Side Stitches!

[Elise.m]

Anyone familiar with these? Ugh, I hate them! Recently I've been getting them alot, and I have no idea what the deal is. After reading Wikipedia on them, it could be that I need to stretch more before my work outs. I've cut back on stretching cuz I'd rather talk with my BF before heading off to my class or stair master, lol.

So if you've had them, what do you do to make them go away?

I push through them and take a break when the instructor says so. It hurts like a MOTHER, but pain is temporary!! If they get too bad, I'll take it down a notch til I feel I can rev it back up.

[Boanerges]

I have never heard the term "side stitches" before. I googled it and I have never had any problems with them before but they DO NOT sound like much fun

[2kdime]

That the cramping feeling you get while your running up in your ribs?

Yeah I get that

[Elise.m]

That the cramping feeling you get while your running up in your ribs?

Yeah I get that

Yep, that. I talked to an instructor yesterday and he said I should eat a banana an hour before working out, and that should help it. It's from not getting enough glucose.

I'll try it today and post up if it helps!

[Boanerges]

Yep, that. I talked to an instructor yesterday and he said I should eat a banana an hour before working out, and that should help it. It's from not getting enough glucose.

I'll try it today and post up if it helps!

Did it work?

[Kom@tose]

I used to get them a lot during runs in boot camp. The DS told me it was because I was inhaling too deeply and not exhaling all the way. Now that I'm not 18, I don't know if that was true or if it was just some canned answer from some army training manual somewhere written 50 years ago and being regurgitated year after year, but changing the way I was breathing in such a way that I was never gasping for air (ex. on a long run, force yourself to breath in a certain way; in through your mouth for 2 steps, hold for 2 steps, out through your nose for 4 steps, and not changing for anything the entire duration of the run) worked for me.

I'm not sure if thats what it was, or if it was just the fact that I was concentrating so hard on not messing up the breathing pattern that put me in the zone. Either way, maybe it'll help.

[mainbutter]

I am guaranteed to experience this if I run for extended periods of time.

Swimming laps and cycling, no problem.. Running is a sure way to get terrible side stitches going for me.

I always figured it was just because I'm out of shape and there was some aspect of running that taxed those muscles in a weird way during high impact running + heavy breathing.

[MattU]

Yep I used to get those when running. Like Kom@tose said, breathing right really helps

[Elise.m]

Sorry for not posting sooner... I started a new job today, and it tired me out!

I tried the banana trick, and it worked! Like a charm. I didn't even feel them starting to come on. So, I'm going to eat a banana every time before I work out now.