Joanna Wietrzyk, an Australian athlete who competed in a Hyrox indoor fitness competition in Beijing, pooped on herself during the exercise challenge — and, much to the chagrin of the internet (and her fellow competitors), continued in the competition. Wietrzyk went on to win, but has since forfeited her win and apologized for her decision to continue.
The now-infamous moment had many asking if this situation is a common occurrence. And while it isn’t “normal” to actually defecate in your pants, it is normal to need to poop during or after a tough workout.
“Especially for endurance athletes like marathon runners, people who do Hyrox ... blood is being shunted away from your gut, [and] it’s going into your muscles to kind of pay attention to get you through whatever activity it is that you are doing,” said Dr. Supriya Rao, a gastroenterologist at Integrated Gastroenterology Consultants in Massachusetts.
On top of this, competitions and races can stress you and your gut, Rao said. There also may be disrupted sleep the night before, which can cause GI upset.
You (and your stomach) are in more of a state of “fight or flight” instead of “rest and digest” during a competition “in terms of the types of hormones that are getting released when you’re doing intense physical activity,” she said. “So, with that, you can have GI symptoms of all-of-a-sudden urgency, diarrhea, crampy abdominal pain.”
This is why there are portable toilets set up along marathon courses, for example. It’s common for athletes to need to use the bathroom mid-race.
“It’s definitely a phenomenon that we see ... exercise-induced GI distress associated with these endurance activities,” Rao said. It’s sometimes called “runner’s diarrhea.” This can happen during more moderate exercise, too, but is less common, she added.
What about vomiting during exercise? Is that a normal response to tough exercise? Not exactly, according to Rao.
“That’s all dependent, I think, on what you’ve eaten before or during a race, and what the race conditions are,” she said. If it’s hot and you’re dehydrated, you may vomit.
“I wouldn’t say it’s something that is as common as having the urge to have a bowel movement, and definitely is not normal comparatively, but ... it can happen,” Rao added.
Exercise can help make your bowel movements regular.
Despite the poop incident at Hyrox, exercise is good for your bowel movements (and for your well-being overall).
“Every time I have someone who has some constipation, I tell them to go for a walk after they eat to help stimulate the muscles in the gut to move the stool forward,” Rao said.
Research shows that people who don’t exercise have higher rates of constipation.
“It is healthy to exercise, obviously, most days of the week,” Rao said, “And needing to use the bathroom during high intensity [exercise], there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just knowing your body’s physiology and knowing that maybe you need to be near a bathroom during those periods of exercise.”
However, it’s important to know the difference between exercise-induced bowel movements and something more uncontrollable. “Fecal incontinence is a completely different situation,” Rao said.
It’s unclear whether Wietrzyk had control over her bowels or if she just didn’t want to waste time during the race by going to the bathroom. But, “usually people are able to control and run to a bathroom in order to relieve themselves,” Rao said. Anything else might require medical evaluation.
Rao suggested you make yourself familiar with the location of the bathrooms during a competition or race. That way, if you need to go, you’ll know where to find the bathroom. The same is true for the bathrooms at your gym or along your favorite walking route.
If you are training for a fitness competition or are trying to stick to a specific exercise regimen, it’s also important to stick to your normal routine. You don’t want to try new foods or habits the day of (or day before) a big exercise challenge, according to Rao, “because that’s going to really mess with you.”
“Keep doing the things that you’ve been doing while training, so that you don’t throw yourself off completely,” she said. It’s also important to hydrate well and get good sleep.
“I think knowing your body is really important, and knowing when you need to stop and take care of your bodily functions is also important,” she said.