19 replies to this topic

[darran]

I have just completed a 2.4 km run for my physical fitness test, and I recorded a timing of 11.28 mins. In theory, that would be a grade C, I improved my target by about 0.12 mins. I did not suffer any major stitches during the run, in fact I did suffered a little but the pain was very minimal. It was as though I did not feel it at all. The key was not breathing, I tried different variations of breathing but it did not help. I did lots of stretching especially on the abdominal area, and it really killed the stitches Thanks for all your advice, I think I can now run without any worries of having stitches.

[Misanthrope]

I always find the best way to avoid stitches is to avoid running in the first place....hee heeee.

But seriously, I rarely run myself. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure it works for some folks. But when I tried it I found it compromised my immune system, which is usually quite strong. During my brief running foray, it was one of the few times in my life I actually came down with a cold. What a horrifying experience! However, I did notice that running on an empty stomach seemed to keep stictches at bay.

From what I've read of jogging, it's physically taxing on the body, and shouldn't be enthusiastically engaged in for any length of time. There's a reason professional atheletes have short careers. You simply can't "run" (no pun intended) your body into the ground over an extened period and not expect problems.

Presently, when I excersie my physical shell of existence, it usually consists of long walks, ocasionally supplemented with a (very) short sprint. This is followed by a brief, but effective yoga/meditation routine. Although now, my quater mile driveway is covered with snow, so sprints are more difficult.

Hope I'm not digressing too far off topic, but I take this walk every morning so as to justify further ingestion of fine food, wine, blended malt whiskey, port, vodka, and my personal favorite .......100% agave tequila-blanco (with a splash of lime and a nice beer chaser). The beer, by the way, should be from a non-fluouridated source and bottle condtioned to provide optimum health benefit.

While walking, I carry some small weights to prevent my small frame from sucombing to bone loss. Veggies and beer also seem to help to this end.

Thus spoketh the Enlightened Misanthrope

Edited by vbritton, 23 January 2007 - 05:44 AM.

[seez]

Here are some things I've listed to help you prevent stitches whilst running.

1. Drink water. Drink lots of water. When you get stitches it often means you don't have enough water in your system. To fix this, drink some.

2. Breath deeply. Breath very deeply, so that you have enough oxygen to keep your insides working right. Then they will not contract and cramp, and you won't get stitches.

3. Hold yourself well. Hold yourself in an upright position when you run. Don't hunch over, clutching your cramping stomach. Keep your back straight.

4. Stretch. You can do simple stretches to get the cramps going away. Just bend your back slightly, very slightly, backwards. Your insides will uncramp and relax into a normal position.

5. Get in better shape. Some people get stitches because they aren't in shape, don't get enough excercise. Their bodies aren't used to what they are doing, like running, and they get cramps. Try to get in better shape and you can prevent this.

6. Don't eat while running. Eating while running gets all this food in your system and then it cramps while you excercise and run. So don't eat while running and you won't get as many cramps.

Edited by seez, 25 April 2007 - 07:51 PM.

[ephemeralkiss]

I do cross country and track. The best ways to prevent stitches are to:
1) Stretch your abdomen properly by reaching one arm over to the other side.
2) Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate. A lot of stitches are caused by dehydration.
3) As you said, regulate your breathing during your run.
4) And most of all, don't start out too fast during the start. As a track two miler, I know that a stitch in the start is very painful. Simply create a set of splits and follow them as closely as you can.
Hope this post helped

[trialsite]

There are a few things you can do, the first thing though is to understand why we get stitches. You get them because your stomache (and other organs) is pulling on the muscles holding it in place, therefore straining them. Therefore to prevent a stitch, you prevent the "wobbling".

The best thing you can do, is simply tense your abbs as you run for a while so that your stomache doesn't move.

If you're happy to stop for a while, put your hands behind your head and walk upright, breathing in slowly (in the nose, out the mouth) stretching your stomache.

Hope this helps

[FLaKes]

I had to investigate what stitches are, for all I know is that you get stitches when you are cut.... I found out that stitches are an acute pain, is it the pain you get in one side of your ribs when you dont breathe correctly? Because I usually get that a lot, but it is related to my bad breathing problems, I got my tonsils removed too.

[Reddish]

This is due to your posture, power and speed. Other minor reasons involve food and water, but if you read my other posts you'll understand why eating plays an important role.

Firstly posture.
Your back must be straight, and ALL of your upper body must be relaxed (as stated by someone above, ty). Sprinters use the arms for power, whereas, long distance runners use arms for balance.
Your elbow when coming forward shouldn't pass your stomach and your hand when coming backwards shouldnt pass your stomach also. Thats alot shorter movement then a sprinter. So your saving so much energy.

So, practice relaxing your shoulders letting your arms swing, rather then pumping them. Remember, your running with you legs not your arms. This should take more stress off your stomach and upper body.

Legs.
When sprinting your knee comes up in line with your hips (even higher at times). But when jogging, your feet should only swing 45 degrees. Your knees will bend, but only slightly. What your trying to do is move with motion and as little effort as possible.
When your feet touch the ground your heal must make contact, then the whole sole of the foot makes contact, then onto the toe to push off.

In your discription above, you must be using your upperbody to gain extra speed by slightly leaning your chest forward. This is the sprinting style. When I do endurance runs I get stitches because I train to sprint. Its hard for me to adjust when I go for a jog. But my excuse is that I do drills each day for sprints. It doesnt bother me because I can understand why it hurts. Im putting too much power into a long run. Of course I'm going to get tired, but there is no point me adjusting as it would take too long to adjust back.

Imagine when you run your feet are like an army tanks belt rotation. Rather then a sprinter is more like the pistons of an engine.
This is hard for me to describe. Look at some videos on youtube of long distance races. Watch how effortless they move.

[rpgsearcherz]

When you run lean backwards. When I was running with someone who ran track for 5-6 years he explained it to me and a few others.

More or less what happens is most people run leaning forward. Doing so closes up your lungs so that you aren't getting the full amount of oxygen that you would otherwise. By running straight up or leaning backwards a little(if you watch track runners you will notice they do it) you open your lungs more, thus allowing more oxygen in.

Aside from that the stitches I think is from being out of shape. This doesn't mean fat or anything, it means you don't run all the time on a normal basis. The more you do it, the easier it gets.

[zakaluka]

This is the same thing that I've heard. It has to do with bad running posture and lack of oxygen getting to the lungs.

One way to get rid of stitches while running (not too fast) is to raise the arm on the side where you have stitches above your head. Basically, make your upper arm parallel to the ground and put your palm behind your head. This will pull your back straighter, improving your posture. Additionally, it will open up your chest cavity on that side, giving your lungs more room to expand. I've used this before while running and it works quite well.

Regards,

z.

[HDuffRules]

There are several ways to prevent... bad things like this.

1. Warm up slowly.
2. Perform several short sprints (<100m) before and after a workout. This opens up your lungs. Be sure to stretch before this to avoid cramps or pulled muscles.
3. Control breathing. This has already been mentioned, but the method that I use personally is 3 breaths in, then 1 breath out. The third breath may feel a little unnatural at first, but it works extremely well. (Switch to 2 breaths in, 1 breath out when running faster than 70% or going up a hill.)
4. Don't eat before running. This is bad.