That sudden twitch in your chest, the silly sound, and the lost focus—hiccups can make any training session a test of patience. They don’t just happen after you’ve scarfed down food or laughed too hard. Many athletes and weekend warriors get hit mid-exercise, ruining their rhythm and sometimes leaving them anxious or embarrassed. Knowing how to stop hiccups and keep them from showing up in the first place can help you hold onto your momentum—whether you’re sprinting laps, hitting the gym, or on the field chasing glory.
Why Do Hiccups Strike During Exercise?
Hiccups happen when the diaphragm, that big muscle under your lungs, spasms suddenly and the vocal cords snap shut—causing that weird “hic” sound. Normally not a big deal, but in the middle of a game or workout? Super annoying. In exercise, they tend to pop up for a few main reasons:
- Breathing too fast or irregularly: Pushing hard, especially in sprints or high-intensity bouts, can mess with your breathing rhythm. That can irritate the diaphragm.
- Swallowing air: Gulping water, talking while jogging, or just heavy breathing can lead you to swallow air by accident. Air in the stomach puts pressure on the diaphragm.
- Eating or drinking right before:
- Big meals or chugging fluids before working out can push up on the diaphragm. This is a classic hiccup trigger for runners after a post-workout milkshake.
- Sudden temperature changes: Think cold water after a hot run.
- Mental factors: Stress before a match or nerves mid-competition can also play a role in some folks.
Sports doctors in Hamilton (the kind who patch up rugby and netball players) have seen more hiccups during interval training and in athletes who ignore pre-game fueling advice or try to hydrate all at once.
How to Prevent Hiccups While Training
Let’s make hiccups a non-issue. The best fix is to avoid the triggers before you even warm up. Here’s what works:
- Time your eating: Finish large meals about 2–3 hours before high-effort exercise. Snacks should be an hour ahead, max.
- Sip, don’t gulp: Hydrate with small, regular sips as you train—especially if it’s hot out or the session runs long. Skip the ‘chug and go’ approach.
- Control your breathing:
- When you’re pushing hard, focus on slow, even inhales through the nose and out the mouth. If you’re new to this, try a 3-second inhale, 3-second exhale pattern—even works for runners and lifters trying to stay steady.
- Practice deep belly breathing as part of your warm-up routines.
- Avoid carbonated drinks:
- Fizzy drinks before or during training = more swallowed air, more hiccups.
- Warm up (and cool down) properly:
- Let your diaphragm ease into high gear. Gentle dynamic stretches and slower ramps make a difference.
- Post-session, bring your heart and breathing rate down slowly instead of flopping down suddenly.
- Wear comfortable clothing:
- Tight gear or weight belts (unless truly needed) can press on your stomach—sometimes this sets off hiccups.
What’s worked even in pro sport here in New Zealand? Coaches tell their rugby boys to ‘eat light, sip slow, and breathe steady’—and it’s cut down hiccup incidents drastically, especially before those hyper-competitive club games.
Quick Remedies: How to Stop Hiccups Fast During Exercise
Hiccups ignored will usually fade, but if they pop up mid-set or mid-run, you need this sorted—fast. Here are athlete-tested fixes (safe, non-fancy):
- Pause and reset breathing: Stop briefly. Take a deep, slow inhale through your nose. Hold for 5–10 seconds, then exhale slowly through pursed lips. Do this 2–3 times.
- Drink small sips of water: Not ice cold, and no chugging. Letting water trickle down gently may reset the nerves in your throat and diaphragm.
- Gargle with water (room temp): Weird but it works for some. The act distracts the nerves causing the spasm.
- Valsalva maneuver: Take a breath, hold it, and bear down like you’re about to have a bowel movement—about 10–15 seconds.
- Bend forward as you swallow: If hydrating, bending at the waist sometimes stops the hiccup reflex.
- Pinch your nose, take a drink: Old-school but surprisingly effective for hiccups on the run.
Athletes here in Hamilton swear by the ‘reset’—stop, breathe deep, sip water, and get back to business. Don’t do anything dangerous or that interrupts your form so badly you’ll get injured.
When Should You Worry About Hiccups?
Usually, hiccups during exercise are just irritating—nothing more. But, rarely, stubborn hiccups can mean there’s an underlying issue going on:
- If hiccups last longer than 48 hours, or they come with chest pain, shortness of breath, or vomiting—see your doctor.
- Frequent hiccups (like every time you exercise) could mean reflux or other digestive problems. A quick checkup is worth it.
- Unexplained, severe hiccups with weight loss, trouble swallowing, or weakness? Get medical help. Don’t try to just “push through.”
