Doctors in Henan, China, were shocked by the case of a middle-aged man who suffered a pneumothorax after mild physical exercise – 20 pushups and a few minutes of skipping rope.

The unnamed man told physicians that he had decided to get in shape as part of a New Year’s resolution, but things didn’t really play out like he imagined. Last month, he started doing pushups and skipping rope as a way of losing weight, but he only managed to do two sets of pushups and skip ropes for a few minutes when he started feeling bad. He stopped and went about his day, but when he woke up the next day, he started experiencing severe chest pain and difficulty breathing, especially after minimal physical effort, like climbing stairs. At one point, the pain got so bad that he went to the hospital where doctors diagnosed him with pneumothorax.

Photo: Unsplash/Gordon Cowie

Apparently, the effort he put in during those two sets of pushups and a short session of skipping rope was so great that he punctured his lung, causing it to collapse. An X-ray exam showed that one side of the man’s lungs was so damaged, it had reduced to a third of its normal size. Doctors said that the condition would have only gotten worse with time, eventually causing irreversible damage and even death.

The man’s unusual story was used by doctors as a reminder to always listen to your body and not push yourself too much, Although, to be honest, two sets of pushups and a few rope skips don’t sound like the most intense workout ever.

In the past we’ve written about people suffering from collapsed lungs while doing all sorts of activities, such as stretching in the morning, doing karaoke, or shouting during live concerts.