When I do intense intervals, such as bouts lasting 10-15 minutes that are at a wattage of about 110-120% of my CP60, my chest is slightly sore afterwards when I take a maximal breath, and it’s right about where I imagine my bronchi to be.
Maybe I should stop hitting the crack pipe? No really though, any ideas?
Might have a little Exercise Induced Asthma EIA. Probaby need to go to a Pulm or allergy MD and get checked out. Often times hard intervals can bring that out. Some people can get away with a longer warmup, but I think it would merit a trip to the md. G
I don’t really notice it until after my workout is over, but maybe that’s because the focus is on the sensation my legs are giving me when at VO2/near anaerobic type efforts. It’s not as if I’m really suffering while on the bike, and want to fall over or completely stop, I can still pretty much hammer away.
I’d never really thought about EIA. I’ll have to research it a little and see what that is all about, thanks for a potential lead.
Anecdotally, I think this is a normal consequence of working hard. I’ve heard every one of my team or training mates complain about this at some point or another after a hard interval workout, and none of them (that i know of) have EIB. If it’s not limiting your breathing ability *during *the workout, ie, if you dont have chest tightness, wheasing etc (which may imply EIB), a little bit of post-workout soreness or cough appears to be the normal experience
Z
Z wrote: I think this is a normal consequence of working hard.
Word. Also related to duration of exercise. Seems commonplace even in abscence of EIA.
Yeah and beware MDs who love prescribing puffers for people who don’t really need them (I was one of them).
Anecdotally, I think this is a normal consequence of working hard. I’ve heard every one of my team or training mates complain about this at some point or another after a hard interval workout, and none of them (that i know of) have EIB. If it’s not limiting your breathing ability *during *the workout, ie, if you dont have chest tightness, wheasing etc (which may imply EIB), a little bit of post-workout soreness or cough appears to be the normal experience
Z
This is what I was hoping to see; that others experience this as well after intense exercise. Again, my performance is not suffering, in fact my workouts have been going excellent.
I would imagine anybody who has grown up in an area like Southern California, that has some of the worst smog in the country, would have this happen to them.
There you go then 
I would also add that the post-workout cough tends to get worse in healthy folks when air is thin, dry, cold, polluted, and worse when one first starts doing hard intervals, and gets better once you’ve done intervals for a while/are fitter. Also take note of your hydration levels during intervals. All in all, if you are not suffering during the workout, or unless your post-workout symptoms include ‘snap-crackle-pop’ lungs or severe wheezing you are just normal and healthy, but working hard.
“All in all…you are just normal and healthy, but working hard.”
You might get a few people who’d argue about the “normal” bit, but the rest sounds indisputable now that I’ve been cyber-diagnosed by the ST community. Thanks to all, and to prove my health I will workout hard enough today to have a nice satisfactory cough or two afterwards.
With EIA, it’s typical not to notice until after you stop or slow down. That’s because your body generates adrenalin/epinephrine, which has a bronchodilatory effect, which suppresses the asthma symptoms. As the adrenaline levels drop, the asthma symptoms crop up.
When I was a kid, the standard ER treatment for acute asthma attacks was a couple of big shots of epinephrine.
-jens
I’ve had diagnosed EIB since frosh year of highschool, and for me, a noticeable attack ALWAYS came on during the workout. There were a lot of workouts I could barely finish, or had to stop during. The post-workout cough never seemed as important as the choking during the workout. Maybe i just had a more severe EIB/EIA to where it came on during the actual exercise? Dunno. Maybe if you have allergic asthma the symptoms come on harder after as jens says? Anyway, now my asthma is completely under control, havent had an attack for years, but I will still get sore bronchi after a hard interval workout, but not during lesser intensity or even long duration.
When I rode in LA in the 80s, if I inhaled deeply after a hard ride, I would cough. Never during a ride, only after. It would go away in a few hours.
Today, in cleaner Nor Cal air, I get a different sensation. Kind of a dull ache in the lungs, as if they’ve been stretched or something. That can last a day more. I’ll take a deep breath in a meeting and work and remember the previous day’s hard session. Volume can do it, too, but usually it’s intensity that triggers it.
I experience the very same thing when going all out for short periods of time. Maybe, it has something to do with the temperature difference. The colder it is, the sooner I feel it. And I am not talking about cold temperatures, 60F is already sufficient for me to feel it when going ALL OUT for durations lasting 30sec.
that exact thing happened to me today and I did a rather hilly 2 hour hard workout. I do have exersize enduced asthma…
Not so much during but after the workout (up to a couple of hours even) the soreness was apparent…felt like running on a smoggy day at high noon in the valley, but that was definately not the case on my ride today.
If I breathe deeply afteward I almost feel like I am about to cough or I do…
Good Luck,
Trisha