PODCAST - How to Turn Asthma into Your Superpower
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[00:00:00] today on the show I'm gonna share ~with you ~how to turn asthma into your superpower. Fast forward 30 years later, I not only played plenty of soccer in my. Built really strong, powerful lungs to support myself so that I didn't have to use my inhaler all the time unless I was sick.
And to this day, I still need my inhaler when I'm sick. I have become a ultra endurance athlete on the bike, and more recently as an ultra runner with asthma, ~and I've even won and I'm even, and I've even won. And I even won, ~and I've even won races ~I've even won and I've even won a hundred plus K and I've even run, and I, and I've even won ~a hundred plus kilometer ultras ~now the three.~
And it's because I have turned asthma into my superpower. So instead of asthma being something that prevents me from doing things in my life, I am gonna share with you the three top gifts that asthma has given me so that you can harness the power of asthma and make it your superpower as well.
Welcome to the Athlete with [00:01:00] Asthma Show. I'm your host Johnny Ha, an ultra runner endurance athlete, and yes, a guy who's had an inhaler prescribed since birth. Despite doctors telling me I could never play soccer nor run a marathon, let alone a hundred K ultra. I prove them all wrong. This show is where I share everything I've learned from breathing techniques to mindset shifts to help you become the athlete and the person you truly want to be.
So if you're ready to achieve your goals, despite limitations, let's get started.
Number one, the gift of listening to your body.
If I didn't get diagnosed with asthma at such a young [00:02:00] age, I would've never have learned how to be as attuned to my body as I am today. ~Now I know.~
~Because ~as a kid, I had no choice. I had to focus on every ~single ~breath on the soccer field to build stronger lungs. I had to focus. On my diet, I had to focus on how different things and parts of my body feel on a day-to-day basis. This is what asthma has given me, and today what I'm able to do is powerfully harness this vessel that I have to win ultra marathons.
~Because ~I know how to listen to my body and make adjustments along the way, and this is the same thing that you can do. So if you've been diagnosed with asthma, this is amazing opportunity for you. You now have [00:03:00] the opportunity to listen to your breath, to listen to how you feel, ~to check in with yourself ~and give yourself what you need. This is gift number one that makes asthma your superpower.
Number two, asthma has given me the gift of treating myself well, treating myself better than people that don't have asthma.
What do I mean by this? Well, since I've always had asthma, ~I've always had to take better. ~I've always had to take better care of myself, and if I didn't have asthma, I don't know if I would've taken as good of care of myself as I have. That means that I have eaten healthier food in my life. Yeah, I still eat fast food here and there, and I still indulge in sugar here and there.
~But ~overall, ~because ~asthma flares up [00:04:00] more when I eat dairy, when I eat highly inflammatory foods, when I don't work out. I have done all of these things and all of these things are very good for me, and when I was younger, the first doctor that told me all about asthma did say that I should probably not work out as much.
I gotta be careful with working out, be careful out there on the soccer field, ~all these things. ~But I talked to more and more healthcare professionals, as I highly recommend you do, is. Consult with your doctor or doctors about how all of this applies to your life. ~And ~I learned ~that ~I could strengthen my lungs by working out safely, by integrating cardio into my life on a consistent basis.
~Well, ~along with building my lungs, I've also built the rest of my body. I've fueled my mind. I've done ~all these ~amazing things. ~To myself, ~for myself because of asthma, ~because ~I learned ~that ~it's ~so ~important to listen to your [00:05:00] body and ~to ~treat yourself well. ~Yeah. ~Without ~this ~early asthma diagnosis in my life, I don't think I would've done either one of these things.
Hey, friend, I wanted to take a moment to ask you a quick question. Are you struggling to lose weight due to your asthma? If so, I get it. I used to run marathons and still kept gaining weight. It wasn't until I learned about the three pillars of healthy living that everything changed,
so I put together a healthy living guide that you can access absolutely free by clicking the link in the description. This guide shares these [00:06:00] amazing three pillars of healthy living that you can easily integrate into your life. To start losing weight and live healthier today. Click the link in the description or go to athlete with asthma.com/healthy-living-guide to grab your free copy.
Now let's get back to the rest of the show.
And that brings me to number three, resilience. Asthma has given me the gift of resilience because it is a requirement. 'cause here's the deal, no one wants ~to have ~an asthma attack. I've ~definitely ~had many in my life, some worse than [00:07:00] others, and every single time I have been able to take the steps. To recover and become ~even ~stronger.
I remember peak week of training ~this last training cycle ~for my 12 hour endurance race I was supposed to run a hundred miles and instead I had a hundred degree fever. And I was taking my inhaler two to three times a day 'cause I was having minor asthma attacks in the evenings.
I was losing my voice. I was coughing a lot. I was wheezing For the week or two following my peak week, which ended up being my sick week, I have come back ~even ~stronger. My mile times have been even faster and my breath has been even better, and it really is because of resilience,
we can look at these things as obstacles or opportunities. ~And ~when you harness your asthma into a superpower, you are going to be resilient. You are going to be a more resilient person. You're gonna take care of yourself even better, [00:08:00] and ~you're really gonna be able to ~listen to your body ~and remember if this episode has been helpful for you.~
~Okay. ~And I want to take this even further with you, which is why I want to give you a gift. In this guide, I go through my three pillars of healthy living, movement, tracking and accountability, and I teach you how to integrate these three pillars into your life today.
It's gonna take you last than a couple of minutes to read through this guide and start integrating these things into your life. I highly recommend you grab your copy. ~It is linked in the show notes and. And it is ~linked in the show notes and in the description below this video. Or you can go to athlete with asthma.com/healthy-living-guide to grab your copy today.
I'll see you in the next episode.
Thanks for tuning in to the Athlete with Asthma Show. I hope today's episode inspired you to overcome any perceived limitations you may have. Remember, your health and wellness journey isn't about perfection. It is about progress. So [00:09:00] I invite you to take a small step right now towards your goals, and if you found something helpful here, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share the podcast with others on a similar path.
Until next time, keep challenging yourself and redefining what's possible.
