Difficulty Breathing in Humid Weather - Help!

You may want to check other things too.

First, make sure you don't eat too salty.

The salt makes you retain water and you'll feel bulky.

Second, check your warm up.

I struggled with my runs until I figured it out how to warm up faster.

I run around 2 miles in the warm up and every 3-4 minutes I breathe deep for 5 times.

Deep inhaling, followed by deep exhaling.

Just give up, Brian. Dog knows where you are, he's just waiting for you to walk out on your own.

Keep running in the humidity.

Humidity is just like altitude. Your body will eventually respond, but it might take time. Drink more water than you think you need. Maybe try a potassium supplement.

peepee fernandez wrote:

Keep running in the humidity.

Humidity is just like altitude. Your body will eventually respond, but it might take time. Drink more water than you think you need. Maybe try a potassium supplement.

Do not listen to this guy. Every time there’s an altitude/humidity thread, jackholes like this spread opinion as fact.

Just go slower. There’s pace calculators online. I think Daniels has one for dewpoint. Slow the pace. Bring water. Others will chime in or you can search one of the many threads here.

Get an inhaler like I did. Take at least 20 min before run. Very useful

Disko Eric wrote:

peepee fernandez wrote:

Keep running in the humidity.

Humidity is just like altitude. Your body will eventually respond, but it might take time. Drink more water than you think you need. Maybe try a potassium supplement.

Do not listen to this guy. Every time there’s an altitude/humidity thread, jackholes like this spread opinion as fact.

Just go slower. There’s pace calculators online. I think Daniels has one for dewpoint. Slow the pace. Bring water. Others will chime in or you can search one of the many threads here.

Ok, calm your tits over there. Do you really think he should not listen to my advice to keep running, hydrate, and maybe try taking a potassium supplement?

I didn't say that altitude and humidity were the same thing. I meant that you need to take a similar approach to adjusting to altitude - that it will take time for your body to make the physiological adaptations in order to perform under those conditions. The adaptations your body makes are actually kind of the opposite that it would make when going to altitude, but the approach is similar. Easy paces will feel harder, you will fatigue more quickly, and it takes time to adapt.

I have been having the same problem running up hills. Every time I try to run up a hill, my breathing gets really hard. But when I hit a flat section or a downhill, my breathing goes back to normal.

And scene.

Running in high humidity is hard on everyone. I moved from Ohio to Texas and the first few years I could barely get through a run during the summer. But after a while, I acclimated and was able to deal with it. It is still hard especially when the dew point gets up close to 80 deg.

Disko Eric wrote:

peepee fernandez wrote:

Keep running in the humidity.

Humidity is just like altitude. Your body will eventually respond, but it might take time. Drink more water than you think you need. Maybe try a potassium supplement.

Do not listen to this guy. Every time there’s an altitude/humidity thread, jackholes like this spread opinion as fact.

Just go slower. There’s pace calculators online. I think Daniels has one for dewpoint. Slow the pace. Bring water. Others will chime in or you can search one of the many threads here.

Haha yes, very lame advice. I’ve been running for years and just spent the entire summer running in hot humid weather. It hasn’t gotten any better.

But yeah, I adjust my pace but there are still some days when it’s really bad. Like I’m running 9+ minute miles, heaving for breath, and having to take walk breaks. And the longer I’m out on the run, the more breaks I have to take and slowing down my pace doesn’t help.

It sounds like you're asking for some kind of magical pill to make your problems go away, when the real answer is hard work. You come here asking for advice, and you don't like the advice you get because it doesn't offer you a dramatic escape from your problems. It might take more than a summer. You have to keep at it.

My diagnosis is that you lack mental fortitude.

I have a difficult time with humidity. At my age (61), I see no alternative other than to skip a hard workout on humid days and wait for a day when the air becomes dryer. This can be a serious hinderance to a regular running schedule in July & August.

The body's thermoreglutatory response is the reason you are having a hard time breathing in humid weather. In humid conditions, sweating is an ineffective mechanism of cooling, as humid conditions prevent the sweat from evaporating. Rather the sweat just sits on the surface of the skin, making it difficult to get rid of heat. As a result, the body must relie more on anouther mechanism of cooling known as vasodilation. Vasodilation involves increased blood flow to the skin. Consequently, there becomes less blood flow to the muscles, thereby getting less O2. In response to the muscles demanding more O2, your breathing becomes increasingly labored

George Ilie wrote:

You may want to check other things too.

First, make sure you don't eat too salty.

The salt makes you retain water and you'll feel bulky.

Purposely cutting back on salt when you trying are running in hot, humid weather is a disaster waiting to happen. Low sodium levels are a major culprit of heat illness, from heat cramps to hypothermia.