Weight training is touted for its ability to tone your muscles, raise your basal metabolism and strengthen your bones. But lifting weights can also cause or aggravate a hiatal hernia and potentially lead to serious complications. If you already have a hiatal hernia or are new to strength training, you should check with your health care provider before starting a regimen.
Identification
A hiatal hernia occurs when the upper part of your stomach moves up into your chest via an opening in your diaphragm, the muscle that separates your abdominal and chest cavities. Although some people are born with the condition, other risk factors include obesity, pregnancy, straining and sudden physical exertion such as weightlifting. Symptoms include heartburn, belching, abdominal pain, chest pain, hoarseness and difficulty swallowing. If left untreated, the hernia could twist and cut off the blood supply to part of your stomach, causing those tissues to die.
Expert Insight
Thirty-seven patients with a recurring hiatal hernia were studied at the Creighton University School University in Omaha, Neb., to see if there was any correlation between abdominal stressors and the condition. Only two stressors were found to be significant factors in a hiatal hernia recurrence, vomiting and weight lifting. Researchers at the University of North Texas Health Science Center investigated the case of a professional bodybuilder with a hiatal hernia. Their conclusions, published in the "Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology" in July 1997, noted that the anabolic steroids the young man was taking could have predisposed him to a hiatal hernia through their ability to improve strength and generate a higher intra-abdominal pressure.
Prevention/Solution
If you are training with weights and develop symptoms of a hiatal hernia, you should halt training while seeking medical assistance. Therapies include over-the-counter or prescription medications, dietary modifications and losing excess weight. Accredited personal trainer and bodybuilder David Robson recommends that once you've achieved a healthy weight, you may be able to continue training and stay hernia-free by making sure you maintain a balance between internal and external air pressure as you breathe while lifting; using an appropriate amount of weight relative to how strong you are; warming up thoroughly prior to each session; and bending at the knees rather than the waist.
Warning
Heartburn symptoms associated with a hiatal hernia may also be a sign of or gastro-esophageal reflux disease or GERD. Over time, this can lead to a narrowed esophagus and difficulty swallowing, bleeding ulcers and precancerous changes to the esophagus. That's why it's important not to "train through the pain" when it comes to a hiatal hernia. The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics also warns that if you have a large hiatal hernia and suffer severe chest pain or trouble breathing or swallowing, you should get medical care immediately.
References
- NYU Langone Medical Center Department of Otolaryngology: Hiatal Hernia
- SpringerLink: The effect of diaphragmatic stressors on recurrent hiatal hernia
- Bodybuilding.com: Hernia Prevention
- University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics: Hiatal Hernia
- "Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology": Can Pressure Overload Cause Sliding Hiatal Hernia? A Case Report and Review of the Literature
