Can You Exercise With Diarrhea?
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Why You Shouldn't Exercise if You Have Diarrhea

Why You Shouldn't Exercise if You Have Diarrhea
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Jessica Brown
Updated on August 6, 2025
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While the list of benefits that exercise provides for your body is long, there are some occasions when hitting the gym can do more harm than good. Exercise plays an important role in digestive health, but if you have diarrhea, it's best to take a day (or a few) off from working out until you're better.

"If you have diarrhea, exercising is likely to exacerbate the problem," says Maria T. Abreu, MD, a gastroenterologist and the executive director of the F. Widjaja Inflammatory Bowel Disease Institute at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. "There's no situation in which it will help stop diarrhea."

How Working Out Affects Digestion

To understand why exercise — aerobic exercise, specifically — can worsen diarrhea, it's important to first understand how it benefits your digestive health. The primary way is by increasing gastric motility, which refers to the movement of food through your gastrointestinal (GI) tract.

"In this way, aerobic exercise helps ensure that you have regular bowel movements," Dr. Abreu says. "Part of the reason we know this is because people who have a sedentary lifestyle tend to develop constipation because their gastric motility is decreased."

Normally, that increase in gastric motility is welcome. But because a common cause of diarrhea (having loose, watery stools three or more times a day)

 is excessively rapid transit of fecal matter through your GI tract, a boost in gastric motility can make your condition worse, Abreu says.

The Risks of Exercising With Diarrhea

If you've been experiencing loose, watery stools, chances are that the associated fatigue and stomach cramps will prevent you from making it to the gym. But even if you find the energy to work out, it might not be safe to do so.

The main concern, Abreu says, is dehydration, which is a major complication of diarrhea. When you lose more fluid than you're able to take in — a common occurrence when your stool is loose and watery — your body may not be able to carry out its normal functions.

"If you're already dehydrated from having diarrhea, exercising is not a good idea because you'll end up losing even more fluid through sweating," she says. Signs that you're dehydrated include the following:

  • Extreme thirst
  • Dry mouth
  • Dry skin
  • Less frequent urination
  • Dark urine
  • Lightheadedness or weakness
  • Fatigue
  • Dizziness
Severe cases of diarrhea can lead to low blood volume shock (hypovolemic shock), a condition that occurs when low blood volume causes your blood pressure and the amount of oxygen in your body to drop. Hypovolemic shock can be life-threatening.

To treat dehydration, get plenty of water as well as liquids that contain electrolytes, such as broth, fruit juice, caffeine-free soft drinks, and low-sugar sports drinks.

If you've been experiencing diarrhea, it's best to rest until you feel better. Ideally, your bowel movements should be back to normal before you exercise, but it's just as important that your urine returns to a pale yellow color — a sign that you're no longer dehydrated, Abreu says. A bout of diarrhea is usually short, but if it persists for more than a few days or contains blood, that's a sign you should see a doctor.

The Takeaway

  • Exercising while experiencing diarrhea can worsen the condition due to an increased risk of dehydration.
  • If you've been experiencing diarrhea, don’t try to exercise. You should rest until you feel better.
  • Prioritize hydration with fluids containing electrolytes, like broth and low-sugar sports drinks, to prevent dehydration-related complications.
  • See a healthcare provider if your diarrhea lasts more than a few days or contains blood.
EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
  1. How Exercise Can Lead to a Healthy Gut. Cleveland Clinic. January 26, 2024.
  2. Diarrhea. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. September 2024.
  3. Diarrhea. Mayo Clinic. January 18, 2025.
  4. Hypovolemic Shock. Cleveland Clinic. April 16, 2022.
  5. Treatment of Diarrhea. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. September 2024.
Meet Our Experts
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Yuying Luo, MD

Medical Reviewer

Yuying Luo, MD, is an assistant professor of medicine at Mount Sinai West and Morningside in New York City. She aims to deliver evidence-based, patient-centered, and holistic care for her patients.

Her clinical and research focus includes patients with disorders of gut-brain interaction such as irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia; patients with lower gastrointestinal motility (constipation) disorders and defecatory and anorectal disorders (such as dyssynergic defecation); and women’s gastrointestinal health.

She graduated from Harvard with a bachelor's degree in molecular and cellular biology and received her MD from the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. She completed her residency in internal medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she was also chief resident. She completed her gastroenterology fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital and was also chief fellow.

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Jessica Brown

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