new to any kind of cycling, and coming off approx 1 yr of not exercising regularly (previously in moderately unfit shape). Got a hybrid fixed gear in Sep & the mask enabled multi-hour rides even once the temp dropped below to daily high of low 40s °F in Nov. I’m pleasantly surprised to report that my season hasn’t had to stop for the winter at all! I credit the mask.
- tartoran 6y agoThis is working out for me as well to the point I will consider wearing a mask during the winter in the following post covid cold seasons.
- tenpies 6y agoAgree. The mask has been awesome for winter times to be honest. Face doesn't freeze off, air doesn't freeze the hairs of your nose, and my lips don't need a ton of moisturizer. The one part that sucks is when you get too much condensation in there and I still have not found a good combo that allows sunglasses without them fogging up instantaneously. The temperature difference between your exhalation and the cold does not help at all.
- c0g 6y agoIf you wear a surgical mask, I found pushing it as high as possible to be the only thing that worked. You want the top at the same level as the nose bridge.
- p1mrx 6y ago> I still have not found a good combo that allows sunglasses without them fogging up instantaneously. Use medical tape (e.g. 1 inch 3M Transpore) to seal the mask around your nose, so air doesn't flow upward.
- jkdfgljk 6y ago>...off the mask... Freudian slip!
- slibhb 6y agoIt's not very cold where I live (bottoms out around 15 degrees F, usually above freezing) but I've come to like the feeling of cold air in the my lungs. I also find it hard to run with a mask on. Of course this article is aimed at professional athletes in much colder conditions.
- sebow 6y agoHow do you not faint after a while? Imo cooler temperature is also better for workouts and all-things breathing-wise. Also one would figure you have to short-breathe and do it faster to maintain the oxygen levels, and that's just a bad idea if you're doing anything resistance-intended,because you're just burning energy breathing harder for no good reason.(Yes you also burn energy to maintain the temperature because you intake cool air, but after the circulation sets in it's barely noticeable) Now related to the article: Yes, the "chronic cough" and the lungs explanation is something you experience for arguably the first couple of times you run/exercise outside if you're out of shape(and i might add is kind of frightening to the unexperienced).The key thing is to understand is that you have to "embrace" this fear of "the cold" and the body inherently secretes adrenaline & hormones to help you "fight" it. If this sounds like what Wim Hof says repeatedly it's because that's what it is.And i'm no doctor but you experience it.And more often than not anecdotal experience can have more insights towards the truth than the narration/study of one's experiment/anecdotal experience. We're already very weak immune-wise because of: modern times(& the clothes available), availability of heat, lack of air & sunlight, processed foods, etc.Extreme sanitization of our environments will do anything but help the situation.
- myself248 6y agoYup, I've worn a balaclava for the last few winters, but the 'clava PLUS a mask is even better. Plus nobody looks at me funny anymore.
- matsemann 6y agoI cross country ski a lot during the winter, and this January a lot of times in below -20C. What I have is a "lungplus"[0]. Basically a tube with a mesh of metal I hold in my mouth and breathe through. After buying it I feel better the day after a hard workout outside compared to earlier. The air I breathe feel warmer, but almost more important not as dry. There are also special designed masks for this. I like the lung plus better, as the inside of a mask gets snotty and wet and glasses don't fog with the lungplus. But others I know use the mask variants and are happy. They aren't as dorky looking I guess, at least not after everyone started wearing masks heh. Note that having a buff ("neck gaiter") above your mouth isn't really comparable to a mask. It will just get wet and cold when breathing hard through it during exercise and is not really airthight so cold air still slips in other ways. Try a proper mask/lungplus designed for this, I can recommend it. [0]: http://lungplususa.com/ http://lungplususa.com/ not the prettiest webpage I've seen, but the product works
- callmeal 6y agoLooks like it forces you to breathe through your mouth. I remember reading something on here about the harmful effects of doing that on a consistent basis. Do you find any change in your stamina/capacity when using this device? see: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23962638 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23962638
- matsemann 6y agoI still breathe normally through both the nose and mouth when using it. And the effect is good enough from just warming the (bigger) airflow through the mouth. But it probably stings a bit more in the nose compared to the mask variants. I don't feel it hampers my breathing at all, really. If anything, it allows me to take full breaths in conditions where that normally would hurt. I got the sports variant.
