stomach problems when riding

Some people just have this problem and I've trained with a couple fairly fit guys that couldn't keep from puking.

However for myself, this can happen if I've eaten heavy food just before a hard workout OR if I don't have enough fuel in my body prior to the workout.

When I was first trying to whip myself into shape I found I got sick to the stomach quite easily. However the better shape I get in, the harder it is to reach my puke threshold.

You must be a hard man indeed.
I belive the ability to reach the point where you spew is the true mark of a champion because you have outstreched yourself.

Like Postie, I have ridden with guys who seem not to be able to ride without spewing on a particular climb unless they don't have anything to eat. But I myself have never been able to get to that level, my legs would normaly fall off before then!

Though I must admit that I used to get a bit burpy from time to time in harder sections early on in a long ride. I normaly get up and have a big bowl of museli just before leaving. I can't ride on an empty stomach. Last year I switched from Cow's milk to soy milk on my cereal and now this burpyness has almost completely gone.
You may want to think about taking some sort of energy source with you on training rides any longer than a couple of hours if you don't already.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by lpennock
This season I am going into the summer in much better shape than in past years, but I have one problem I can't seem to figure out. There is a 9 mile loop through a park off my regular ride with some extremely steep accents, but being in reasonable shape, I am still able to attack the climbs with some energy rather than just sit back and slowly make my way up them. Every time I do the climbs my stomach goes crazy for the rest of the ride and I have to cut it short. Sometimes I vomit after I get back home, and sometimes I end up having to do all I can to keep from vomiting while slowly limping along the side roads. When this happens my legs still feel great and I have lots of energy left, so it is especially frustrating that I have to cut these rides short. I have tried riding around slowly for a half hour and then going at it again, but the heavy pre-incident salivating starts right back up as soon as I pick up the pace.

I have no problem with hilly 40 and 50+ mile rides at a fast pace, but it seems that if you throw a few very steep climbs in there then this happens to me every time. I read something here about how reaching your V02 Max can cause Gastro Intestinal distress if you have recently eaten, but the last time this happened (yesterday) I rode at 4:30 and had not eaten anything since lunch.

Any ideas how I can prevent this or what I might be doing wrong?

Thanks,

-Lewis

The feeling of wanting to spew during/after a ride comes from the fact that your body is diverting blood from the gut (where it is busy taking nutrients from digested food) to the legs etc to keep the effort going.
To minimise the effects, eat plain complex carb-rich foods prior to racing or hard traning. But you'll find it is not uncommon for top athletes across most sports to have been in your situation.

I understand the bit about diverting blood from the stomach, but i often haven't eaten for several hours when this happens. one thing i have started to do is just make sure i get in a good ride, maybe taking it easy on the climbs if there are any, and then after i get my hour or so in i attack the climbs. that way when my stomach goes all crazy on me i don't really have to cut anything short, just limp my way home. hopefully it will go away eventually, but from what people here are saying this might just be something i live with.

oh, and on longer rides i always pack a cliff bar or two and a few gel packets as well. i once bonked so hard a couple of years ago i could hardly walk, let alone ride, on a moderately short ride (50 miles or so) where i didn't eat, and i never ever want to go through that again. hasn't happened a single time since i started watching my calorie intake.

anyway, thanks for all the help everyone.

Just to update the whole stomach problem thing; it has taken a new twist. I hadn't ridden in a little over a week, and was getting restless, so I decided to go for a quick couple of laps on the blvd I normally ride on, and I didn't do the loop with the steep climbs through the park that I mentioned above.

