Why is my stomach upset after workouts?

ktyang04
ktyang04 Posts: 60
edited September 21 in Fitness and Exercise
I feel bloated, crampy... Yuck... and almost everytime right after exercing.

Replies

  • 00trayn
    00trayn Posts: 1,849 Member
    I found that happens if I do (or don't do) one of two things.

    First, if I drink a lot of water right before I workout or too much water during, it hurts my stomach.

    The other reason is if I eat too much or too little before working out. If it's when I first wake up, I eat a rice cake with some peanut butter and wait 10 minutes and it's enough to hold me till breakfast. If I workout in the evening (during the week), I make sure to drink a bottle of water and have a healthy snack between 3-4pm. Anything after that and it'll upset my stomach after working out. If I don't eat before I workout, I get lightheaded from the lack of food.

    It's a delicate balance, you need fuel to workout but too much and you get a stomach ache.
  • RedHotRunner
    RedHotRunner Posts: 850 Member
    Do you eat prior to working out? I always work out on an empty stomach. If I must have something, it will be 1/4 of a protien bar or bite of banana. Otherwise it upsets my stomach too.
  • sallyLunn
    sallyLunn Posts: 381
    If I'm hungry before a workout, I eat a teaspoon of peanut butter. For some reason, it doesn't make me feel icky when I work out. Otherwise, I just don't eat beforehand.
  • Cina04
    Cina04 Posts: 609
    I feel bloated, crampy... Yuck... and almost everytime right after exercing.

    Do you have to run to the bathroom (like an upset stomach)

    That happens to me time to time during workouts - I think of it as my body wanting to get rid some of fat out of my body LOL
  • xDeannaGarciax
    xDeannaGarciax Posts: 675
    <<<<Bump>>>> My sister has this same problem. Intrested in the answers you get so I can pass it along to her.
  • ericag128
    ericag128 Posts: 21 Member
    This might sound kooky but my chiropractor said it's because the pressure points in your feet are being stimulated. In some people it can make them have to go to the bathroom. Just the electricity in your body being moved. Don't know if it's true but......who knows.
  • schaapj2
    schaapj2 Posts: 320 Member
    It means you have reached your lactate threshold, where your body releases some chemicals. It's OK that its doing this, but you may want to back off really intense exercise. Try reducing the length of your exercise just a titch and/or your strenuousness.....I would also recommend eating something light with good amounts of protein.....a yogurt, cheesestick, etc. This helps with muscle repair after strenuous workouts and tends to give me more energy without feeling too awful after workouts.

    I get this too....I really push myself and guess I feel that if a few minutes of crappiness after a workout gets off an extra pound or 2 of fat and makes me feel good and glad to exercise, then it's all worth it. I drink just one glass of water before working out and lots afterwards....I really like the Grape Powerade Zeros too.....good potassium and whatnot to help with post-workout imbalances...and the "sweetness" seems to turn the nauseous feeling around.

    This article from Wikipedia might help to explain lactate threshold better!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaerobic_exercise

    Hope this helps!
  • DancingDreamer
    DancingDreamer Posts: 520
    there's always a chance you're pushing yourself just a tad bit too hard for your body at the moment. i know this happens to my mother (who is nuts and always pushes herself too hard at EVERYTHING). and while you feel a little sick after this kind of exercise, you may want to keep something protein-y to eat afterwards because that always makes my mom's stomach feel better after i give her some peanut butter crackers to eat.

    but seriously, tone down the exercise amount because that stomach ache is your body telling you "slow down! we're not quite at this level of intensity yet! ow!" and you should listen to your body.
  • ATJune
    ATJune Posts: 89 Member
    bump... I would like to know the reason too.. just yesterday i was feeling all ekky!
  • ktyang04
    ktyang04 Posts: 60
    I workout 5-6 times a week. About an hour a day but Fridays and Saturdays I workout like 2 or more hours. I work out after work so I usually eat lunch around 12:30. I eat nothing before working out, sometimes I'll have a fiber one bar around 3pm. Go directly to the gym at 4:30, leave for home at 6pm then eat dinner around 7pm or later. I always feel so tired after workout and just upset stomach, cramps, but not running to the bathroom kind.
  • Foxworth81
    Foxworth81 Posts: 124 Member
    I had this recently and starting to think I had an ulcer or something. I'm wondering now if it was just that I drank too much water before, during, and after working out. Most of the time I drink water, it's because I know I have to do it, not because my body is thirsty. Sometimes I find myself drinking way too much because in my mind, I associate it with weght loss.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories