IB system Q & A
The question posed this week is an odd one from a Personal Trainer in San Mateo. Figures…
Question: Physiologically, why do people vomit during an intense workout when they haven't eaten?
Answer: So when it comes to physiology there is a lot of gray and less black and white. The more specific the question and subject in hand the more the answer becomes black and white. But we will cover two reasons why people toss their cookies during an intense workout and then you can go back to making people puke. First is the most obvious and that’s the CV system. Your cardiovascular system’s health can be measured by taking a VO2 measurement. This number correlates with how efficiently you take in and utilize oxygen. The more conditioned you are the better the number, and the better the number the more you can show off in the gym. WINNING! Now when it comes to your stomach or any tissue in the body oxygen is going to be the main fuel for getting things accomplished. The stomach is one of the few organs that actually contracts and contorts through what is known as segmentations. On top of that it has a complex function of using enzymes and strong acids to break food down. This takes a massive amount of oxygen for food to be digested. If you have the VO2 of Lance Arm Strong then puking only happens after the Tour de France victory party. If the poor client is has a low VO2 then watch your shoes. In fact digestion in phase 1 and 2 can happen during exercise if the person is well conditioned. If you read “Ultra Marathon Man” by Dean Karnazes you will find a specific log on what he actually ate during intense running events. That guy is a beast.
Although the question was if the person hasn’t eaten we have to consider that the stomach is autonomic so realize that regardless of what is in the stomach, even if it’s just mucus, when oxygen is not available then the stomach takes a coffee break. My stomach loves coffee. Now there is one other factor that may cause vomiting and that is the lack of nutrients in the body. More specifically when they body’s serum, several components grouped in the blood, has a low sodium amount it can cause what is called hypernatremia. Sodium is essential nutrient meaning it has to be ingested for proper physiological function. There are several occurrences but for the one we are discussing now would be Hypovolemic hyponatremia. In a nutshell the body loses a lot of moisture through sleep and if the subject in question has not eaten all day or for quite some time they undoubtedly have low sodium levels and may be dehydrated as well. Hyponatremia regardless of the class looks like the person just got worked by a rabid eyed spin instructor and has the symptoms of nausea and vomiting, headache, confusion, lethargy, fatigue, appetite loss, restlessness and irritability, muscle weakness, spasms, or cramps, seizures, and decreased consciousness or coma… Good times. Those are two common causes but like mentioned before there is most likely a few others to consider. Well I hope this shed some light on why some people hurl when you make them do burpies. Thanks for the Q and your welcome for the A.
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