I wasn't really pushing it that hard, nor was I hurting at all, but I did experience that really cool feeling I used to get when running where you can just keep the pace up really high for seemingly forever without getting fatigued. I guess I had lots of extra energy saved up, or built up ATP in my legs or whatever, because although I normally average just over 17mph on this moderately hilly ride, 12 miles into it I looked down and my ave. speed was almost at 19, which for me is way above normal, and this was before the second and final mostly downhill return lap (so in theory I could have hit 20, which would have been a big first). It's as if my stomach can't keep up with my legs, though, because pretty soon my stomach started going crazy again and I was salivating like crazy, so I slowly road home, picking up the pace a little when I felt better, but when I got home I threw up in the sink. grrr, this is getting really really frustrating.

By the way, I hadn't eaten in almost four hours when this happened yesterday, but maybe I should try riding only in the mornings on a completely empty stomach and see what happens?

Any ideas on how to stop this?

I can understand your frustration. It must discourage you from wanting to exercise.

Before I ever became a cyclist I decided I wanted to change my life, stop gaining weight, and get fit. I joined a gym, started running on an indoor track, followed by a hour long weight session. Prior to having a good aerobic base, I found myself having sick issues as well.

Since a minimum of two of my workouts was during the week, I would go straight to the gym from work. This was usually at least 6 hours after I had last eaten. I found that my problem was greatly reduced if I would eat two bananas and a drink a big protein shake (one of those blends with a lot of carbs) about an hour before the start of the workout.

So, I don't know if this will help you, but the high carb easy on the stomach intake made a big difference in how my stomach felt during a workout.

yeah, i might try an empty stomach and then a really light snack an hour ahead and see what happens. i don't really exercise with any goal in mind - i'm already a skinny guy (too skinny - 5'11" 145 lbs), i just enjoy riding. i ran cross country in school and this never happened then, and have raced mountain bikes before without any problems, so who knows. thanks for the reply.

Just curious, what kinds of food are you eating? Also are you using any sports drinks during your ride. Gels? I'm intrigued and would love to learn more about this. Hate to hear your going through this.

on a rides like these, i always bring a clif bar and a cliff shot (gel) or two, but i never eat them, i think i just put them in my jersy out of habbit. if i'm only riding an hour or so (15-20 miles) then i don't ususally eat, but on longer rides i do eat both gel and cliff bars, but again, this doesn't happen on longer rides, just short quick rides or grueling climbs.

as for my pre-ride food, on this particular day i had a gyro platter consisting of yelllow rice, lamb, and a greek salad with some pita bread at lunch, and my ride was around 4:30. i pretty much eat whatever if it's that far away from ride time.

You didn't mention what you drink. I had the same type of experience with Gatorade. I changed sports drinks and now don't have the problem. I also tend to mix them a bit diluted. Don't know if that could be the problem. Just the same you might want to consult your doctor as he might be able to remedy the situation for you. Maybe someone who's specialty is sports medicine.

i never drink sports drinks when riding - i use a camel back (still a mountain biker at heart perhaps) and it's just too messy. again, thanks for the help.

1. consider some sports drink, maybe you need to give you stomache a LITTLE bit of something?
2. GYROS? Dude Are you nuts?? What kind of fat intake do you have pre-ride? That might be part of it.. Fat takes mucho longo time to get broken down... maybe go more carbo..

also, maybe talk to a sports medicine Dr. worst case, maybe they can get you some drugs to calm your stomache. Your stomache is most likely simply reacting to the STRESS you are putting on your body. Do you tense up on the hills?

just some random thoughts... i feel your pain, but don't want to reproduce it!

okay, the gyro thing was just that one ride - and it was just a few of those lamb strips with LOTS of yellow rice, so it was a lot of carbs, but the other times i had more regular meals. i'll try the sports drink thing too. i just had dinner with a friend of mine who is a trainer and she had lots of things to try, so i'll let ya'll know if any of them work.

Its possible that you are eating too much/wrong thing before riding, even if it is much earlier in the day. I wouldnt eat any MEAT BEFORE a ride. My advice is small meal - high carb, 2 - 3 hours before the ride, for example i eat pasta (but without any sauce) and a little chopped egg on top. Pre-ride meals should be as plain/simple/small as possible - spicy saucy foods are not a good idea.

