Suffering from asthma doesn’t necessarily mean you can never step foot in the cage. Find out how to stop wheezing and start winning.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways that is estimated to affect over 300 million people worldwide and 34.1 million people in the US alone. Whilst there is no single medical explanation as to why people develop asthma, being born with the condition, or developing it later in life, is by no means an excuse to wallow on the couch watching Springer repeats all day; far from it.

“Most people with asthma can do everything they want to do in life, so long as they are controlling their asthma properly,” explains Angela Jones, an asthma nurse specialist.

Proving that asthma is no barrier to success inside a ring or cage, three-time King of Pancrase and UFC heavyweight champion Bas Rutten once attributed the condition as having an indirect role on him first taking up martial arts. “I was a very sick kid and was picked on a lot… I suffered from bad asthma attacks where I’d be laid up in bed for a week. So I was always a kid who they f**ked around with.

I think that made me a little different to other people, and I guess that’s why I turned to martial arts.” 

The 43-fight veteran Heath Herring is also an asthmatic and was often seen using an inhaler pre-fight in his early career.

The condition once complicated a chest infection to the point that he was forced him off a UFC 99 bout with Cain Velasquez.

“Because of my asthma, anything I get in my lungs, obviously, is aggravated. I was stuck in my bed for about two or three weeks right before the fight,” says Herring. Whilst his withdrawal was understandably frustrating to the man himself (Herring has not fought since), the long-term management of asthma is just as important as the day-to-day.

“A key thing for people living and training with asthma is that it is a very up and down condition,” explains Jones.

“It goes through good patches and bad patches. What we do know is that if people don’t treat their asthma properly when they are going through bad patches, they are far more likely to have problems later in life.” 

Asthma should never be a barrier to training or competing in mixed martial arts. Even at the highest level, the most important thing is to listen to your body. Much like your own fighting style, it will evolve over time. And it’s not just your fighting career you need to pay heed to, but your long-term health also.

Never Gas Out

Five easy steps to help you train and fight with asthma

Let your coach or trainer know you're asthmatic. It's far better he knows now than when you’re half-passed out on the mat desperately signing for your inhaler.

Whilst not a substitute for conventional asthma medicines, breathing techniques such as Buteyko and the Papworth method have been shown to help control and reduce asthma attacks. Find one that works for you.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission allows the use of certain prescribed asthma medication. If you’re competing, avoid pulling a ‘Sonnen’ and consult with your regulating body at the earliest opportunity.

If you’re having an ‘off day’ and getting owned in the clinch by the flyweight half your body mass, let it go. Listen to your body and come back to flying armbar his ass another day.

Don’t confuse asthma symptoms with simple gym fatigue.

Asthma can change for the better or worse over time and your current medication may not always be the most appropriate.