EFFECTS OF EXERCISE ON TOTAL AND SEGMENTAL COLON TRANSIT

To investigate the effect of aerobic exercise on total gastrointestina l and segmental colon transit, 16 male health care workers with a sede ntary life-style were studied during 1 week of rest and 1 week of exer cise. The exercise phase consisted of walking 4.5 km on a level treadm ill for 1 h on each of 3 days. Total gastrointestinal and segmental co lon transit times were measured using radiopaque markers ingested on e ach of 3 consecutive days with an abdominal radiograph obtained on the fourth day. With exercise, total gastrointestinal transit time decrea sed in 5, increased in 6, and did not change in 5 subjects. Using a pa ired t test, total transit did not show a significant change from rest (24.5 +/- 21.8 h) to exercise (20.9 +/- 16.8 h), p = 0.50. These obse rvations support our previous findings that physical activity to the e xtent that average people consider routine exercise does not necessari ly improve gastrointestinal transit. Therefore, the role of such exerc ise in the management of chronic constipation can be seriously questio ned.