If you’re a regular runner or cyclist, you’re probably all too aware of the gastrointestinal issues that crop up during a long workout or a race. Dealing with the sometimes explosive nature of runners’ bowels, which inevitably strike when there are no toilets in sight, has prompted many athletes to figure out how to deal with the aftermath of their bowels exploding on them mid-race. While pooping during a race will almost certainly result in a walk of shame to the toilet (and ruining your race time), it turns out that pooping before a race can actually help you set a new PR. As with so many things, it’s all about timing.

A recent study published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition suggests that pooping before a race can act as a performance enhancer by increasing the amount of blood reaching the brain and delaying the time it takes to reach fatigue. In this study, elite triathletes were able to cycle for longer when they pooped before their workouts compared to when they didn’t. They also had more blood flow to the brain, which is handy when you’re attempting something like running or cycling for a ridiculously long distance.

If you’ve ever felt the sudden, urgent need to poop during a race or a long workout, you’re not alone. Runner’s gut is a common occurrence, one that can affect beginners and pros alike. There are a number of reasons why it happens. One of the biggest reasons is that running is a high-impact activity. “Running shakes up the contents of our stomach and intestines, which can lead to the urge to poop during a race,” said Brady Holmer, a researcher for Examine.com, which provides evidence-based nutrition analysis. “The higher the intensity, the greater the risk that the urge will occur.”

The second major reason for runners’ guts is blood flow. “When we have food in our stomach, or digested/undigested food in our intestines, our body will divert blood flow to those organs to help with the digestive process,” Holmer said. “Without as much content in our GI tract, blood flow can be diverted elsewhere, [such as] the brain and working muscles, during exercise.”