Throwing Up Doesn't Necessarily Equal A Great Workout

Have you ever heard this before, "I worked out so hard, I made myself throw up." Some people equate puking with a great workout. You aren't working hard enough if you're not throwing up. I ran track with a guy that would run the 800 and throw up on the back stretch while he was running.

Well, I'm here to tell you that throwing up isn't necessarily a sign that you are working hard.

Example #1

I might have told this story before, but I have a cabin up in Canada that I go to each summer and fish at. I usually don't work out while I'm there, but this particular day I decided to jump in the lake around 4pm and swim. I hadn't eaten anything since 11am that morning. I would swim out 50-100 meters then come back to the dock. Do a bunch of push-ups, then repeat. I did that sequence a total of 3 times. By the third time, I was dead. I felt sick to my stomach, I was light headed, and had that tingling feeling in my head when you feel nauseous. After resting, I went up to the cabin, ate a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and was all better.

Example #2

A client of mine was training with me at 10am one Saturday morning. He didn't live too far from the gym so he jogged there. It was middle of July, so at 10am it was already pretty hot. We did 3 sets of a leg press and two sets of a leg extension before he went to the bathroom to throw up. I came to learn that he hadn't eaten any food the night before, but had plenty of margaritas at the happy hour he was at. Hadn't eaten in the morning and then decided to do physical activity. I bought him a pop and called it quits.

In both cases, the blood sugar level was very low, meaning hardly any energy available. When you start doing activities of that type of exertion, you need energy. If you don't have it, your body will quickly stall out, thus the sick feeling that both examples showed. Notice in example #1, that once I ate some food, I immediately felt a lot better. I got what my body was demanding...energy!! In example #2, not only hadn't he eaten, but he had dehydrated himself with the alcohol plus running in hot weather.

The point is that you can handle intense workouts, if you have properly fueled your body. Even for just everyday activities or fun competition, you should eat balanced meals, with good carbohydrate sources such as fruit, to fuel your body. So, as much as I would like to take credit for you running to the bathroom during our workout session, unfortunately, it is probably related to more of what you had eaten than the awesome workout I was giving you.