Erm - excuse me! Just my post-swim flatulence - Triathlon

slowerthanilook

26/01/2011 at 16:55

I'll take a furtive look over my shoulder before continuing this..... OK the coast is clear.

I've stepped up my training programme recently and I noticed that at the same time I appear to be - ahem - farting like a trooper. I put it down to an improved diet. But on completing one of those lovely Fink swim workouts today with my lovely wife, a lady that I don't normally associate with cataclysmically loud wind, i noticed that we both seemed to be afflicted with comedy fart pants.

We're both working from home this afternoon and were planning to plough through a tonne of telephone calls. Sadly not to be. Barely a moment goes by without some uproarious explosion of flatulence that's making it impossible to hold a conversation with a client.

Anybody else prepared to admit to being similarly affected? And is there a cure? I'm wondering whether stepping up the swim intensity causes one to gulp a lot of air, not all of which ends up in the lungs?

Tigerlily

26/01/2011 at 16:59

Can't say swimming affects me like that STIL. If you are swallowing air I d expect you to burp it out not fart! Could it just be down to what you both ate last night?

slowerthanilook

26/01/2011 at 17:03

chicken salad.

Hmmmmm... wonder what else i've eaten? Certainly been nowhere near the Jerusalem Artichokes.

FerrousFerret

26/01/2011 at 17:26

<raises hand as another sufferer>
I do turn into a bit of a flatulent/burp monster following a swim session. I think some of it may be down to swallowing air, but some I think may well be to do with the stretching and abdominal flexing that goes with swimming perhaps linked in to some dietary intolerances. As it tends to be a transient thing I've not yet bothered to get to the bottom of the matter (if you'll excuse the turn of phrase).

LIVERBIRD

pirate

26/01/2011 at 19:42

I never fart.

Nicko. Hdau pirate

pirate

26/01/2011 at 19:48

LIVERBIRD wrote (see)

I never fart.

Prove it???

Colbol

26/01/2011 at 19:56

There has been times when i've been crippled with stomach pains after a tough swim accompanied with excessive bottom burps!! I've worked out that its gulping too much air at the turn along with not always breathing enough out. The air has nowhere else to go but to pass through to the stomach.
I now focus on breathing out fully before the I turn and take a smaller breath.
It's solved my problem so could be worth a try for you?

Maddy.

26/01/2011 at 19:59

I think its probably down to swallowing air as you try to get your breathing right. I know I do because it takes alot of regular swimming for me to relax with my breathing when swimming crawl

LIVERBIRD

pirate

26/01/2011 at 20:03

Nicko. wrote (see)

LIVERBIRD wrote (see)
I never fart.

Prove it???

I can burp the national anthem.

Steve C.

27/01/2011 at 09:25

Excuse me Colbol, but no matter how much you hold your breath it won't pass to the stomach. Your other theory sounds more like it, but maybe it is also a jostling of the digestion effect like some people get running.

Wilkie

27/01/2011 at 09:40

Colbol wrote (see)

I've worked out that its gulping too much air at the turn along with not always breathing enough out. The air has nowhere else to go but to pass through to the stomach.

What Steve said - there's no way air can pass from your lungs to your stomach.

mellifera

pirate

27/01/2011 at 14:53

but it's not going from lungs to stomach, it's going from gob (pharynx) to stomach. anyone who can do voluntary burping knows this!

it's quite common to swallow air when you're learning to swim - i still do it when i feel under stress. as others have said, you gulp the air, tend to hold your breath for a short time before exhaling during which time some is forced into your stomach. it can be really uncomfortable too.

Steve C.

27/01/2011 at 15:05

That would seem to account for burping but not farting unless you mean a day later or so (stool transit time). Maybe there is more than one effect going on for some people then.

exiled claret

28/01/2011 at 18:49

Yep I definitely get it too, especially when I'm pushing hard. It usually starts about 3/4 of the way through my session, so I have to kick really hard so that no-one can see the jet propulsion coming from my bottom! It goes on for quite a while afterwards.
I've always presumed that it was due to swallowing air and it fits with the bloated, tight stomach I have which gradually disipates. Though have been puzzled that it comes out of both ends. Burping I can understand, but there's quite a lot of tubing to get through to the other end so quickly.
So relieved I'm not the only one!

Kanga (M.) pirate

pirate

29/01/2011 at 10:41

I may well have a debilitating case of this, but I would have to actually do some swim training to know about it ... no risk there then ...

gingergav

29/01/2011 at 11:17

I only seem to fart after having one of them Protein shake things - avoid! At least a good blast makes you feel better. Better to have an empty flat than bad tenant!

Now burping while swimming is another matter altogether - i've only learned to Front Crawl recently so am swallowing air still, especially if I try to go too fast. Much apologising to the other people in my lane!

Colbol

30/01/2011 at 18:59

I found this, May be of some help?

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Gastroenterology/abdominal-distention-after-swimming/show/8537

slowerthanilook

31/01/2011 at 10:00

Well there you have it. Case proven. Science is on our side!

Colbol

31/01/2011 at 17:16

Not sure how scientific it is but it seems to make sense.

gingergav

31/01/2011 at 18:25

Looks interesting - I'm a Science teacher and it seems to make sense. My bloating is certainly worse if i've tried to swim fast, and I do get out breath as I feel i'm not breathing in and out fully. This usually leads to a big burp. Sorry swimmers! I let a particularly loud one go on Friday morning, then realised a group of my pupils were in the pool and had heard me!

My Iron man mate has suggested a swim drill doing front crawl - after entering the water with my hand, stretch my arm out in front as far as I can and hold for a second before the pull through the water - this gives a longer pull through the water which allows a longer period to breath on the other side. Does that make sense? Trickle breathing out helps too, as does planting my chin on my chest, so rolling my head up out of the water rather than lifting it - I know if i'm doing this right as when i'm breathing in i'm looking at the ceiling behind me!

Go on you lot, tell me i'm doing it wrong still. It wouldn't surprise me!!!

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