Ab Exercises After Eating

Feeling boated or too full after a meal can leave you uncomfortable or self-conscious about your midsection. However, jumping into an ab workout right after a meal is not the solution. Exercising too soon after you finish eating can cause abdominal cramping, which can put a stop to your workout and interfere with the rest of your day.

  1. Food Digestion

    • As a general rule, you should wait at least 30 minutes to an hour after you eat before engaging in exercise. The heavier the meal you eat, the longer you should wait. That is because blood goes to the stomach to help with food digestion after you eat. If you begin exercising too soon after eating, blood will be diverted to your muscles to aid in their development. This can make it more difficult for your body to digest the food left in your stomach and lead to stomach cramps.

    Ab Exercises

    • According to CNN, "Abdominal cramping after eating tends to happen more often with cardiovascular exercise than with strength training." However, since the digestion process works the same, you are at risk of getting abdominal cramps if you don't allow your food to properly digest before doing strength training for your abs. Also, because of the bending and flexing at the waist required for many abdominal exercises, you can easily upset your stomach and possibly regurgitate your last meal.

    Weight-Loss Goals

    • Deciding when and what to eat before or after an exercise to lose weight can be confusing. If you work out in the morning or it has been longer than three hours since you ate, you should eat light carbs like wheat bread at least 30 minutes before your workout. These are easy to digest and will give you energy for your workout without adding extra fat. Save the bigger meal for after you are finished exercising, so your body can use your stored energy rather than your last meal for fuel. Your after-workout meal should consist of carbs and protein to help with recovery and keep you from feeling sluggish or sick.

    Considerations

    • Each person is different, so everyone's digestive system will work in its own way. Trial and error is the best way to see what foods work before a workout and how long you should wait before exercising after a meal. Listen to your body and stop working out if you start to get cramps; take a break for at least 30 minutes before trying it again. Different foods take longer to digest, as do larger meals. Plan accordingly so you have time to process your food if you are crunched for time and have to squeeze in that ab workout.