Cynthia, Five days a week I start my morning with a 2 mile run outdoors. Recently, I’ve been feeling bloated and some cramping in my lower abdomen afterwards. Is this normal? Could running be causing some damage? ~Lindsay
Hi Lindsay,
Well some cutting-edge research indicates that endurance and traditional cardiovascular and cardio exercises like jogging are not the healthiest exercises for the human body and can actually be counterproductive.
Dr. Al Sears, a leading authority on this topic tells us that these types of exercise actually encourage the body to make more fat and reduce the strength of the lungs and the heart.
He says the human body is genetically coded by evolution to have short bursts of intense exercise followed by rest, not long extended exercise sessions. According to Dr. Sears we can give our body all the exercise it needs in as little as 12 minutes.
I recommend reading Dr. Al Sears excellent book called PACE; it goes into great detail about this issue and how to exercise in a manner that is healthiest for your body.
However, another issue you might want to explore is a sensitivity to something in the environment when you run. For example, in many areas the morning air is damp and heavy with mold spores. If you have an unidentified sensitivity to mold, we’re not talking about true allergy, it could result in a variety of symptoms of which bloating and cramping could be some of them. This could also be true of industrial or agriculture pollutants that may be in the air.
