Stomach cramps are a common runner's ailment. Rice University reports that 40 to 50 percent of all runners and triathletes experience stomach cramps during training and racing. By understanding the causes of and prevention methods for various kinds of muscle cramps, runners can train and race without stomach discomfort.
Kinds of Stomach Cramps
Two kinds of stomach cramps, or spasms of abdominal cavity muscles, plague runners. The first kind of cramp is a spasm of the rib cage's muscles, called a side stitch or an exercise-related transient abdominal pain, according to the Sports Injury Bulletin website. The second kind of stomach cramp is a spasm of the muscles that line the walls of the gastrointestinal tract, the Spinal Health website explains.
Causes of Side Stiches While Running
Sports Injury Bulletin reports that side stitches occur when the muscles of the rib cage are overworked. Rib-cage muscles expand and contract during breathing, explains Rice University. Vigorous breathing that requires the muscles to work beyond their capacity can cause rib-cage muscle spasms and, thus, side stitches. These muscles can also spasm as a result of overworking via bouncing. As you run, the contents of your abdominal cavity bounce, according to Sports Injury Bulletin, while the muscles of your rib cage work to stabilize those contents. Side stitches can occur when the bouncing of your abdomen's contents overworks the muscles of the rib cage.
Prevention of Side Stiches While Running
Training and racing within your body's limits are probably the best methods for preventing side stitches. If you make your rib-cage muscles do more work than they usually do, they may spasm. Another prevention method, Sports Injury Bulletin suggests, is to avoid adding excess weight to your stomach via food and drink before or during a workout. Your rib cage's muscles are more likely to spasm if they have to work harder to stabilize more weight in your abdominal cavity.
Causes of Gastrointestinal Cramps While Running
Gastrointestinal cramps can occur when the stomach is unable to digest the food and drink inside of it, Rice University and Spinal Health agree. First, the stomach needs enough oxygen to perform digestion. If you are running very fast, oxygen will be diverted away from your stomach to your heart, brain and leg muscles to keep up that very difficult activity, the Marathon Training website explains. Second, the stomach needs an adequate amount of electrolytes, roughly equal to that of the body tissues outside of the stomach, to perform digestion. If digestion doesn't occur and the contents of the gastrointestinal tract don't move, the muscles in the walls of the tract may begin to spasm, bringing on uncomfortable stomach cramps.
Prevention of Gastrointestinal Cramps While Running
To prevent gastrointestinal cramps while running, avoid running very fast if you have food or liquid in your stomach so that it will have enough oxygen to digest that material. Also, eat and drink material with the right amount of electrolytes, an amount that equates to your degree of sweating. This will allow you to maintain the stomach electrolyte balance needed to achieve digestion.
References
- Rice University: Abdominal Pain in Runners
- Sports Injury Bulletin: Side Stitches: What Causes Side Stitches or Exercise Related Transient Abdominal Pains (ETAP) and How to Avoid and Get Rid of Them
- Spinal Health: Cramps
- Marathon Training: Frequently Asked Questions: Stomach Cramps, Nausea, and Diarrhea