- germinalphrase 6y agoI’d love to proves wrong, but the “only breathe through your nose” crowd always seemed a little woo-woo.
- ad404b8a372f2b9 6y agoA very important function of the mouth is to moisten the air you breath because breathing dry air will kill you. When mechanical ventilators were invented they would destroy the patient's airways by drying them out which is why they now come with humidifiers.
- JPKab 6y agoBreathing through the nose is ideal. The mouth is a poor substitute.
- crazygringo 6y agoThe mouth works great when you're working out hard enough that it's physically impossible to exchange enough air through your narrow nostrils. The mouth isn't a poor substitute. It's an adaptive advantage to be used as required.
- ad404b8a372f2b9 6y agoYes, the nose has its own process to moisten and warm the air. The point is, if you bypass either orifices the dryness will mess you up.
- crazygringo 6y agoIt's good to see people actually talking about this. I simply cannot run in the winter because of this. It ruins my respiratory system for the rest of the day. And I can't count the number of times I've had people insist it's all in my head because, they insist, it's only relative humidity that matters, and the relative humidity in the freezing air is still 70%. And they don't understand when I gently explain that the air gets heated by the time it makes it deep into your lungs, at which case the relative humidity has plummeted to something like 10%. And sure, your mucus membranes do their best to humidify that air a little, but when it's well below freezing they simply can't keep up at all. And it's not just your lungs but your throat and vocal cords too.
- dragontamer 6y agoRun at 50F weather and get your lungs acclimated to slightly chilly temps. For me, it takes a week or two to get used to even 50F. Then, once your lungs are used to that, 40F and 30F are next. I never went below that this past winter. But lung cold weather training definitely exists. Your body really does adapt if you give it the few weeks it needs.
- MeinBlutIstBlau 6y agoI run in -20 and sweat. That's because I wear face coverings and lots of clothing. I've never had any issues with breathing or pain in lungs.
- guantanamo_bob 6y agoThis may be more common with high volume workouts. I don’t get it on short runs, but distance skiing for 2-3+ hours will take a toll. This isn’t something that happens when I cycle or rollerski for an equivalent workout.
- guantanamo_bob 6y agoWhen temperatures drop quickly I find that I need to do a few nose-only breathing workouts (low intensity, HR between 60-70% of max) in order to acclimate like this.
- u801e 6y agoI don't ride my bicycle in -15 °C, but I've found it much harder to exert myself in temperatures from -5 to 5 °C versus 20 to 30 °C. That is, hills that are nomally easy for me in higher temperatures become very difficult in lower temps.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- ip26 6y agoNose breathing makes a big difference in such conditions. Although, to be sure, athletes are not going to restrict themselves to nose only on race day.
- elric 6y agoWhy not? I can't think of many sports where mouth breathing makes sense, except anything that involves swimming where you have a very limited window to get air down your lungs.
- matsemann 6y agoCan't get enough air through nose only when exercising hard.
- bagacrap 6y agoare you sure? the respiration rate is mostly driven by co2 levels in the blood, not lack of oxygen. you can breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth and still get enough oxygen for threshold efforts
- raldi 6y agoDoes this have anything to do with the mystery of why runners get side cramps in cold air?
- jasonpeacock 6y agoHuh. I grew up racing XC skiing in Alaska, and usually during the first week of practice in the winter you'd "burn" your lungs from the cold (or apparently, the dryness). You'd cough if you breathed deeply, and it took a few days to recover. But then the rest of the season you were totally OK - no issues at all, with a weekly racing schedule and lots of very cold temps. I don't recall any teammates having any chronic or recurring issues either. It was accepted as the annual acclimation to winter aerobics, just like that first sunburn of summer let you enjoy the rest of the summer sun without burning.
- paulryanrogers 6y agoMay be some survivor bias there. In summer I burn ever single time I don't wear sunscreen or extra clothing. In fact I burn on sunny days in winter.
- steve_adams_86 6y agoYeah, some people are able to establish a “base” which protects them over summer but many people can’t. It varies.
