I\'d like to ask a question regarding a too intensive workout and a sometimes oc

Question

I'd like to ask a question regarding a too intensive workout and a sometimes occurring sudden nausea during or afterwards. What makes this happen and what happens in the body? This thing happened to me when I began working out seriously about three years ago at the university. It never happened in the gym, but in intensive group exercise sessions, like cirquit training and boxercise. Back then I think it was about learning not to eat too much an hour or more before the exercise. However recently I felt nauseous and weak and I think this was just because of too much exercise, not eating wrong. The experience is quite strange, I feel dizzy, everything in my stomach attempts to get upwards and stuff in my gut starts to makes it's way down quickly - pardon the graphic description. Basically you need to think quickly where's the nearest loo, just in case. So I'm interested what makes this happen, what kind of stress this is to the body and what the body gets from reacting this strongly?

Explanation / Answer

Feeling sick after exercise is something that most of us are pretty familiar with, especially if you exercise as infrequently as I do. But why does our body and our gastrointestinal system re-assert itself after a run around the block?

Well, exercise is very physically demanding and your body reacts by increasing blood flow to your muscles and your heart and your lungs, and your brain to keep your body able to process energy and keep your muscles going. This diverts blood away from your visceral organs like your stomach and could deprive your gastrointestinal tract of the oxygen it requires to function. This symptom is called ischemia and is believed to be one of the reasons why you might feel sick after intense or prolonged exercise. Now, ischemia can in very severe cases damage the lining of your stomach and cause the bacteria in your stomach or the toxins that they produce to enter your bloodstream.

So, some evidence also suggests that gastrointestinal distress is caused by what you eat and drink before exercise. One study found that foods with higher fat and protein content were linked with nausea and vomiting in triathlon runners. Other studies even suggests that taking aspirin before you exercise could increase your chance of gastrointestinal discomfort.

Exercise also increases the levels of hormones released in the brain that control processes like thermoregulation, so your ability to maintain your body temperature. And this drives sweat to the surface of your skin and cools you, but can also result in dehydration. So, a loss of fluid can decrease your blood pressure and could lead to the kind of ischemia that I was talking about before.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse I
• Subjects

---

---

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.