Weight Training with Ulcerative Colitis

I throw iron around as well. However, I do not train during flares.

Reasons: I cannot eat as much as I normally can when not flaring and the food I do eat is not assimilated as efficiently. I rest and lower my resting metabolism bc during a UC flare the body is starved for nutrients and switches over to catabolism rather than anabolism. I find it is harder to stay in positive nitrogen balance when flaring. Finally I want to use the nutrients I do manage to assimilate for growth and repair of my colon not my musculature. Glutamine is a huge component involved in repair of damaged tissue but your free glute pool is reduced during flares and weight lifting and is best utilized healing an aggravated colon then healing tiny muscle tears.

When not flaring I go hi weight low reps and try to pack on as much biomass as possible for the reasons mentioned above.

When I flare I switch from weights to stretching and tai chi until the flare subsides.

I have been training with heavy weights almost nonstop since high school, although for the last 15 years more interested in maintaining lean muscle mass rather than trying to get stronger.

I have had two major flares since my UC Dx. During each flare I lost 5 pounds per week for a total of 50 pounds. My blood counts were so fouled up that I was referred to an oncologist to check for lymphoma.

The good news is that I was able to regain most of my weight back including the muscle mass after each flare ended. Long term weight lifters know from experience that it is much easier to regain muscle than earning it for the first time.

So my advice is to forget about the gym until your flare ends. It is a waste of time. It would not be hard to get back to your pre-flare fitness level after your flare has ended.

pitshack,

I would not stop weight training unless your flare is so bad that you just can't do it. For me, it is extremely important to keep up my weight training during a flare. In my most recent flare, I did lose some strength and about 5 pounds but had I stopped lifting I would have lost more weight and more strength and it would be that much harder to come back. And the lifting is also a good gauge of the flare as the moment my flare started to subside I saw immediate improvements in my workouts, confirming my flare was on the way out. Exercise is good, don't stop unless you are just too debilitated to work out.

Yeah, like everything else with UC, you just have to find out what works for you. For me, lifting works, I feel it does not take away healing resources but rather keeps all my systems primed to do their job.

I agree with the aforementioned topics that you regain what you lose during flares very very quickly. I'm 6'1 and 195-200 lbs and toggle between 9 and 16% body fat. I fast during flares and switch over to a raw veg juice, hi sodium broth diet and low residue food items. My colon usually heals up rather quick yet depletes my energy for awhile. Thats just the lemons so I make lemonade.

I usually drop to 170-180 or so during those couple weeks of flare and by combining stretching and tension of tai chi I can maintain circulation and most of my muscle. Its kinda like a cutting phase. The weight comes back in a couple weeks post flare with minimal loss of strength or dexterity. Your body is 70% water anyway and if you play your cards right you will only lose a few lbs of biomass in addition to all that water.

Heres a breathing trick I use during flares. Hold your arms out like you're going to hug someone..exhale. Bring your arms in toward your body palms facing you as you breathe in cool blue mist thru ur nose only. Finish your inhale as your palms touch your abdomen. Hold for a sec and imagine your belly glowing white under your palms. Now hold them up and out at chest level like your are going to push someone away. Forcefully exhale and imagine red hot smoke coming from your abdomen thru your mouth as you aggressively push outward.

Just do it slow at first so you dont hyperventilate and end up on the floor. You are in essence healing yourself. Practice and you will be able to add more movements and more fluid motions.

I workout out and I adjust to how my guts are behaving...something is always better than nothing at all.

Holy Smokes!!! Thank you all so much much for the replies, I wasn't really sure what to expect. The weight training program I am using is pretty agressive. Calling for high weight and low reps 3 times a week and lots of calories. As several of you said however, I think I might just tone it back significantly until I can get this flare under control and be happy knowing that I can quickly regain what I lost.

Hey UCWarrior thanks for the breathing trick. I'm going to try it today. I've been thinking of getting into yoga or tai-chi or something that would be physical and also enhance my flexibilty because I may be the world's most inflexible person, atleast when it comes to physicality.

I dont think I could just not do anything. I also suffer from a mental illness and exercising is equally important to my mental and physical well being.

On a side note, my doctor called me back today after getting my message on thursday that I couldn't take prednisone because of the anxiety it was causing. She told me to up the asacol to 4800 mg and start using the enema in the morning as well as evening. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to walk around and be productive in the morning with a booty full of mesalamine. The next option if the twice a day enema doesn't work is 6MP. First red flag about this med, this stuff doesn't even have a name, it's just some number and letters, like they just got done testing it on animals or something. Second red flag, the doc immediately follows mention of 6MP with "your not planning on having kids are you?". Interesting stuff living with UC.

 

What did me in the last time I was in remission was all the supplements I was taking as I started doing more serious weight training. When your gut is compromised, all that extra lactose, whey, and casein from protein shakes can cause big problems as they pass through your leaky gut into your bloodstream where it doesn't belong. That led to a negative spiral that took me into my last flare.

I don't lift weights during flares anymore. I tend to walk, do tai chi or maybe some press ups instead mainly because I'm too tired to do much else and my body is needing all it's energy to heal. When I lift I used to throw myself into it too much too soon and that has bit me in the butt before. I have also learned the hard way that creatine and the usual supplements like whey and protein bars, and sugary/ caffeine laced pre workout drinks trigger flares. So if I lift now it's only with a whole food diet and water. So my only advice is wait til you're through the flare, then ease back into and avoid the usual OTC weight training supplements. Good luck and think long term with your health and fitness and weight training.