You ever participated in a practice where the coach flat out told you, “I’m going to work you so hard today you’re going to puke.” Then if you did throw up it was a sign that you busted your butt in practice. Well, I’m here to tell you that might not necessarily be the case.
I personally haven’t thrown up since the mid eighties and that was because I picked up some flu bug, but I’m sure I wasn’t slacking in all the practices I had for my various sports. So today I’m here to tell you that if you throw up after a hard practice, any practice, or during your sport that it isn’t so much how difficult that event may be. It has more to do about you and your preparation.
Sometimes it isn’t about you.
Alright, let’s acknowledge that sometimes you might have a little sickness. I think we get that and understand it. Who doesn’t remember Michael Jordan in the NBA finals with a temperature, barely able to stand, throwing up in the locker room, and still pulling out a heroic game to beat the Jazz.
And yes, sometimes you are doing something so intense that you throw up. Maybe it is extremely hot that day. Maybe you have been constantly doing activity for three hours straight (surprisingly I don’t recall my kids puking after playing and running around the house non-stop). Or maybe you are a Navy Seal going through your boot camp. That can be understandable.
Your body is not prepped for the activity – nutritionally.
Even though we ran a conditioning class (our PRO Class) this past month, most of our training is for speed and strength. Which means we try to push the intensity, but to improve speed, you have to have adequate rest to stimulate the right muscle fibers we want to target. What I’m trying to say is that if you are an athlete in any semblance of decent shape, you shouldn’t be getting nauseous or sick during our workouts.
After one of our athletes has to stop because of light-headedness or puking in the bathroom, we usually press them on what they have eaten or drank prior. Yes, occasionally we get the athlete that ate a bunch of heavy foods RIGHT before working out. Not real smart.
Most of the time, it is the lack of eating and hydrating that we see.
They ate hardly anything the day before, skipped dinner, slept, woke up had a bowl of cereal, and then came to workout with us. A warm-up, series of form drills, one set through a few exercises, and they are wiped. Either lying down or running to the bathroom. So you are talking in the span of potentially 19 hours the only amount of calories the athlete has consumed is a bowl of cereal.
Yeah those fruit loops are going to give you the energy for a speed workout. Tucan Sam told me so
Then if it is hot out, like at our facility with no a/c, you need to be hydrating constantly because that too can cause you to throw up if not done properly.
An athlete’s cycle is this: compete or train, eat and drink to replenish energy and nutrients lost, eat and drink to store nutrients for the next time you compete or train, sleep, eat and drink, compete or train, repeat.
When you have to deal with college athletes and their “partying” the night before, that is a whole other mess. I can discuss that another time.
Bottom line is this. I would love to take credit for you throwing up. I worked you like a dog and you paid the price, but you will be a better athlete for it. Unfortunately, I can’t say that. Most of the time it is because you didn’t eat and hydrate right. We get through one set of drills and you have to halt our training because you throw up and now have to recover.
Don’t waste your training session and my time because you didn’t eat or drink right. Get it together. You are an athlete. Plan appropriately, so we can make each and every training session count.
Photo courtesy of CrossfitPaleoDietFitnessClasses on Flickr
Leave A Comment