GI Stress While Training

Katie Breazeale, MS, RD, LD

What is the fastest way to kill a solid performance? Raise your hand if you are a nervous puker, training pooper, or experience some type of GI issue when you are training or in competition. GI, gastrointestinal, symptoms could include burping, nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, bloating, gas, diarrhea, or that urgency to poop asap. #greenlatrine 

The real question is what is going on? There are 3 possible culprits to your GI stress.

1.     Physiological. Less blood to the gut and more to your working muscles.

2.     Mechanical. Think bouncy bouncy while you run. Or the posture you have bent over on a bike.

3.     Nutritional. Proper fueling pre, post, and during including hydration.

I can’t reduce the bouncing when you run or change your flow of blood to your gut, but I can help you reduce symptoms through proper nutrition. If your first thought is “I just won’t eat and that will solve the problem” let me rest assure you this game plan can make things worse for you instead of better.

Let’s start with possible trigger foods, high fiber, high fat, high fructose, high protein, and even milk products. Look at the chart below and see if you recognize any foods that you have eaten and then experienced a GI stress issue. 

Now that we have looked at a few food culprits for your GI problem, what is the next step? Should you eliminate the culprits, train the gut, or a combination of these actions? The answer we are looking for is all the above. The best strategy is to take away stressors but add in food and drinks that you can tolerate.

Our GI game plan will include

We are ready to train with the new game plan! 

If you are still struggling with symptoms and your plan and are ready for a change reach out to set up an appointment with Top Nutrition and Performance.