Take a drink with you. Normally I take both water and a performance drink, but water and a power bar/gel is fine.

Perhaps you could give us some more info on typical food intake/lifestyle.

This isnt' the same problem exactly, but since i found the thread I suppose the correct people will be reading this...

I'm having a problem with a gag reflex. If I take a really long hard pull or do anything that tops out my heart rate, just as I'm backing off I start to gag. What gives? I used to ride without this problem, but since December when I picked the sport back up I've been having trouble. I don't actually hurl, but If I don't completely stop pedaling and concentrate on my breathing, I would. I usualy have 3-4 good heaves, before I can get it all back under control.

Unlike above it's not really my stomach (I dont' think) just feels like a reflex. Pretty darn hard to breath when you're gagging!! Happened today actually after a nice long full out pull. Once I get it under control I'm ok again. It will usually happen only once, but at any point in a ride. It's annoying to say the least. Big hard pull, or a beautiful long hill, and just when I need to push through to stay with the group I have to back off to gag a few times get my stomach to settle back down, and watch em pull away.

Any ideas?

C-

I've had the same problem running, not when I've eaten, but when I haven't eaten enough. Eg, going for a hard run first thing in the morning before breakfast. Maybe you need to try to make sure you don't get to the point where you have no carbo reserves by regularly eating small amounts of carbs during your ride. Just a suggestion, good luck with it. 😎

i have a very similar problem, as i slow down from sprinting i find that i over heat, i then find that i feel the need to vomit on occassions i sprint and whilst sprinting have got into the habit of just vommiting into the road. doesn't make any difference to me i have lived with it for the past 2-3yrs, i have visited my GP who has reffered me to a gastronenoterologist, who whats to do a gastroscopy examination.

just a small camera down my throat to see if i have obtained a hiertas hernia. can't do anything about it since its a weekness in the diaphram that permits food to be forced back out when exherting onesself. if this is the case then i am told that i will have to make a change to my diet.

try taking on plenty of water, helps me to recover faster when its happening, plus if i am well hydrated it doesn't happen quite as often.

lpennock said:

Just to update the whole stomach problem thing; it has taken a new twist. I hadn't ridden in a little over a week, and was getting restless, so I decided to go for a quick couple of laps on the blvd I normally ride on, and I didn't do the loop with the steep climbs through the park that I mentioned above.

I wasn't really pushing it that hard, nor was I hurting at all, but I did experience that really cool feeling I used to get when running where you can just keep the pace up really high for seemingly forever without getting fatigued. I guess I had lots of extra energy saved up, or built up ATP in my legs or whatever, because although I normally average just over 17mph on this moderately hilly ride, 12 miles into it I looked down and my ave. speed was almost at 19, which for me is way above normal, and this was before the second and final mostly downhill return lap (so in theory I could have hit 20, which would have been a big first). It's as if my stomach can't keep up with my legs, though, because pretty soon my stomach started going crazy again and I was salivating like crazy, so I slowly road home, picking up the pace a little when I felt better, but when I got home I threw up in the sink. grrr, this is getting really really frustrating.

By the way, I hadn't eaten in almost four hours when this happened yesterday, but maybe I should try riding only in the mornings on a completely empty stomach and see what happens?

Any ideas on how to stop this?

doesn't work on empty stomach, i experience it every morning whilst racing to work, however i do find if i take on board as much fluid as i can stomach a few hours before, ie my journey home from work. if i am hydrated enough i don't vommit the same.

give it a try let us know if it works! hour or 2 before... as much fluid as you can take on board

closesupport said:

doesn't work on empty stomach, i experience it every morning whilst racing to work, however i do find if i take on board as much fluid as i can stomach a few hours before, ie my journey home from work. if i am hydrated enough i don't vommit the same.

give it a try let us know if it works! hour or 2 before... as much fluid as you can take on board

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