- TimD1 6y agoYeah, I've had similar experiences to yours, nordic ski racing on a team all throughout college. We'd all get coughs the first few cold days, but that was it. We would avoid doing interval workouts if it was below 0° F though.
- jasonpeacock 6y agoYeah, when it was really cold (<= 0F) were were required to wear facemasks (those neoprene masks with the nose fold, paper-punch holes at the mouth, and velcro in the back[1]) to prevent frostbite on the face, and they definitely helped with breathing as well. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Tough-Headwear-Neoprene-Ski-Mask/dp/B01LE0GX46 https://www.amazon.com/Tough-Headwear-Neoprene-Ski-Mask/dp/B...
- jorvi 6y ago
- Ozzie_osman 6y agoI grew up in a very warm climate, but as an adult spent about 6 years in a much colder (New England) climate. I also have very mild asthma. Every winter, as soon as I caught my first cold or flu of the season, I basically felt my lungs break. If I tried to run or sprint or play any sport, I'd get a horrible cough and if I kept going, I'd feel like I might pass out. That would basically persist until spring. Ive never experienced that in warmer climates.
- cactus2093 6y agoHad a similar experience, not that extreme but when I went away to college was the first time I spent much time in a cold climate. I specifically remember playing ultimate frisbee with friends in the late fall and getting almost a burning sensation in my lungs when getting winded in the cold. It never led to any kind of cough or ongoing symptoms for me, but I remember thinking wow is this just normal for everyone that grows up playing sports in colder climates? Over time I think I just got used to it, and haven't played outdoor sports that regularly as an adult that it comes up that often (more sustained exercise like hiking or even skiing doesn't really bother me, it's really the full-out exertion like sprinting). It doesn't surprise me that it can cause more severe symptoms, coughing, etc.
- 0xbadcafebee 6y agoI figured this was common knowledge. I've never been able to work out in cold weather because my lungs felt like they were imploding. I always have to wear a bandana over my mouth+nose, and then it's bearable. It gets soaked but at least I don't feel like I'm dying.
- nate_meurer 6y agoI regularly run in sub-zero temperatures, and I've never experienced this. My coldest run this year was around -10 F, for an hour. I couldn't tell any difference the next day. I'm guessing there must be physiological differences that make some people's lungs more or less vulnerable to the cold.
- matsemann 6y agoIt's something building after prolonged/multiple times. And runners are often not outside nearly as long as XC skiers. My runs are seldom much longer than an hour, and they start outside my door. XC sessions in the weekend are 30+ KMs and for me also includes long times outside getting to the tracks. Edit: also humidity probably plays a big role.
- opportune 6y agoI think that must be it. Personally I get these symptoms even when I run in the 50s or low 60s, and am previously diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma (as a kid. Now I only very rarely get symptoms except in the cold.)
- mns 6y agoI’m running for around 14 years already and I never experienced this. My limit is around -20C, which is probably around -10F. Could be also that if you live in an area with harsher winters, somehow you gradually get used to the climate. It does seem weird, because years ago when I tried running with a scarf, it was seen like a bad thing for your health in the running community as all the humidity and whatever else accumulated in the cloth can be bad for you. How things change...
- loeg 6y agoAlso, elite nordic skiers have amazing VO2max (even in comparison with elite athletes in other sports). They can't be doing that much damage to their lungs. (I've also run in somewhat cold conditions -- maybe 15-20F -- and while there is some acclimatization needed, it was fine.)
- cadence- 6y agoI get dry cough for prolonged times during winter, and I don’t even exercise outside. Just from normal walking and outdoor activities. I even have it now. It started a month ago. I don’t know what this is exactly. It’s not too bad, just some dry coughing every few hours. I feel almost constant low-grade burning in my chest. I use humidifier at home, but it doesn’t seem to help. My doctor has no idea what causes it. I never happens in warm weather. Only winter. So it has to have something to do with that.
