Throwing up
 

I've always been told that it means i pushed myself but why does the body react like that to a strenous workout?

I suggest that you cease listening to whoever told you that.

its not like i do it after every work out. just happens when i push myself hard. i can serious only count like 5 times in 7 yrs or so of competitive sports. one coach def new what he was doing, had coach several 1st place nationals finishers in rowing and coach my boat to a 2nd place at nationals. (i was a rower at the time.)

I think it's probably a result of pushing your body when it's not ready or fit enough. Lots of people push themselves to the brink of exhaustion without puking.

I've heard because the blood that is needed to carry out digestion is re-routed to muscles, but I think that's more an issue for strenuous activity after a full meal.

*edit - Here's a short explanation from a random place on the internet:
http://naturalbodybuildingsecrets.bl...y-intense.html
It hasn’t happened to me but I know of a few people who would run to the locker room after several heavy sets of squats, and would throw up. Why is that? Is it a sigh of a good workout?
It turns out vomiting after a workout can be a sigh of a blood lactate build up. Lactate is a by-product of the anaerobic/glycolytic energy pathway. Obviously you should choose a level of intensity that corresponds to your body’s ability to effectively metabolize it. So, slow down if your lactate threshold is not high enough.

The act of rowing and doing squats can compress the abdomen and put pressure on the stomach.
Generally, cycling is very gentle on the stomach, allowing us to ingest all sorts of vile concotions while exerting ourselves beyond exhaustion.

then why do i read in various cycling forums about people throwing up after an intense hill repeat session? it's still possible to throw up while cycling and nothing to do with abdomen compression.

Yes I've seen it happen plying soccer.... we had a fitness practice where the coach kicked are asses for having a huge party the night before a big tournament we were favored to win but did piss poor in

next fitness practice he ran the hell out of us.... a few people puked

it's a product of pushing yourself too far past your limits

Back in the day I used to puke at the end of my military PT tests. But only the ones done for the record. Every time.

Thats how i've always done it. Most recently was during sprint intervals trying to determine my max wattage.

i once came very close to puking after climbing a hill on a hot humid day....and i NEVER throw up! i managed not to then either...i felt myself getting all sweaty and shaky and nauseous, stopped at the top of the hill and breathed through my mouth for a while. That stopped it...but it was close!

I've puked after mtn bike races of varying length. Have felt like puking plenty too. I always attributed it to exertion, food choices, inabiltity to digest food. At least afterwards you know you tested the far limits...

Back in my cross-country running days I did my share of upchucking, mostly after hard races that ended in a longish sprint. And I was in pretty good shape at the time.

I always took as my body's way to lighten the load a bit.

i've heard it's because your blood leaves your stomach area to go to the muscles you are using. however, ive noticed that for some of the people on my rowing team, it was almost a psychological thing. one athlete used to always throw up after every piece. one day, our coach said "don't throw up"...and they didn't.

I used to throw up all the time in wrestling but it was usually due to two things. One I never learned that eating huge greasy meals before conditioning was a bad idea and two it was because I wanted to be tough and try to hang with the fit freaks in a hot ass gym while trying to cut weight. Right after a crazy session of ab killers or mountain climbers or a game of duck duck goose (yes I said duck duck good) I would have to run outside and drop off some chow mein on the grass. ugh Never cool when the ladies were watching.