Can Cycling Cause Lower Abdominal Pain? How to Treat It?
Some cyclists are experiencing aches in their stomach muscles. Can cycling cause lower abdominal pain? Is it a serious problem? Find the answer in this article.
Can cycling cause hurt in your lower abdomen? After a long and hard riding, numerous cyclists find the muscles in their pelvic floor hurtful. You might feel perplexed whether it is harmful or not.
If you are among these people, this writing will reveal the answer to this health issue and the tips to deal with it.
Can Cycling Cause Lower Abdominal Pain?
What are the side effects of cycling? It is normal for cyclists to experience physical hurt, especially stomach issues due to the immense riding. If you wonder whether biking causes lower abdominal ache or not, the answer is “Yes, it does”.
Why Cycling Causes Lower Abdominal Pain?
There are different kinds of discomfort when you ride a bike. While the leg burns when cycling originates from overworking, the lower abdominal pain is caused by another reason.
When you are riding, the blood flow is focused on the most activated muscles such as the legs, feet, heart, etc. Thus, your digestive system is considered a less crucial part with less blood than usual.
During hard riding, the digestion is slowed down. It reduces your ability to absorb the fluids and nutrients and makes the food stay in your colon longer.
As a result, more gas is formed in your digestive tract, especially in the abdomen, causing discomfort in the pelvic floor.
Stress hormones, like noradrenalin, adrenalin, and cortisol circulating, also impacts gastrointestinal motility. Therefore, the digestive system has to produce hormones and enzymes to deal with the disturbances caused by cycling.
Is Lower Abdominal Pain Serious?
If you find your abdomen hurt, consider the seriousness and how long the pain lasts. Acute, Chronic, and Progressive pain are three categories based on the serious level, happening in the shortest, medium, and longest time.
This discomfort is recognized as a normal phenomenon that happens shortly. The exhausted riding also leads to the eagerness to vomit as an extra symptom of pelvic discomfort.
Take it easy; as long as you have a certain resting to allow the blood to be supplied sufficiently in your digestive system, the aching will disappear.
What about the pelvic? Can cycling cause pelvic pain? – Yes. But the pelvic ache caused by biking lasts shorter than the Acute type of abdominal pain. If you stop hard riding and take a rest, it will disappear within 1 hour.
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How to Treat Lower Abdominal Pain When Cycling?
As mentioned before, the suffering in the pelvic floor resulting from biking is not serious. However, there are techniques for you to ease the pain and get rid of it faster.
- Place a heated wheat bag or a bottle of hot water on your lower abdomen while you are resting to make the blood flow more effectively.
- Drink plenty of water and other clear fluids gradually, do not drink too quickly.
- Do not eat too much or drink alcohol, coffee, or tea when your pelvic part is hurt.
- Have a warm bath after cycling and take notice of not scalding yourself.
- If you find the aching unbearable and extra symptoms happen, you can take mild painkillers or other medicines to stop your vomiting. However, it must be based on the doctor’s advice.
In general, the lower abdominal discomfort when cycling is not stable and can normally disappear when you take enough rest and water after riding.
Remember that aspirin and anti-inflammatory drugs can even make your pelvic pain more serious. Thus, taking medicines is not highly recommended.
How to Avoid Lower Abdominal Pain After Riding?
Timing And Amount
Give your digestive system 90 to 120 minutes to digest your pre-ride meal before riding. Even food that is easy to digest still requires about an hour.
You should eat little and begin your riding with the aim of consuming from 0.5 up to 1 gram carbohydrates per kilogram body weight every hour with two or three “minor feeds” after every 20 or 30 minutes.
This quota would balance your digestion and avoid the bloating that causes distress in your lower abdomen.
Hydration
The imbalance of hydration has an impact on the digestive issues when biking.
At the start of your riding, have a sip of water every five to 10 minutes. It is advised to have a 500-1000 ml water intake each hour; the proportion depends on the outside conditions.
You can prepare the electrolyte containing clear fluids if possible.
Pacing
Poor pacing is another criterion leading to pain in the pelvic floor.
When you put yourself into pretty hard cycling, the body can not support the blood flow enough to the digestive system, which leads to the feeling of bloating in your trans.
You had better use the power zones and heart rate to monitor the intensity of your riding. Have a practice on your pacing from training rides.
Generally, the food is digested best in Zone 1-2; your body can solve reasonably sustained periods in the next Zone. However, there would be issues arising in long blocks of Zone 4 or further.
Healthy Diet
If you want to avoid physical distress in your lower stomach, make sure that you have enough nutrient supplements.
It is advised to absorb nutrition from natural food in daily recipes. Increase the consumption of fruit and vegetables as they are an adequate source of vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals.
FAQs:
Is cycling bad for uterus?
Although biking is beneficial for human health, numerous women are worried about the bad impact on their uterus.
Both the seat and handlebar of the bicycle can cause symptoms in your pelvic floor. The position of your body with a low handlebar will make your lower abdomen muscles become too tight.
As a result, your arteries and nerves will be compressed, leading to the surrounding muscles, including the uterus, lack of relaxation.
How to reduce the pressure on your pelvic floor when cycling?
- Adjust your bike: Move forward the seat or raise the handlebars.
- Make sure the midline of your ab is not stretched out too much. Check on it before riding; if it looks like a cone is coming out of your belly’s middle part, turn the resistance down.
- Do not hold your breath; exhale when you push down the pedals instead to reduce the pressure on your abdomen.
- Stay seated all the time to get support from the saddle.
What is the right cycling posture on the peloton to protect the pelvic floor?
- Your bottom is slightly back in the bike seat.
- Keep shoulders back to avoid head’s forward posture and neck pain.
- Your back should be flat to minimize pressure on your lower abdomen.
- Keep the knees and toes in line.
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Last Word
Hope that you have got the answer to the question “Can cycling cause lower abdominal pain?”.
Although distress in the pelvic is a common issue in biking, you can properly treat and prevent this problem based on the information provided in this writing.
Remember to have a healthy diet, pay attention to the water and fluids intake during your riding and have appropriate pacing to reduce the pressure on your stomach’s muscles.
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Jame K. Thomas
Hey guys, I am an avid cyclist who have raced competitively in the amateur ranks until my mid 30s. I love cycling because it offers both physical and mental challenges, as well as the sense of freedom that comes with riding outdoors. I have devoted myself to the communities and shared all that I know about this supper-duper lovely cycling. Hope that my experience in this blog could give you help.
