: How do I know how much running in football is safe for me? Football can require quite a lot of running. Sometimes after exceptionally intense moments I find myself briefly unable to satiate the need for breathing, at which

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(Taken almost exactly from my answer here: How worried should I be about overexertion?, but I can edit if you give additional details in your question.)

Based on your description, the only thing you should really worry about is dehydration (headache, dizziness, cramping), or heat related illnesses (heat stroke, heat cramps, hyperthermia). Your body will generally stop you from exerting yourself more than it is capable of. If your push right up to your limit, you may experience lightheadedness, greying vision, and nausea. Those symptoms are not related directly to your heart rate, but rather, to your body's inability to get oxygen to your brain and eyes (because it's being used elsewhere). If you're healthy, you can push yourself, but rest if you get some particularly strong signs to stop, unless you are okay puking at the side of the field.

Muscle strains are also a possibility when overexerting yourself, but a different kind of overexertion than you've described.

One rare condition that would begin to present itself 12-24 hours after very strenuous exercise with inadequate hydration is rhabdomyolysis (another description).