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Patrick Speight talks to BeatAsthma about Sport and Asthma
As someone who has suffered from asthma their whole life, I know how threatening Asthma can be. People often say and believe that Asthma prevents us from participating in sport or any type of fitness routine however, in my life I have been able to control my asthma and the threating aspects that Asthma has, through sport.
Before I started any kind of sport or fitness routine, my asthma was severe and chest infections and asthma attacks were a common occurrence for me. This was because other than PE in school, I had not done any form of sport. This changed when, at the age of nine I started swimming because I enjoyed it and joined a swimming club. I progressively got better at the sport and with that progression it subsequently showed that my asthma was a lot more controlled as training and fitness levels increased. Now at the age of sixteen, I will hopefully swim at a national level (covid set competitions back) and my asthma has stayed under control because training has allowed me to increase my fitness levels, which has allowed me to keep my asthma under control. The importance of taking my preventer every day is simply like it says, it prevents my asthma from getting out of control! I never forget as I make it part of my morning and evening (before bed) routine.
I do train a lot, 8 times a week and don’t get me wrong, I hate getting up at 4.15 for early morning training 3 times a week, however in the water I feel free of my asthma, the water makes me feel weightless yet strong.
This ultimately shows that the popular belief of asthma preventing asthmatics from participating in a kind of sport or fitness routine is completely wrong and it shows us that any asthmatic could and should participate in a sport of any kind. Lots of famous Athletes have Asthma, such as, David Beckham, Sir Mo Farah and Michael Phelps, to name a few, so don’t be afraid to exercise and get involved in sports! Take your blue inhaler with you of course, ask the nurses for an accuhaler that you can carry in your pocket, and know the signs of an attack but honestly sport only helps asthma it does not make it worse.