For most athletes, though? Keeping hiccups at bay is just about smart habits. Skip heavy meals, hydrate right, nail your breathing. If you’re prepping for local comps or even just hitting your regular workout at Hamilton Lake, you’ll dodge the annoyance and stay in your zone.
- Hiccup hack from a seasoned coach: “Don’t let yourself get so thirsty you feel like you need half a litre in one go. That’s hiccup city.”
Here’s a handy checklist for keeping hiccups out of your training sessions:
- Eat light before training, finish meals at least 2 hours prior
- Sip water regularly—never chug
- Practice controlled, steady breathing (try the 3-in, 3-out rule)
- Warm up slowly, cool down gradually
- Avoid fizzy drinks, gums, or hard lollies pre-workout
- If hiccups hit, stop, reset your breathing, try a few gentle sips of water
Body wants to keep going, not battle hiccups? Tweaking habits makes a bigger difference than you might think. Next session, take a breath, check your routine, and keep your focus where it belongs—on your best performance, not random ‘hic’ attacks.
Mini-FAQ: Athlete Hiccups
- Why do hiccups happen more during hard exercise?
Breathing fast or irregularly stresses the diaphragm. Swallowed air or a full stomach makes it worse. - Are hiccups ever dangerous?
Rarely, but if they won’t quit for over two days or you get weird symptoms, call your doctor. - Any supplements that help?
No proven supplements, but magnesium may help muscle relaxation for some. No magic cure here. - Can anxiety cause workout hiccups?
Yes. Stress can set off a hiccup reflex for a few people, especially in high-stakes sport. - Do kids or teens get exercise hiccups more?
Yes, especially if they rush meals or get anxious before games. The same prevention tricks apply.
Next Steps: Personalizing Your Hiccup Game Plan
- If you’re a coach: Teach the breathing and hydration basics in your pre-training talk. Make prevention routine.
- If you’re an athlete: Experiment with meal timing and how you breathe during sets. Track what works (and what doesn’t) in a training journal.
- For parents of young athletes: Serve lighter snacks and reinforce steady breathing before big matches.
- If you’re training for longer events: Test out your strategy during practice—don’t leave it till race day.
Stop letting hiccups steal the spotlight from your workout. Dial in your prep, stay calm, and enjoy your sessions hiccup-free.
Start every session with a breathing drill and stick to it, that'll cut hiccups off at the pass :)
Sip water slowly through the warmup and remind yourself to breathe in through the nose, out through the mouth during hard sets. That 3-in, 3-out rhythm is gold for keeping the diaphragm steady. If a hiccup pops up mid-rep, pause, take two long belly breaths, then resume with one easier set to rebuild rhythm. Doing this consistently turns it into habit so the next time you sprint or hit a heavy cluster it rarely shows up. Simple routines, small wins, keep the session clean.
Do not chug water like a frat kid between sets, it absolutely wrecks your breathing and invites hiccups :/
Hydrate in sips, eat light before work, and cut the fizzy drinks if you actually want consistent training. No excuses, just basic discipline.
The diaphragm is not some accidental muscle, it's the metronome of movement and breath and when it hiccups it is announcing a mismatch between habit and demand.
Think about movement patterns as conversations between the brain and body. When you ramp intensity without priming that conversation the diaphragm gets surprised and spasms. That surprise is a neurological event more than a structural one most of the time. Repetition and deliberate patterning are the cure. If you teach your nervous system a steady breathing cadence during submax sets, it will more likely keep that cadence when you spike intensity.
Build small, repeatable rituals that are context specific. Warmups should not be generic; they should be rehearsals of the performance state. Include 2 minutes of paced breathing, one set of tempo-controlled reps, and a hydration routine that never includes gulping. The nervous system learns through repeated, consistent cues. When you layer those cues into training they become automatic and hiccups are less a surprise and more a footnote.
Also consider the role of the stomach and viscera in posture. A distended gut alters diaphragmatic mechanics and invites irritation. So meal timing is not just comfort, it's biomechanics. Finally, mental tempo matters. Nerves accelerate breathing and degrade timing. Calm the head, control the breath, and the body usually follows. Keep the fixes simple and practiced and hiccups become an afterthought rather than a performance breaker. Keep it boring and consistent and you'll win that tiny battle every time.
do the breathing drill before heavy lifts it really helps
i messed up my timing once cus i ate too late and it screwed my whole workout but the 3 in 3 out saved me
Agree with that, the breathing drill is everything.
Start with practicing it off the field and then make it part of the warmup cue. A short note on pacing: when you deliberately slow your breath for just a couple minutes before intensity you reduce the chance of that reflex spasm. Keep tracking what you eat before sessions and you'll notice patterns in when hiccups happen. The data helps more than guesswork.