How to avoid runner’s trots starting from today

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How to avoid runner’s trots starting from today

Some call it runner’s trot and others call it diarrhoea.  How do you avoid runner’s trot starting from today?

A  great number of endurance sports athletes suffer from it, but very few openly discuss it.

According to research by Gatorade Sports Science Institute, up to 93% of long distance athletes experience this gastrointestinal(GI) problem. This is perhaps the single most cause of under-performance in endurance sports.

To better understand how this problem affects your body, the following graphic produced by Bimuno will paint a clear picture. It will explain why it happens and what you can do about it. How you can avoid runner’s trots.

What causes runner’s trot?

1. Circulation

It all starts with your circulation, that is, during exercise, how and where your blood is pumped has a huge impact on your digestion.

Circulation

 2. Running keeps things moving in the digestive track

Exercise moves waste faster through your system, which poses a problem in an athlete suffering from GI.
Bowel Movement
3. Butterfly in your stomach before a race…
Stress prior to an event will also disrupt your digestion.
Butterflies in your stomach

 

4. Drink lots of water

The other side of GI is dehydration. If you do not hydrate, the large intestine will try to restore water levels by soaks up water from food. This leads to hard, dry stools which are difficult to pass.

Hydration


5. Diet & routine

Eat healthy and eat food that will help your performance. Know which food will cause irritation, avoiding  artificial sweeteners, coffee or having too much carbs and protein. Also be careful not to change your diet or routine just before your race.

Diet and Routine

What you can do to avoid GI

There are 8 elements to watch out for and they are detailed in the graphic below.

Avoid the Runners Trots
According to Gatorade Sports Science Institute  ‘GI symptoms among athletes vary enormously, and some athletes are more prone than others’. So it is important for those athletes who are more affected that they make appropriate nutrition choices because they can reduce the risk of GI and make exercise more efficient and increase performance.
 If you want to find out more about runner’s trots and how it affects your body read  Nutritional recommendations to avoid gastrointestinal distress
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