I had to investigate what stitches are, for all I know is that you get stitches when you are cut.... I found out that stitches are an acute pain, is it the pain you get in one side of your ribs when you dont breathe correctly? Because I usually get that a lot, but it is related to my bad breathing problems, I got my tonsils removed too.

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There are a few things you can do, the first thing though is to understand why we get stitches. You get them because your stomache (and other organs) is pulling on the muscles holding it in place, therefore straining them. Therefore to prevent a stitch, you prevent the "wobbling".

The best thing you can do, is simply tense your abbs as you run for a while so that your stomache doesn't move.

If you're happy to stop for a while, put your hands behind your head and walk upright, breathing in slowly (in the nose, out the mouth) stretching your stomache.

Hope this helps

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I do cross country and track. The best ways to prevent stitches are to:
1) Stretch your abdomen properly by reaching one arm over to the other side.
2) Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate. A lot of stitches are caused by dehydration.
3) As you said, regulate your breathing during your run.
4) And most of all, don't start out too fast during the start. As a track two miler, I know that a stitch in the start is very painful. Simply create a set of splits and follow them as closely as you can.
Hope this post helped

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Here are some things I've listed to help you prevent stitches whilst running.

1. Drink water. Drink lots of water. When you get stitches it often means you don't have enough water in your system. To fix this, drink some.

2. Breath deeply. Breath very deeply, so that you have enough oxygen to keep your insides working right. Then they will not contract and cramp, and you won't get stitches.

3. Hold yourself well. Hold yourself in an upright position when you run. Don't hunch over, clutching your cramping stomach. Keep your back straight.

4. Stretch. You can do simple stretches to get the cramps going away. Just bend your back slightly, very slightly, backwards. Your insides will uncramp and relax into a normal position.

5. Get in better shape. Some people get stitches because they aren't in shape, don't get enough excercise. Their bodies aren't used to what they are doing, like running, and they get cramps. Try to get in better shape and you can prevent this.

6. Don't eat while running. Eating while running gets all this food in your system and then it cramps while you excercise and run. So don't eat while running and you won't get as many cramps.

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I always find the best way to avoid stitches is to avoid running in the first place....hee heeee.

But seriously, I rarely run myself. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure it works for some folks. But when I tried it I found it compromised my immune system, which is usually quite strong. During my brief running foray, it was one of the few times in my life I actually came down with a cold. What a horrifying experience! However, I did notice that running on an empty stomach seemed to keep stictches at bay.

From what I've read of jogging, it's physically taxing on the body, and shouldn't be enthusiastically engaged in for any length of time. There's a reason professional atheletes have short careers. You simply can't "run" (no pun intended) your body into the ground over an extened period and not expect problems.

Presently, when I excersie my physical shell of existence, it usually consists of long walks, ocasionally supplemented with a (very) short sprint. This is followed by a brief, but effective yoga/meditation routine. Although now, my quater mile driveway is covered with snow, so sprints are more difficult.

Hope I'm not digressing too far off topic, but I take this walk every morning so as to justify further ingestion of fine food, wine, blended malt whiskey, port, vodka, and my personal favorite .......100% agave tequila-blanco (with a splash of lime and a nice beer chaser). The beer, by the way, should be from a non-fluouridated source and bottle condtioned to provide optimum health benefit.

While walking, I carry some small weights to prevent my small frame from sucombing to bone loss. Veggies and beer also seem to help to this end.

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