A hiatal hernia is a condition that happens when your stomach pushes upward through your diaphragm. A hiatal hernia occurs when your stomach pushes through a small opening that is supposed to be for your food tube. Causes of a hiatal hernia can include injury, a larger than normal hiatus, and pressure on the muscles from weightlifting, coughing or vomiting.
Aerobic Exercise
According to MayoClinic.com, losing weight if you are overweight or obese can help control the symptoms of a hiatal hernia. One of the best ways to lose weight is via aerobic exercise such as running, power walking, jogging, elliptical training, swimming or dancing. Aerobic exercise raises your heart rate and helps you to burn fat and in turn lose weight. If you have a hiatal hernia, another benefit of aerobic exercise is that it should not aggravate or cause pain around the midsection.
Abdominal Training
Weakness in the abdominal muscles can be a cause of a hiatal hernia. BodyBuilding.com notes that regular abdominal training can help you to build strength in the areas that can be affected by a hiatal hernia. Basic abdominal exercises include moves like crunches and situps. As you improve and gain strength, you will be able to tackle more advanced ab work like hanging knee raises, where you hang from a bar and use only your abdominal muscles to raise your knees up to your chest. Another advanced exercise is the barbell roll out, where you stand above a weighted barbell, reach down to grab it and roll out with it forward until your body is fully extended and horizontal to the ground.
Strength Training
Strength training or weightlifting can give you the benefits of increased muscle which can help you burn fat and lose weight. In addition, strengthening the surrounding muscles can help to support the abdominals and lessen or prevent hernias. However, hiatal hernias can be caused or aggravated by lifting weights that are too heavy. BodyBuilding.com reports that when you lift, you should bend at the knees instead of the waist to prevent a hernia or pain. In addition, lifting with a straight back and keeping your body weight centered can help prevent hernia symptoms. Using light weight of about half of what you can lift can keep you safe. By circuit training or incorporating light weight exercise sets with little to no rest you can gain some aerobic benefits in addition to the muscle building effects.
Yoga
Philadelphia neurologist Dr. Julio Kuperman says that yoga can relieve the problems of a hernia. Kuperman says that yoga can strengthen the muscles around the hernia and which are usually weak in hernia patients. Kuperman suggests performing yoga situps and the tree pose but avoiding movements like inversions, cobra or bows because of the pressure they place on the abdomen. To perform yoga situps, lie on your back with your hands behind your head and your knees bent. Then just lift your head off the floor and hold it for a second before returning to the starting position to complete one repetition. The tree pose involves standing tall on one leg and crossing the raised leg over in front of your other leg. Keep your hands high above your head or at your chest to help balance your body while you hold the pose for at least 30 seconds at a time.
