posted
It’s been in the low thirties, high twenties lately, at least when I’ve been out, biking. Obviously biking means high wind velocities and heavy breathing through my mouth. I’ve been doing a lot more coughing lately, but I’m not convinced that I’m not coming down with a cold so that isn’t conclusive, and now I’m asking, can this extreme (or whatever) exercise in very cold air be damaging to my health? I know that really cold air, well below freezing, can cause permanent damage, but it certainly isn’t that cold now.
posted
Or you could just give up exercising and join America in eating fast food and snack cakes
Buuuut, you could stick it out, and if you do get a cold, you could always come over to the dark side. (see above)
Posts: 925 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
Well that's the thing, biking is how I get around, I basically have to bike an absolute minimium of 5 miles everyday of the week. I can walk but that changes a 7-10 commute to school into 40 minutes.
posted
I've heard that breathing through your nose helps when you're excersising in cold weather cause it warms up the air before it hits the sensitive tissue in your lungs.
Whether or not you can breathe through your nose the whole way to class or whatever would be the question there.
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I remember reading a Nat'l Geographic story about schoolkids in Siberia -- during the winter when it's so cold that it gets down to -40F (or something like that) the kids are only let out to play for 15 minutes because their young lungs can't handle air that cold.
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Well I didn't see any big warning flashing lights so I'm going to assume the coughing iss just an annoyance or a cold and not do anything about my current habits. Well excersice habits anyways, maybe I should do something about a couple days ago when I drank over 90 fluid ounces of hot chocolate...
posted
Hobbes, it shouldn't be a problem as long as you stretch out and warm up...don't go full out as soon as you get out there, take it easy and get aclimatized to it first.
I know what you are talking about though, I use to get that cough when I ran in really clod weather in the Army. Something about cold air really cleans out all the phlegm...
posted
It's recommended that you warmup for five-to-ten minutes by walking or cycling before stretching, so your commute is a good warmup.
The dryness&cold of the air is probably the source of your cough. Wearing any decent dustmask (found at most hardware stores) underneath a balaclava will extract warmth&moisture from your exhalation and recycle part of that warmth&moisture into the incoming air as you inhale.
posted
Sometimes cold is an asthma trigger. Have you ever wheezed, Hobbes? Coughing that keeps you up at night, or prolonged coughing after colds? Any history of asthma or food allergies in your family?
BTW, asthma can first present in adulthood. It did for me.
Posts: 2919 | Registered: Aug 2004
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posted
I'd recommend a couple minutes of stretching or kneebends or something like that before you start out, and then try riding a bit slower so you can breathe through your nose instead of your mouth. That will help warm and moisturize the air so it doesn't irritate your lungs so much and make you cough.
Posts: 957 | Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
Good call. Why is it that, while windshields are curved, ice scrapers still have flat blades? I can only ever scrape off a small path with those silly things. Posts: 903 | Registered: May 2003
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Back when I was running in the mornings (a practice that I kept up for two of the coldest months of the year ) I would make sure to suck the air through my mouth like I was drinking soup. It warms up the air before it gets in your lungs, and you can tell it's working because your tongue gets really cold.
It's kind of hard to explain verbally how to do it, though. Perhaps I'll have to show you. Um... next time I see you... in a few months.
I don't really think I've been that helpful.
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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