Should my lungs burn THIS bad after TABATA? page

[rosie1973]

Hi everyone.

So about an hour ago I did 4 minutes of tabata sprints outside with my dog. I've done a lot of these tabata style workouts before but with burpees and jump squats and other such difficult moves. I'm always incredibly taxed, breathing very hard, etc. But not until I went outside in 42 degree weather and did all out sprints did my lungs hurt like this. My body could've gone on (meaning, my muscles were still wanting more) but I eventually had to stop because I thought I might pass out from not being able to breathe. My lungs burned (and are still burning) SO BAD. They felt like how you get a brain freeze when you drink super cold water too fast, but on my lungs. After an hour or so of rest, they still burn and I'm coughing a bit.

Is this normal? Should I not have done it in such chilly temps? Do I have asthma? Is this just the pain that is tabata? I haven't found too many people on these boards complaining of intense burning of the lungs.

Suggestions?

[Neckhammer]

Yes, I've had that happen in cold weather. Breathing through your nose helps....mouth breathing doesn't warm the air on the way in as well. Another option is a ski mask or scarf tied over your mouth while running to help warm the air. Without knowing your history/more about you its impossible to say for certain, but it sounds within the realm of normal responses to me.

[Bananabonobo]

Breathing through your nose won't deliver a high enough air volume for sprint-level asskickers. And yes, this is normal - tabatas running are on another level, somehow. Try as I might, I can't quite reach the level of sprints-as-near-death-experience doing burpee tabatas as I can running, and pretty much everyone else I know here who's tried it agrees. Plus, it's not even the cold. You'll find you feel just as hacked and lung-destroyed in humid springy weather too.

[fiercehunter]

Thanks for the reminder, my sprint is not good enough.

[jammies]

Why Do My Lungs Hurt After Running? | LIVESTRONG.COM

I have also read that intense sprinting sessions can cause small vessels in your lungs to burst causing burning - but I don't know where I read it.....

[sakura_girl]

Yes. I get this all the time. It goes away by the next day usually.

[Forever Young]

It surely could be weather related although that wasn't real cold. Another thing is it could be that you simply weren't used to the step up in intensity. Doing anything that is more demanding from a breathing standpoint than one is used to can make your lungs burn like that. If I am not training as often for whatever reason life has and I haven't sprinted in a while, it happens to me, But it either gets better the next time or doesn't happen at all.

[rosie1973]

Well, my lungs were hurting all the way up until I went to bed. I'm awake now, 24 hours after the sprints and my lungs are fine. If this is a normal thing, I just don't know how I feel about doing these tabata sprints on the regular. Will have to do more research, but it appears that exercise induced asthma also triggers this kind of response.

[Forever Young]

Try doing your sprints with more recovery between each sprint. When you've almost got all your wind back you go all out again. Just a question for you, do you smoke? I ask because that would cause that sensation for sure. When I was younger (much!) I was a smoker and I played ice hockey. The first few practices my lungs would burn like mad after we did suicides (sprints). Once a I had a few practices and or games under my belt I was fine and didn't have that burning any longer. Not an issue in any case now as I haven't smoked in 24 years.