![\"Acid](\"https:\/\/blueheronhealthnews.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Strenuous-workouts-202862410.jpg\")
Doctors often recommend physical activity for acid reflux, since obesity is a major cause.<\/p>\nDoctors often recommend physical activity for acid reflux, since obesity is a major cause.<\/p>\n
But some studies show that exercise can also make reflux worse.<\/p>\n
A review in the World Journal of Gastroenterology<\/em> looked at 231 studies to clarify the issue.<\/p>\n While the full review included many gastrointestinal disorders, here we\u2019ll focus on what it found about acid reflux and the related conditions in the stomach and esophagus.<\/p>\n Reflux can be triggered by several factors: stomach ulcers, slow food digestion, stress, and a weak lower esophageal sphincter (LES).<\/p>\n The LES is a valve that normally stays shut to keep food and acid from flowing back up into the esophagus.<\/p>\n So what did the research say about exercise and reflux?<\/p>\n 2.\tThese same activities also promote weight loss, quicker food movement, and stress relief. All helpful in managing reflux.<\/p>\n 3.\tIn overweight people, moderate exercise lowers pressure inside the abdomen and helps the LES stay shut.<\/p>\n 4.\tStrenuous workouts<\/strong> like high-impact cardio, weightlifting, HIIT, or running can worsen<\/em> reflux, especially if they involve bending or abdominal strain.<\/p>\n 5.\tThat\u2019s because intense workouts increase abdominal pressure, which can force acid through a relaxed LES into the esophagus.<\/p>\n 6.\tWorking out right after eating or in hot environments also makes reflux more likely by bloating the stomach and increasing acid.\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n\n