stitch

kr1s

Might be in the wrong forum guys/girls but has anyone any tips for combatting stitch whilst on the bike?

pbracing

Do you get them often? Maybe don't eat too soon before a ride. I thought I heard once that anyone can suffer with them, even top athletes and they don't know exactly why they occur. Thoughts anyone?

ride_whenever

Are you drinking water or isotonic drinks?

Often too low body salts

kr1s

i tend to drink science in sports GO when.

Think its true about eating/drinking large amounts before the off as it only seems to occur if i ride late in the day, early mornings are never a problem

I just wondered if there was a tried and tested way of dealing with it in the saddle if it does occur...

BigDarbs

I had exactly the same problem. I was quite concerned as I considered myself fairly fit. I raced mountain bikes at expert level for 13 years, then stopped racing but carried on riding. For the past 12 months I have been training properly again to start racing on the road, and I started getting stitch occasionally which had never happened before. I only get it in maybe one in every 7 or 8 rides, and generally when giving it some onions uphilll.

There seemed to be no real pattern to it, I varied the time that I ate before riding, used plain water or energy drinks etc, I couldn't replicate it.

As I couldn't prevent it, I started to look for ways to deal with it. I think it may have been on this forum that I found the best advice. Having read a lot around the subject, there seems to be no real certainty about the causes of stitch, but this is the solution that works for me every time.

When I feel it coming on or it suddenly appears, I take a very, very deep breath and exhale hard through my mouth, forcing every last drop of air out of the bottom of my lungs, repeat this 3 times. hey presto, no more stitch!

I have now perfected this technique so that as soon as I feel it coming on I carry this process out (sometimes one deep breath and hard exhale does it), and it prevents it coming on any further. I have also started to make sure my breathing is very even and deep when working hard on the bike, as this definitely helps with preventing it coming on at all.

kr1s

well thanks for the advice

Id wondered if some different breathing may help

I have the similar complaint where its completely random when it occurs, except early morning rides

mackdaddy

I had this problem and posted on here a couple of years ago (I think).

I tried everything mentioned above, but what I found was that although it seemed to be random, it was actually linked to heart rate (for me).

If my heart rate is too high for a sustained period, then I get stitch and once I've got it, it comes back every time my heart rate goes up above a certain threshold. You might find that the breathing exercises are actually just controlling your heart rate.

I have no scientific evidence for this but it worked for me all last year in TTs. I still get stitch at the end of a TT but I can control the point I allow it to happen because I know how hard I can push and for how long I can sustain the pain before it slows me down.

The HR was quite high which is why I found it in TTs rather than in training.

Hope this helps

nferrar

@BigDarbs - similar background to you, used to race MTB, road and TT then stopped and started MTBing and road riding again last year after a 15 year break and I've been getting stitches the odd ride to (which never used to happen), not found a way to stop them though but will give your technique a shot.

Don't think it's to do with a lack of salts in the body as per ride_whenever's post - that's more the suspected cause of cramps. Current theory on stitches is they're from stretching the ligaments that support the liver - which although makes sense for running doesn't hold up as well when cycling IMO as there's much less force being exerted up and down the body. I guess getting up out of the saddle on a cimb and really going for it does have similar movements/stress as running, not sure all mine come after out of the saddle riding though.

jellybellywmb

I was tood by a PTI when in the forces that it was caused by shallow breathing and a good few structered deep breaths solve it try breathing deeply in the the nose and exhale till lungs are empty, you tend to sound like a steam train when you do this but I find it really helps