[quote]Blaiser wrote:
I just had an upper GI done because of heartburn that has been bothering me for the last few months. The radiologist said I have a hiatal hernia and acid reflux. I asked about the hiatal hernia and he made it sound like it was no big deal and said it was very common. I haven’t talked with my doctor about the results yet. I was looking for some opinions from the knowledgeable folks here on the T-Nation forums.
Is this the end of my lifting career? From all the stuff I have researched on the web, it all says to stay away from heavy lifting. I have been lifting heavy for the last 15 years and I can?t see myself stopping.
Does anyone here have experience with hiatal hernias? I did a search here at T-Nation and didn?t really find much.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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It’s kinda common and not too big a deal… but…
I have a hiatal hernia as well. I’ve had it since birth. It affected me when I was a baby, but subsided till I turned 13. I’m 21 now, and sometimes I’ve experienced the worst pains in my life from it, and have spent years dealing with the exact symptoms I have. So here is my advice, from experience.
First off, for me personally, it doesn’t affect my lifting. Heavy squats, deads, all the compounds, I do without worrying about the hiatal. If anything, strenthening my body helps, I find that when I spend some time strenthening my midsection especially, I actually deal with the hiatal better.
Eating more than 3 times a day helps. The usual recommendation is to eay small, but I find that having a big meal every so often feels better, my stomach seems to need to be weighed down with food and lots of water, when it’s light I dont keep food down as easy.
Depending on your symptoms, antacids are something you should always have around, just in case. You were diagnosed with heartburn anyways, so thats a given.
Dont eat right before lifting. You WILL throw up. I cant even keep plain water down most of the time. Anytime I drink any liquid, I have to make an effort to make sure it stays down. Doing a heavy, gut wrenching workout, followed by a Surge, means I have to make sure the sweet drink stays down, against exhaustion and my stomach acting up. It’s something that isn’t fun to learn.
Again, it depends on your symtoms, but personally, I cant swallow pills very well because of it as well.
Anyways, the foremost things are to watch what you eat, make sure to drink LOTS of water with each meal and throughout the day, and learn what your symptoms are and how to control them. It’s really not that big a deal, it’s just something you learn to live with. And for the last time, I seriously doubt it will do anything to your lifting, other than make you MUCH more aware of the muscles in your trunk and midsection, and how to control them. Stable core = stable organs = no painful stomach.
None of this has been evaluated by a pro, just a guy who one day went “why does my chest hurt…” all those years ago.