- rubicon33 6y agoDo you breath predominantly through your mouth, or through your nose? If the former, this could be a factor in why your lungs are chronically bracioconstricted. The nose has both a filtering and humidifying effect on the air. I really suggest that anyone suffering from cough or sore throat take some time to watch this: https://youtu.be/r9brGbPGJeY https://youtu.be/r9brGbPGJeY
- cadence- 6y agoI actually don’t know. I don’t pay enough attention. My nose tends to get stuffy in cold temperatures, so it’s entirely possible that I automatically switch to breathing through mouth for that reason. I will try to pay more attention to that.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- qbasic_forever 6y agoI'd measure the humidity (log and track it over a few days to see trends) and check if your humidifier is enough to keep it up at a comfortable level.
- dennis_jeeves 6y agoIn a city the air can be worse or better depending on the season. I too had dry cough in winter in a city where smog would form during winter because the wind did not blow during that time of the year. When I moved to another city the dry-cough disappeared even though it was winter, in this city the wind was not stagnant in the winter, presumably carrying away polluted air form automobiles.
- softwaredoug 6y agoI’d be curious about a similar article in summer running, esp in high humidity. I find this far more exhausting than winter running, where my greatest obstacle is layering well.
- tomthumb 6y agoI used to jog in my 8th grade and during winter I developed a bad cough which won’t go away. Over time it developed into a full blown asthma and now I am in my late 40s and still have it.
- ryanmarsh 6y agoAnyone here stationed at Ft. Drum want to share stories? I recall jokes of coughing up blood after morning PT runs in sub zero temps.
- jdlyga 6y agoI had first period gym in the 90s, and they made us run outside in the freezing cold to warm up every day. Killed my interest in running for decades.
- ahstilde 6y agoLots of micro-optimizations in exercise. We need to breathe to get energy to the muscles, so it's good to focus on the pathways air takes to get to our lungs. Making the air warmer and a little more humid is good. Making sure you're not suffering from allergies is good, too. Part of the reason I started Wyndly (https://www.wyndly.com/ https://www.wyndly.com/) was to help athletes take care of their allergies.
- aidenn0 6y agoWhen I used to run regularly, running in the late-fall/winter in even relatively mild Northern Virginia would make me feel this way (anything under about 8C was painful and on dry days up to 12 was mildly uncomfortable; many of my friends loved run in 12C as they didn't overheat, but my lungs were just unhappy).
- fifteenforty 6y agoBasic respiratory physiology: one of the functions of the nose is to increase the humidity of the inhaled air to close to 100%. Breathing through the mouth defeats this apparatus. Whenever a patient has their upper airway bypassed due to a medical procedure (such as intubation), we use a heat and moisture exchanger (HME) or a humidifier. I run with a surgical mask during cold weather because it acts as a poor man’s HME.
- bacon_waffle 6y agoSeems a link to the 300 Club might fit here - I think it's normal to have some mild respiratory effects for a day or two after, even being careful to inhale through the nose. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_Club https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_Club
- redis_mlc 6y agoI'm from Canada. -20C is normal and you don't need lung protection. Below that temperature, you need sweatpants since your thigh skin will freeze (turn blue) when running/sprinting. You should also wear sweatpants before and after the race.
- lsllc 6y agoInteresting -- as a data point of one, I'm a New England skier and trail runner. Deep cold doesn't bother me, neither does the summer heat. In the depths of winter I ski every weekend in Northern NH, often in 0F, sometimes in -20F weather. I trail run and XC ski all winter in 0-15F temps. Never noticed any breathing issues. In the summer, I run in 95F heat -- you acclimate with the seasons. I have a million years or more of evolutionary engineering in me. I think this is what I am built for.
- ancient_art 6y agoI never did sports with masks, but yesterday I read the other comments and many pointed out that you should wear one or something similar to heat up and moisturize your breath. Well, I tried it by going for an evening run yesterday at -2°C and it was amazing! No coughs, no stinging in my chest only a running nose. Last November I had problems to breath after my evening runs because it hurt so much and I quit because of this!
- ivan1783 6y agoI run/bike through the winter here (we have pretty mild winters with temps rarely falling below -10°C). On especially cold days I do notice that I cough a lot after exercising but normally its not enough of an issue to actively do something about it. Would be interesting if there was some hard research about the levels and durations required to do lasting damage.