Yes your fears are unfounded. Start eating.
Does overeating and training on a full stomach increase risk of inguinal hernia? I don't have any family history of it but I've had many friends get inguinal hernia so I'm paranoid. I've been avoiding solid food on training days, until after the workout, but it's getting harder to gain weight now. I'd like to start stuffing my face all day every day to force myself to gain, but I'm worried about risk of hernia or other digestive issues caused by intense exertion with full guts. Are my fears unfounded?
Yes your fears are unfounded. Start eating.
If you’re genetically predisposed to get a hernia you’re gonna get it at some point no matter what, whether it be lifting or taking a shit. I got mine trying to pop my ears after a flight, not from lifting.
If you look at an anatomical drawing of the structures involved, you will see that if an overfull stomach is causing excessive pressure in your inguinal canal, a hernia there would be the least of your concerns.
Thanks guys I'm back to stuffing my face every few hours and already gained 4 pounds in 2 days. I do feel a lot of pressure in my stomach regularly and yesterday I was on the toilet and felt a sudden pressure in my colon on the left side. It still feels a little odd. Not painful at all but there is some feeling of pressure, especially when twisting or bending over. I'm pretty satisfied with my weight gain so far, about 40 pounds in 7 weeks. So I'm going to clean up my diet a bit. Cut out the dairy and grains and try to get a bit more fiber to get my digestion flowing more smoothly again.