Nausea and vomiting during training

These notes combine advice from 24 reviewed passages across 14 workouts.

Overview

Coach’s claim

The urge to vomit appears mainly in high-intensity interval work, and much less in muscle-focused training; many people dislike HIIT and cardio for this reason. In continuous spinning, everyone vomits during the first three or four months before the body adapts. [10] [11]

Why it happens

Coach’s claim

Nausea during training has several possible causes. You may have eaten shortly before, you may have felt unwell from the start, or the session itself may have upset your stomach. It is not always due to the training alone. [9]

Coach’s claim

During maximal efforts, nausea and palpitations are usually strong at first, and you may start getting used to them after two or three sets. [2]

Coach’s claim

Nausea that shows up later in a session can be linked to dehydration, and it can hit even well-conditioned athletes. [13]

What it means

Coach’s claim

Nausea during a demanding test is normal. Vomiting from training is not necessarily a very bad thing, and a person may get used to it after the first episode. Most athletes vomit and continue; it happens at advanced levels and to most people. [3] [5] [8]

Coach’s claim

Intense nausea during training can be a form of ‘sports poisoning’: the body expels things, and the response is positive and can be increased. The vomiting response resembles the body’s response to bad food, which pushes out what it does not want. The important thing is to erase this response. [4] [5]

Coach’s claim

Reaching the level where training provokes vomiting can be a developmental factor. Vomiting can occur even at low volumes, such as five, and is not necessarily a problem. Coach says a few handstands will overcome the current weakness. [14] [15] [16]

What to do when it happens

Coach’s claim

When nausea comes on, breathe and rest. Take a break and wait for the feeling to pass completely; breathe deeply for a minute or two and get fresh air. [1] [18] [19]

Coach’s claim

If you still have work to do, split it into smaller intervals with rest between, for example ten push-ups, a short rest, then another ten. [6]

Programming around it

When a movement consistently triggers nausea at high volumes, lower the rep target for that movement and keep the movements that score well. For example, cap squat jumps at 40 instead of 60 and keep dips. [12]

If a specific movement reliably brings on nausea when overdone, avoid selecting it and shift the effort to other exercises. [20]

Coach’s claim

You can also assess your limits at a level that produces no nausea sensation; that gives useful data about your capacity. [17]

Coach’s experience

In his own coaching, he used to push people to vomiting without realizing how heavy the sessions felt, then reduced the intensity. [7]

Sources

1. 2024-01-18, 4181.7-4186.9s

Workout: workout:2024-01-18

Passage: passage:2024-01-18:001492-001495

2. 2024-01-29, 1763.8-1779.3s

Workout: workout:2024-01-29

Passage: passage:2024-01-29:000592-000592

3. 2024-01-29, 1977.2-1980.9s

Workout: workout:2024-01-29

Passage: passage:2024-01-29:000667-000671

4. 2024-03-12, 2623.5-2645.0s

Workout: workout:2024-03-12

Passage: passage:2024-03-12:000943-000952

5. 2024-03-12, 3480.0-3505.1s

Workout: workout:2024-03-12

Passage: passage:2024-03-12:001266-001275

6. 2024-05-25, 2455.0-2484.6s

Workout: workout:2024-05-25

Passage: passage:2024-05-25:000797-000806

7. 2024-12-03, 5.9-16.1s

Workout: workout:2024-12-03

Passage: passage:2024-12-03:000001-000003

8. 2024-12-03, 18.8-24.7s

Workout: workout:2024-12-03

Passage: passage:2024-12-03:000004-000005

9. 2024-12-03, 25.8-51.9s

Workout: workout:2024-12-03

Passage: passage:2024-12-03:000006-000016

10. 2024-12-03, 55.8-78.5s

Workout: workout:2024-12-03

Passage: passage:2024-12-03:000017-000017

11. 2024-12-27, 5275.4-5281.9s

Workout: workout:2024-12-27

Passage: passage:2024-12-27:001784-001787

12. 2025-02-09, 1849.8-1879.6s

Workout: workout:2025-02-09

Passage: passage:2025-02-09:000643-000653

13. 2025-02-09, 2543.8-2581.0s

Workout: workout:2025-02-09

Passage: passage:2025-02-09:000840-000841

14. 2025-02-09, 3116.1-3119.3s

Workout: workout:2025-02-09

Passage: passage:2025-02-09:000914-000915

15. 2025-02-09, 3389.6-3401.9s

Workout: workout:2025-02-09

Passage: passage:2025-02-09:001024-001026

16. 2025-07-15, 2742.5-2751.7s

Workout: workout:2025-07-15

Passage: passage:2025-07-15:000667-000669

17. 2025-08-05, 492.6-498.0s

Workout: workout:2025-08-05

Passage: passage:2025-08-05:000070-000072

18. 2025-09-08, 1234.4-1246.3s

Workout: workout:2025-09-08

Passage: passage:2025-09-08:000458-000466

19. 2026-04-07, 1543.7-1547.1s

Workout: workout:2026-04-07

Passage: passage:2026-04-07:000364-000365

20. 2026-05-27, 2448.8-2468.1s

Workout: workout:2026-05-27

Passage: passage:2026-05-27:000758-000762