Managing Exercise and Your IBS Symptoms

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsBenefits and RisksPractical TipsAlternatives to Running

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Benefits and Risks

Practical Tips

Alternatives to Running

If you have been diagnosed withirritable bowel syndrome (IBS), exercise can be daunting. Intense workouts may aggravate the condition, causing abdominal pain, cramps, and diarrhea. But if you’re keen on exercise or want to work out to be healthier, there are ways to exercise without making your IBS symptoms worse.

How Irritable Bowel Syndrome Is Treated

Hero Images/Getty Images

group strength workout on spin bikes

While the relationship between IBS and exercise remains unclear, one benefit of exercise is that it is known to reduce stress, which can contribute toIBS symptoms. This includes the psychosocial stress that comes with acute flares.

However, many people worry that intense exercise will set off IBS symptoms. Compressing, stretching, and jostling the intestines is known to cause flare-ups of many gastrointestinal conditions, such as exercise-inducedacid reflux.

Moreover, high-intensity activity will almost invariably create excess body heat, contributing to the risk of diarrhea. It is certainly why some people getrunners' diarrheawhen running too fast or too long.

The key to exercising effectively with IBS is to avoid suddenly increasing the intensity of your workouts. More is not always better. In fact, exercising with moderate intensity tends to be far more effective in managing IBS symptoms than either sitting in a chair or exercising vigorously.

According to aWorld Journal of Gastroenterologystudy, exercising an average of 5.2 hours per week improves both the physical and psychological symptoms of IBS.

Walking, aerobics, and cycling are among the three most common (and beneficial) forms of exercise people with IBS can take up.

10 Common Causes of IBS Flares

Having IBS doesn’t mean that you have to avoid strenuous activity altogether. After all, “strenuous” means different things to different people. If you enjoy running, you shouldn’t necessarily stop running unless it causes you problems. If it does, pull back a little, reducing either the time or intensity of your training.

Don’t be afraid to break a sweat. If you are able to manage fine at your current level, increase the intensity of your workout gradually every couple of weeks or so. This is especially important if you are trying to lose weight or build lean muscle. If you keep at the same pace week after week, you’ll simply hit a plateau.

Preparing for a workout also helps. A few things you may want to try:

If you are experiencing acute or recurrent bouts of diarrhea that don’t improve with treatment, you may want to restrict yourself to less intense exercises such as walking, swimming, weight training, or yoga until you gain better control of your symptoms.

Best Diets for Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Walking may sound boring if you’re used to running multiple miles, but it may be a good substitute. Walking at a relatively fast pace—such as completing 15-minute miles—may be a good compromise until you are able to get on top of your IBS symptoms.

While jerky movements can irritate the gastrointestinal tract, brisk walking keeps your abdomen relatively steady and allows you to pay closer attention to your core muscles.

There are several ways to get a great lower and upper body workout while walking:

10 Things to Stop Doing When You Have IBS

2 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Hajizadeh Maleki B, Tartibian B, Mooren FC, et al.Low-to-moderate intensity aerobic exercise training modulates irritable bowel syndrome through antioxidative and inflammatory mechanisms in women: Results of a randomized controlled trial.Cytokine. 2018;102:18-25. doi:10.1016/j.cyto.2017.12.016Johannesson E, Ringström G, Abrahamsson H, Sadik R.Intervention to increase physical activity in irritable bowel syndrome shows long-term positive effects.World J Gastroenterol.2015;1421(2):600-8. doi:10.3748/wjg.v21.i2.600

2 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Hajizadeh Maleki B, Tartibian B, Mooren FC, et al.Low-to-moderate intensity aerobic exercise training modulates irritable bowel syndrome through antioxidative and inflammatory mechanisms in women: Results of a randomized controlled trial.Cytokine. 2018;102:18-25. doi:10.1016/j.cyto.2017.12.016Johannesson E, Ringström G, Abrahamsson H, Sadik R.Intervention to increase physical activity in irritable bowel syndrome shows long-term positive effects.World J Gastroenterol.2015;1421(2):600-8. doi:10.3748/wjg.v21.i2.600

Hajizadeh Maleki B, Tartibian B, Mooren FC, et al.Low-to-moderate intensity aerobic exercise training modulates irritable bowel syndrome through antioxidative and inflammatory mechanisms in women: Results of a randomized controlled trial.Cytokine. 2018;102:18-25. doi:10.1016/j.cyto.2017.12.016Johannesson E, Ringström G, Abrahamsson H, Sadik R.Intervention to increase physical activity in irritable bowel syndrome shows long-term positive effects.World J Gastroenterol.2015;1421(2):600-8. doi:10.3748/wjg.v21.i2.600

Johannesson E, Ringström G, Abrahamsson H, Sadik R.Intervention to increase physical activity in irritable bowel syndrome shows long-term positive effects.World J Gastroenterol.2015;1421(2):600-8. doi:10.3748/wjg.v21.i2.600

Meet Our Medical Expert Board

Share Feedback

Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit

Was this page helpful?

Thanks for your feedback!

What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit

What is your feedback?