Exercise
Certain workouts and exercise routines can actually put your body into positions that cause acid reflux. When it comes to things like sit-ups, crunches, and even leg lifts, you’re causing your body to move in ways that tend to lead to heartburn. Bending, particularly from the abdomen, rather than at the hips, increases pressure—and as you already know, pressure on the abdomen changes the way the esophageal sphincter works.
Other aspects of exercise can be problematic for different reasons. For example, working out right after you eat can shake things up and cause acid reflux. What’s more, doing workout routines that involve lying down—or being upside down—for any length of time can lead to heartburn as well.
If you have trouble with acid reflux to begin with, or notice that inverted positions increase your heartburn, avoid stretches or strength routines that involve being upside down—headstands, handstands, inverted push-ups, inverted sit-ups, some yoga positions, and even toe touches. Exercises that involve a lot of jumping up and down, like aerobics or jumping jacks, can also create enough momentum for a weak sphincter to allow acid back up into the esophagus.
But exercise isn’t all bad, and the benefits of losing extra weight may improve heartburn in the long run. Changing your eating habits in tandem with developing a stronger, healthier body may be extremely helpful in the acid reflux fight. Just avoid exercises that will make things worse. If you begin to lose weight and notice a decrease in acid reflux, you might begin to try some of the positions and moves that were problematic to see if you can do them successfully.
Did you know...
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- Have you ever told your husband something and he promptly forgets it? It's not his fault, actually. It really is because he's a man. The hippocampus (the part of the brain that deals with memory) begins to shrink with age faster in men than it does in women. That's why you can remember everything, and he can't!
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