Why does too much exercise make you feel nauseous and dizzy?

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You're halfway through a high-intensity run or lap when you suddenly feel nauseous or dizzy. You are forced to stop, sit down, and rest to get a steady breath. Exercise-induced nausea is a common phenomenon, one that most people, fitness professionals and beginners alike have experienced. So why does excessive exercise make you feel nauseous and dizzy? Read more to understand better.

1. Nausea, dizziness during exercise and sports

Exercise can have many benefits for our physical, mental, and emotional health. However, it's not always easy to fit exercises into everyone's schedule. When it comes to exercise, it's important that we reap the positive benefits and avoid the negative effects. Exercise needs to be done on a voluntary basis, not forced, and the practitioner must ensure enough physical health to expect to receive the effects from the exercises.
Nausea after exercise is a common negative effect, but it is easy to avoid in many cases.
Some days we may feel tired and lack energy during exercise, which is also one of the reasons leading to nausea, dizziness. In addition, some of the following reasons can also cause practitioners to encounter this situation:

1.1. Start or end a workout too suddenly

Fitness trainers always advise their students to warm up and cool down before and after exercise to stretch muscles and reduce heart rate depending on the purpose of starting or stopping the exercise to avoid possible injuries. out and partly to prevent nausea and dizziness during exercise.
Just like muscles and joints, our organs can feel uncomfortable at the sudden start or end of physical activity, so always start with a gentle warm-up and finish. End your workout with cool-down exercises.

1.2. Eat before exercise

Nausea and dizziness also occur with exercise as blood flows to our digestive tract and stomach is diverted to the muscles they are working, thus slowing down digestion and causing discomfort.
If you've eaten within two hours of exercising, the reduced flow to the digestive tract can cause nausea or dizziness due to dehydration, which can even have major harms. more for the body. Not eating right before exercise is something most people know. Foods high in fat and protein can take twice as long to digest than other foods, like toast or bananas. That makes them more nauseating foods for exercisers.
We should not eat too much before training no matter what food, but food that is easy to digest is better before training. And try to eat at least 3 hours before the workout.
In addition to eating too much, drinking too much water actually reduces the concentration of electrolytes in the body, causing hyponatremia, causing blood sodium levels to drop deeply. It is also one of the reasons why we feel nauseous and dizzy during exercise.
In summary, experts recommend not drinking too much water and choosing foods that digest faster a few hours before starting exercise.

1.3. Type of exercise

High-intensity or high-speed exercise, such as running, is more likely to cause nausea than other gentle exercise. This could be explained as anything that's still in your stomach being digested while you're working out (and those effects are even more pronounced as the intensity of the workout increases).
Practitioners may also consider changing their current exercise with another, lighter intensity exercise. Example: Change up your elliptical workout with running or indoor cycling.

1.4. Exercising in high temperatures

High temperatures make us sweat easily, which can be a great way to detox our bodies and help us feel like we've had a really hard workout. But it can also cause dehydration and low blood pressure, leading to reduced blood flow to the organs.
In hot yoga classes, teachers often encourage students to take as many breaks as they need and to stay hydrated. Therefore, if you are working out outdoors in hot weather, be sure to bring and drink water throughout your workout. Also, slow down to give your body time to recover and cool down. If we alternate that with periods of high intensity exercise, our exercise can be similar to high-intensity interval training (HIIT), which will help the body burn more calories than maintaining it. Maintain a steady pace throughout the exercise.

1.5. Workout too hard

A common reason many people feel tired after a workout is simply trying too hard when their bodies aren't ready for it. Whether you're a beginner or are used to your workout intensity, try to tailor it to suit you. That's not to say we shouldn't gradually increase the intensity of exercises, but do it slowly and cautiously.
Talk to your doctor, coach or professional about what you're trying to do. They can help us find the right exercises or increase the intensity of exercises scientifically. Pushing yourself too far can lead to many health problems, including injury as well as muscle and joint strain.

2. How to prevent dizziness and nausea when exercising

To prevent dizziness and nausea when exercising, practitioners should try to form some habits such as:
Do not close your eyes when exercising: When doing sit-ups, exercising on the floor, yoga, Pilates and weightlifting, people often close their eyes and focus on the movement. That proved not really good. Open your eyes and focus on the horizon so that the body can better understand the movement and also to avoid possible unfortunate injuries. Breathe slowly and steadily during weightlifting exercises. Controlling breathing can help lower blood pressure. A sharp increase in blood pressure is one of the causes of nausea and vomiting. High blood pressure is especially a problem in weightlifters. Lifting heavy weights can raise blood pressure. It is important to breathe when lifting and to avoid lifting weights that are too much for you. Limit bending postures. If you take a big breath and bend over, your stomach can be affected leading to a feeling of nausea. Therefore, it is advisable to squat instead of bending over, if bending postures are required. Reduce exercise intensity: It is important to reduce exercise intensity if you are at maximum heart rate. Extreme exercise often leads to dizziness, nausea, or even vomiting. Prevent this by gradually increasing your exercises to maintain your heart rate level between 70 and 85 percent of maximum heart rate. In addition to changing habits during exercise, eating habits should also be paid attention to to avoid dizziness and nausea during exercise.
Drink water regularly: Drink water regularly to replace the amount of water lost during exercise. Dehydration is common in people who exercise. You should drink water regularly before, during and after exercise to replace the lost water. Other symptoms of dehydration include dry mouth, sticky mouth, thirst, decreased urine output, muscle weakness, dizziness, and headache. Stay hydrated by drinking at least 2 cups (473 ml) of water 1 to 2 hours before a workout. Drink an additional 2 cups (473 ml) 20 to 30 minutes before starting exercise. During your workout, drink 1/2 cup (118ml) of water every 15 minutes of your workout. Never drink too much water during exercise : Drinking large amounts of water can give exercisers a feeling of relief; However, the body has a defense mechanism to induce vomiting if the stomach is too full. Drink water in small, regular sips during exercise. Eat a meal 1 to 2 hours before your workout. One of the biggest causes of dizziness and nausea during exercise is low blood sugar. If the body has used up its stored calories, the practitioner may begin to sweat more than usual, feel dizzy, nauseous, and pass out. The best prevention is to make sure you eat a meal that contains at least 300 calories, including protein and carbohydrates, before a workout. If you can't eat a meal a few hours before a workout, eat a small carbohydrate snack, such as a banana, and drink a protein shake post-workout. Carbohydrates are the fuel used during aerobic activity. Protein helps rebuild muscle after you work out. Do not exercise immediately after eating. It is important to give our digestive system the time and energy to function efficiently. Otherwise, necessary fluids will be pulled out of the muscles and into the digestive tract. Drink sports drinks, like Gatorade, during exercise, if you are prone to hypoglycemia. Although fruit and sweetened drinks are high in sugar, they can help raise our blood sugar to a safe level and hydrate the body. Avoid carbonated drinks before, during, or after a workout. Carbonating or even shaking the water bottle excessively can increase the amount of gas in the stomach after drinking. Drinking from a glass produces less gas than drinking from a water bottle. Most people feel good after exercising. Endorphins are released in the body, signaling we've accomplished something and letting us know that with each workout, we're closer to our physical goals. However, when the body has a negative reaction to exercise, it can reduce our desire to exercise and if it causes us to stop, the sudden lack of exercise can affect our health. our focus, our happiness, our sleep, etc. For regular exercisers, post-workout nausea could very well be a combination of the above, so keep all the tips we shared above in mind. Prevent dizziness and nausea during exercise.
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References: openfit.com, healthline.com, wikihow.fitness