hey any fitness pros got any advice??



my friend throws up, everytime at the gym. she doesn't even work out that hard and actually wants to step it up a little.

when is it normal to be sick working out? i thought that was only like..army guys? eheh.

and how do you prevent it?

she tried not eating first but that makes teh whole excersise thing a nightmare!!

I'm on the swim team, and it's fairly normal for us to throw up every once in a while.



Does that mean it's okay? I don't know.

My friend throws up everytime we run cross country. One time she threw up while sprinting the last 100 yards.. it didnt slow her down at all. I think she throws up everytime because she has a gel pack for a 5k (stupid!!) and pushes herself way too hard.

I really think it depends on the person - I run track, and I know a couple kids who throw up after every race and after some workouts. That's never happened to me, but I do get nauseous if I eat within like 3-4 hours before I run. As long as I eat a good lunch I have no problem running hard at 4:00, so as long as she doesn't have to fast for like a day or something, not eating for a few hours beforehand shouldn't be too detrimental to her workout.



But if your friend isn't working out hard, that's a little more concerning. What kind of workout is she doing? (i.e. lifting or cardio or both, running, swimming, biking?) Is there a trainer-type person at the gym who you could ask?



Where are barrylove and purrpelle? They seem to be our resident fitness gurus.

There was a very difficult leg workout people would use at the gym I used to go to. Everyone who tried it puked when they were done.

I've never puked when working out, but when I did something really challenging or pushed myself too hard, I would feel like I could puke.



How long does she stop eating before working out? Maybe she needs to widen that gap a little. I stop eating an hour before I work out, and make sure I had a glass of water when I ate.

usually bout an hour. and its just cardio stuff. hmm.

yeah i used to at training, but that was after floor routines or something. this..i dont know. ill try and make her see a doctor, but she makes me sound silly when i say that :P coz its a common thing. but it just doesn't seem quite right when she's barely breaking a swear, y'know??

"Common" and "a good idea" aren't necessarily the same. I'm no expert, but I'm convinced nausea and vomiting are a clear sign that you're over-taxing your body and your blood sugar has dropped dangerously low. I've bonked a few times-- not to the point of throwing up, but to the point where I thought I might-- and it feels so horrible I can't believe anyone would just accept it as a normal phenomenon. If I did that every time I worked out, I swear I would fix it or never work out again!



Interestingly, after I did the South Beach Diet, I never had that problem again, so I think teaching your body to manage its sugar-insulin cycle more effectively may be the key to avoiding this type of problem.




Don't forget SeaSiren!

Now that i think about it, i have thrown up a few times after running REALLY hard. After my first 5k my mom was proud of me and bought me a coke- i was exhausted, thristy, and dehydrated so i chugged that baby in ten seconds and ten seconds later i puked it up. That was just a dumb move on my part. Now after my races i drink water and eat pretzels

usually, it's caused by either doing the work out too hard OR by working out too soon after eating.



instead of not eating before a work out, the best idea would be to eat about an hour before and make sure that the foods are nutritious and whole (good salad with olive oil, sea salt, etc).



if you're doing the work out too hard, then it's a good idea to step it back just a bit. it's a good idea to work within your capacity, but not over it so that you throw up. that should only be allowed during 'working to failure' days--which come only once a quarter, if that. And even then, it's a good idea to strive to NOT throw up, so only to work on that edge of capacity without stepping over it.