So I’m doing great with my gyming, going 4-5x a week I feel wonderful while I’m there I love my routine pretty much and have no problems while at the gym but lately when I leave and come home I have been feeling somewhat nauseated, with a bit of a pain in my stomach that is not quite a cramp. It goes away later in the day but it’s annoying. I have zero dizziness or lightheadedness I am not a super-athlete by any means just a chubby girl trying to get fit.
My routine for the past 6 months (it varies but primarily this):
weight room for 25 min. (I get a new 2 day program once a month)
treadmill-jogging for 30 min.
elliptical for 20-30 min. depending on my mood.
I really don’t push myself too hard except on the treadmill where I am trying to build up to running 30 min. straight. I tend to eat lightly before I go but I make sure I don’t go on an empty stomach and I drink a lot of water while there. What is my body trying to tell me? Eat more? Less? Get more protein into me?
Since you’re eating and getting plenty of water, that eliminates my first guess. Are you getting too hot? Overheating can make me very ill, very quickly. Are you getting too much water? I’ve gotten ill on that, too. Um, taking a vitamin at some time? There’s a brand of multivitamin that makes me very ill 20 minutes after I swallow it. I can set my watch to it. Those are my guesses.
I find that if I’m hungry (even a little bit) before working out or bike riding that I can develop something of the symptoms you describe. That little stomach pain that really seems to sap strength out of you. On the other hand, if I eat too closely to physical activity, I will get sick. My solution is to always have a few Power Bars in the car and eat maybe a quarter to a half of one before a good gym workout or bike ride. Just enough to put off any possible hunger pangs without eating so much you get nauseous.
Are you cooling down properly after workout? I’ve found that going full-bore for an hour and then suddenly stopping would sometimes make me feel kinda sick. I usually give myself a few minutes of lighter exercise to gear down with helps.
When you say you eat before you go work out, what time frame are we talking about? Is it at least 45 minutes? How much water are you drinking during your 1 1/2 hour workouts?
I am a Certified Personal Trainer with the AFAA. Shoot me an email and perhaps I can help you out on this one.
I would sometimes get nauseous when I worked out in the morning, and occasionally a little dizzy. It was due to dehydration – I woke up somewhat dehydrated and even though I drank water while I was working out, it just wasn’t enough. I had to make myself drink a lot of water when I woke up, and then wait a little while to let my stomach settle.
Take care in drinking too much water to fast. It can cause an imbalance of electrolytes and send you into a coma, and possible death. (Mainly it’s a saline imbalance)
Personally, I AIM for the TUZ (throw up zone). When I really work out my hardest and best, I feel a bit nauseated. But with me, it’s immediately after I workout, if not while I’m still finishing up.
And there’s no pain involved, just an overall “ooky” and slightly dizzy feeling. With me, I don’t always THINK I’m “pushing it too hard” but I often find myself doing just that. So perhaps you’re working out harder than you think.
And being “athletic” has nothing to do with whether you’re currently chubby or not. If you’re following a good solid routine, you are, if not an althlete, at least being athletic.
But other than that, what everyone else said. Make sure you’re not too hungry, or that you’re not working out too close to having eaten, and make sure you’re well hydrated without guzzling a bunch of water too close to the workout.
Yay you for following a set routine!!! Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the replies guys (well everyone except the grammar patrol ) here are my responses and more q’s:
*i do get somewhat overheated but I drink water and sweat and that tends to cool me down.
*I don’t think it’s too much water, I generally take a 1.5 litre container and drink that amount. Is that enough?
*I wondered about taking some sort of protein supplement especially since I am vegetarian but the giant tubs of powder for $30 kind of scared me off.
*I work myself really hard running on the treadmill for 30 min and then I cool down on the elliptical for 20. I never thought of the elliptical as being too strenuous maybe I need to cool down from it?
*Thanks Tiggrkitty I will email you a detailed rundown of my typical gym experience if you are still willing.
*It does sound a bit like the “TUZ” but it’s been happening for a few weeks now just wondering if I was doing something wrong.
Personally, (er, back when I was working out like I said I would) my workouts started to go a lot better in terms of the way I felt once I started trying to eat more protein and such. I’m not a vegitarian but I don’t eat a whole lot of meat, so I made it a point to eat more cottage cheese, which has more protein than I had previously realized. Plus it tastes good and you can eat it with fruit. I also tried to eat more iron in the form of spinach salads and such. Both things you can do without eating meat that I found did make a difference in how fast I wore out and how I felt in those last few minutes of cardio.
I realize that the plural of anecdote is not data, but there you go.
Well, your treadmill and elliptical workout sound pretty tough, especially if you are hitting it really hard. As to it only happening only for the past couple of weeks? Well, how long have you been working out altogether? I ask because, for me…it took a few weeks of getting into my routine when I first started, before I built up enough stamina TO hit it hard.
Are you watching your heart rate? (Easy to do with the elliptical) It’s pretty easy to overlook how you’re performing and overdo it without any kind of cardio feedback.
Max heart rate should be (rule of thumb) 220-your age, with a slow warm up, the bulk of your excercising with your heart rate between 65% and 85% of max. As you wind down, it’s important to gradually slow your heart rate. (I think you misunderstood the phrase ‘cooling down’ someone mentioned earlier.
I learned the most helpful information by having a good spinning instructor. She taught how to properly warm up, proper excercize, proper cooldown and proper stretching afterwards. You might wanna tray it.
End Note: Water intoxication is a problem not only among athletes. For instance, it has become one of the most common causes of serious heat illness in the Grand Canyon. Some people hiking the canyon drink large amounts of water and do not eat enough food to provide for electrolyte (salt, potassium) replacement and energy. Fears of dehydration has led to a mistaken belief that the safe thing to do is to drink as much and as often as possible. But even with drinking water, there can be too much of a good thing. Link
If you want more links, google “water intoxication”
I wasn’t aware of those cases. Still, for the average person who’s not in the Grand Canyon, it’s very hard to drink enough water/lose enough salts that it’s a problem.
I could provide more links if you are really interested. The point I want to make is it can happen to anyone at any time if they over do fluid intake. Doesn’t matter if you are a healthy adult or the elderly, on medications or not.
If it’s hot outside and you are working out, people tend to drink more water thinking that is the correct thing to do. It’s one of the things a personal trainer is taught to watch out for.
That is why I went for my cert.