So my IBS has been getting progressively worse as time goes by and i'm only a unistudent! I used to run quite a bit like 3 miles 4 times a week, or do a workout in my room.
But recently my bloating is getting so bad i can't do any strenuous exercise like before because i bloat so much and is isn't just bloat by appearance but very painful bloating.
Even after my workouts (if i can bare the pain to be able to finish them) my stomach is so hard and big. Anyone else experience this?? xx
Hello,
Yes, I experience this. I'm a qualified sports masseuse and I also compete in cycling races (some with running sections).
It's really important to stretch your abdominal and deep hip muscles post work out - we put a lot of strain on our tummies, hips, backs and gluts when we do any abdominal based work-outs or exercises that need us to initiate dynamic movement, such as running. Your legs maybe doing the hard impact work, but it is your oblique's, abdominals, shoulders, back mucsles and hips that are allowing you to rotate, change direction and remain upright whilst you are running. The illiopsosas muscles is a deep hip muscle that is associated with IBS bloating, so stretching this may be beneficial and help alleviate symptoms.
Another consideration would be your activity levels - it's easy to become over-trained, even if you are just exercising for pleasure, it can become too much for your body if you have other things going on at the same time e.g. exams, work commitments, etc., so actually taking an extended rest period (2-6 weeks, the longer the better) to re-set your body is crucial, before gradually re-introducing training back into your routine. Don't overload your body by having 3 weeks off and then going back to working out 5 days a week immediately, build it up slowly to avoid shocking your system.
Take note of your feelings pre-exercise - are you feeling stressed or anxious or nervous before you start your work out? Pre-event jitters can spill into our training regimes, especially if we have had a bad experience - muscle has memory, and your gut is a muscle, so be aware it may be memorising associated anxiety or stress, which triggers IBS symptoms, before/during/post work out. In this case, having time away from your routine or trying something new can be hugely helpful to re-programme your system.
Finally, I cannot stress the importance of regular sleep. Sleep is crucial to muscular skeletal recovery following exercise. If you are not sleeping enough, or are 'burning the candle at both ends' with other commitments, your body is not being given time to recover, and a cascade affect occurs - the body becomes stressed out, recovery is impaired, and other systems, such as our brains, our gut, or our immune system become affected, hence we are more prone to stress and illness.
Hope this is helpful advice.
This is really helpful advice! i never realised how hard the rest our our muscles other than our legs have to work when running. It does make a lot of sense now, and I have noticed that i rest for a couple of weeks for my tummy to recover from when it hurt from exercising last time, but then i got full on back into it . So i will definitely be taking it more gradually next time. Thank you very much appreciate it a lot. xx
No problem, I'm glad it's helpful. It can be hard taking that time to rest - a lot of the athletes I work with struggle with rest because training and competing are such huge parts of their daily routine. I always tell them to give themselves permission to take an extended break and that if they struggle with that, ask someone they trust to support them to take that break and be there for them when they are feeling guilty or stressed about not exercising. Our bodies are quite clever and extended rest is almost like hitting a re-set button - yes you lose a little bit of top end fitness, and yes that first time back is hard, but you will make massive progress quite quickly following rest because the muscles memorise what they have to do, and actually many people's performance improves because they aren't over-trained or overloaded. In your instance, even if you are not looking for faster times etc., the rest period will help your tummy to find a new/different norm in relation to reaction to exercise. Also, excess gas is quite normal during exercise, so if you feel the need to break wind - do it! Don't hold it in, it's best to release the gases, otherwise it all contributes to chemical build up in the body. xx
Have you heard of the book Wheat Belly? Its by a cardiologist in America who has some very interesting things to say about modern day wheat and bloating and all sorts of health problems. Its worth a look
Oh wow that actually sounds really interesting thank you!! Will definitely take a look x
hi
bloating very common in ibs sufferers. i take buscopna for it but .you need to look at your diet. common causes of bloating are onions, spicy foods, prawns, mushrooms, gassy drinks, lager,peanuts.cabbage, sprouts. baked beans, cauliflower.
worth trying cutting these out for 2 weeks and see if improve.
regards
gff
Great thank you so much 
X
Right rib pain, upper back pain, bloated and lots of wind!
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