Is Yawning While Exercising a Sign of Medical Condition? Here’s What an Expert Says

Exercise takes a lot of physical effort, and it can undeniably be tiring. This does not certainly mean though that since working out makes you tired; you should not do it anymore.

In fact, exercise helps us achieve better sleep and maintain more regular patterns of sleep. According to Norwalk Community College director of exercise science and wellness, Paul Gallo, EdD, people who regularly exercise "sleep more consistently throughout the evenings."

A yawn, which is typically linked to being exhausted or bored, adds Gallo, who's also a fellow at the American College of Sports Medicine says, is an innate response by the central nervous system, specifically, the brain.

Meaning, we cannot control the time and place we yawn. So, if you find yourself yawning a couple of times during an exercise routine, don't attempt to stop the physical activity.

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An expert says, ‘If you find yourself yawning a couple of times during an exercise routine, don’t attempt to stop the physical activity.’

Stress and Anxiousness

The common notion that yawning is increasing the amount of oxygen we take in has been discredited, as indicated in a 1987 Behavioral and Neural Biology study.

A yawn, Gallo explains, can nonetheless increase the flow of blood to the brain, which can enhance concentration and focus.

You are probably about to begin an exercise or a well-attended athletic event, or a few minutes into the activity, the expert says, "You might begin to yawn" as a way to improve focus and concentration. That is because Gallo elaborates, yawning can cool the temperature of our brain.

Health and fitness experts say before every physical activity, we might experience stress and anxiety. However, it's a good kind of stress, and that causes us to yawn.

If you're a runner, you might yawn in the moments leading up to a race because of anxiety. Then, that yawning should stop once you start moving as running is considered a "steady-state exercise." When we are in a steady-state of an exercise, our brain knows we need to breathe consistently

Not a lot of people know that a yawn interrupts consistent breathing. Meaning the body is prioritizing breathing over the increasing flow of blood or cooling of the temperature of the body. This is yet another reason we yawn during a workout.

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When It's Time to See Your Doctor

Since, as mentioned, yawning is a reflex, typically, there is not any reason to prevent it from occurring. However, experts advise that if you are experiencing frequent and excessive yawning while working out, it might be a sign of something more severe.

If you are excessively yawning while moderately to vigorously attending to your physical activities, such yawning can result in dizziness or lightheadedness. It could also mean a hyperactive vagus nerve or excessively low blood pressure.

Essentially, according to the American Heart Association, low blood pressure is linked to a host of various medical conditions.

Among these conditions include medications, bed rest allergic reactions, pregnancy, and issues with hormone-producing glands.

An article from the Society for Science and the Public indicates that hyperactive vagus nerve can be a result of excessive stress.

In this condition, the nerve is working overtime to reduce heart rate and blood pressure, although, in some circumstances, it brings down blood pressure quite too much, resulting in severely low blood pressure.

Here's what the experts assure us: If we are yawning during the workout, but we don't experience any adverse side effects, then, there's nothing to worry about.

However, once we feel lightheaded or dizzy, that then may mean a need to discuss such a feeling with the doctor.

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