Expert: Brandon Briggs, MS - 11/27/2008

Question
When I run, and stop from tiredness, my chest feels tight. I breath hard, and after a couple of minutes, I feel fine again. My cousin who runs with me says he feels the same tightness in his chest every time he runs to exhaustion.

Do you know what the tightness could be? I am 21, he is 23.

Answer
Jonathan,

There could be numerous things happening here, but with out know your medical history and having you in a clinic or a lab to run tests such as a stress test and or a VO2 max test it is hard to say. If you are running to the point of exhaustion, the feeling you have may be something to do with the lack of oxygen in your blood stream secondary to pushing to hard. Not having enough oxygen or to much carbon dioxide can cause you to have chest tightness or chest pain. I certainly couldn't rule out having pain or tightness called angina which is caused by a lack of oxygen to the heart muscle. My suggestion is to consult a physician to have them look further into the situation.

In Good Health,

Brandon