Core Daily
Movement
Q & A: Burning Lungs
espinr on flickr.com
Q: I used to go out jogging with my friends, and I could go 30 minutes with no problem. But when we turn up the intensity and run instead of jog, I can only handle about 10-12 minutes before I become out of breath and a pain develops under my lung. Do you have any advice to stop this pain? -- Susan, Fort Polk, LA
A: Sounds like you need to improve your anaerobic threshold, the point at which your body stops relying predominantly on your aerobic pathways and begins to rely more on your anaerobic systems. When your anerobic threshold (AT) is low, you breathe heavier and fatigue sets in faster.
The best way to improve your AT and keep up with your running group: Incorporate interval training into your program. Running intervals essential means you'll go hard for, say, 30 to 60 seconds, and then walk or jog for a while, often twice as long as the time you spent sprinting. Then you'll repeat for a number of repetitions, as you would with weight training exercises. This improves your ability to run at a higher heart rate range, which is a training technique you'll see in the Energy System Development portion of Core Performance training programs.
Questions?
Have a question you'd like answered? Join the conversation in Core Talk.
