From a stronger core and better posture to increased muscle tone and overall health, sit-ups are a very effective and highly adaptable exercise that many gym-goers benefit from on a regular basis.
Aside from the expected effects that sit-ups bring, there are also some others that may not be quite so expected.
One effect that some people say sit-ups has is that they make them poop. Some even go as far as to say that sit-ups actually cause them to have diarrhea.
In this article, we explore whether sit-ups make you poop.
We discuss why they might cause diarrhea as well as looking at the flip side of whether they might cause constipation in some people too.
Can Sit-Ups Make You Need To Poop? Why?
For some people, sit-ups can make you poop. Let’s find out why!
Your Intestines Get Bounced Around A Bit
As you move your body around during exercise, your intestines will be getting moved around a bit too.
This intestinal movement helps move stuff along the digestion process.
Food, gas, and poop are all things that spend some time in your intestines.
This means that as you move around during exercise, all of these are being moved along and toward their final exit point.
While sit-ups aren’t an overly big movement to perform, the exercise is still enough to help move things along your intestines a little bit.
This can lead you to need to poop very soon after your workout.
You May Have Eaten The Wrong Thing Pre-Workout
If you choose the wrong pre-workout snack, you might find yourself needing to poop during sit-ups.
The movement of sit-ups combined with a poor choice of fibrous snack can lead to the need to poop during your workout.
Things like bananas, oatmeal, and toast will likely be your best bet if you want to prevent your toilet habits from interrupting your workout time.
Can Sit-Ups Cause Diarrhea? Why?
Yes, sit-ups can cause diarrhea.
The main reason for this is that, during exercise, blood flow is usually diverted to the working muscles as a priority.
This means that lower priority functions, like digestion, are sacrificed to keep the body functioning as it needs to.
As blood flow is moved away from your intestines to ensure your core muscles have the oxygenated blood they need to finish their workout, diarrhea happens as a result.
It’s normally beneficial to build up the intensity of the exercise gradually if you want to give yourself the best chance of avoiding diarrhea after sit-ups.
If you work too hard too soon, your working muscles will require increased blood flow.
If this proves to be too much and a lot of oxygenated blood is diverted from your intestines, you might need to make a quick run to the bathroom before you finish your workout.
Can Too Many Sit-Ups Cause Diarrhea?
Yes, doing too many sit-ups can be a factor in causing diarrhea.
It’s worth keeping in mind that there are many things that can result in you having diarrhea and it’s important to rule out things like sickness, bacteria, and other medical reasons for it to happen.
If all of these can be ruled out, then you might want to take a look at the number of sit-ups you’re performing.
The more sit-ups you do, the greater the need for oxygenated blood your working muscles have.
The more oxygenated blood the working muscles need, the more has to be diverted from other areas of your body.
If blood flow is taken from your intestines, you can expect diarrhea to occur as a consequence.
Can Sit-Ups Cause Constipation? Why?
Yes, sit-ups can cause constipation.
Whenever you do any form of physical activity or exercise, staying hydrated should be a priority.
Not just because dehydration can have long-term detrimental effects on your overall health, but it can also lead to constipation in the short term.
If you aren’t consuming enough water, the poop in your intestine will be very dry, very hard, and it won’t move very easily.
Once this happens, you will likely find yourself constipated.
It’s much easier to prevent constipation by ensuring you stay hydrated during sit-ups than it is to try and cure constipation once you are suffering from it.
Constipation can be extremely uncomfortable, so it’s always worth taking an extra bottle of water with you to the gym if you plan on increasing the number of sit-ups you’re going to do.
That’s all for this article, but do sit-ups increase testosterone? Or are sit-ups bad for your back?
Hope this helped!
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I’ve been in the fitness and strength training industry for nearly a decade. In that time, I’ve gained 30 pounds of muscle, written hundreds of articles, and reviewed dozens of fitness supplements. As for my educational background, I’m a currently studying for my Active IQ Level 3 Diploma in Personal Training.