The most consistent and effective attenuation of EIB was observed with an article about "exercise-induced bronchoconstriction," which is an asthma-like narrowing of the airways that is triggered by exercise in some people. (It feels like an asthma attack, and is most common among people with asthma, but can also strike people without asthma. It's particularly common, for example, among Olympic endurance athletes.)
If an intense warm-up is too much trouble, there are other options to ward off EIB. (Ephemeral Scraps/Flickr)
One of the bits of practical advice I mentioned in that article was that a good warm-up can help prevent a subsequent attack of EIB. I just noticed that the Advertisement - Continue Reading Below CA Notice at Collection of a systematic review published earlier this year in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise on what kind of warm-up is best to avoid attacks. They divided the studies into four different kinds of warm-up:
- intervals;
- continuous low-intensity;
- continuous high-intensity;
- variable intensity (which includes, e.g., progressive acceleration).
The conclusion:
The most consistent and effective attenuation of EIB was observed with high-intensity interval and variable intensity pre-exercise warm-ups. These findings indicate that an appropriate warm-up strategy that includes at least some high-intensity exercise may be a short-term non-pharmacological strategy to reducing EIB.
The study also found that the protection can last for up to 80 minutes (and perhaps longer: the studies only tested responses up to 80 minutes later). The length of the intervals used in the studies was as short as 30 seconds, but in general these finding agree with the sample warm-up guidance that I gave in my previous article, based on discussions with research Michael Koehle at the University of British Columbia:
- Total duration should be at least 20 to 30 minutes.
- Start with a gentle jog, cycle or swim, and gradually increase the pace.
- has published a summary.
