How to Make Yourself Fart: 5 Techniques Backed by Science

It’s important to point out that it’s normal to have some gas. “Everybody has gas and everybody poops,” Dr. Stein says.

Positions to Relieve Trapped Gas Quickly and Ease Discomfort

Ease gas discomfort and make yourself fart with these yoga poses.

By Korin Miller and Isabella Cavallo Updated: Apr 18, 2023
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Jump to:

• Positions to relieve gas
• Positions to relieve gas while pregnant
• Positions to relieve gas in babies
• When to see a doctor

Experiencing gas pains can be embarrassing and excruciatingly uncomfortable. And when discomfort hits, positions to relieve gas can be an effective way to feel better, fast.

Gas usually gets into your gastrointestinal tract when you swallow air and when bacteria in your large intestine break down undigested carbohydrates, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). The NIDDK flags the following foods as the biggest potential gas-causers: certain fruits (like apples, peaches, and pears), vegetables (especially broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens, and kale), dairy products (like milk, ice cream, and yogurt), whole grains, drinks with high-fructose corn syrup, candy, gum, or other products that contain sweeteners ending in “ol.”

Eating these types of foods can lead to symptoms like burping, bloating, and, well, passing gas. While the best way to relieve discomfort from gas is to do what you can to avoid developing it in the first place, there are many ways to get rid of gas, pain, and bloating, and certain movements can help you feel better, fast.

“In general, there have been studies that have shown that physical activity helps with intestinal gas clearance, especially in patients with bloating,” says Lukasz Kwapisz, M.D., an assistant professor of medicine-gastroenterology at Baylor College of Medicine.

The basic idea, he explains, is that as you move, gas moves faster through your body—and then exits the premises. So what are these moves and positions to relieve gas? Gastroenterologists break down how to fart (and relieve that discomfort) quickly.

Positions to relieve gas

Walking

“Walking makes gas pass,” says Ellen Stein, M.D., a gastroenterologist and associate professor at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. “It’s because of the motion and legs moving around—that helps move the gas from higher up in the digestive tract into the rectum, where it can be released.”

Walking also “stimulates gastrointestinal motility,” says Randy Meisner, M.D., a gastroenterologist at Spectrum Health. Meaning, it gets the muscles in your gut moving—and that can help push gas out.

Laying on your side

Laying on your side is an easy thing you can try at home, Dr. Kwapisz says. “We have about 15 feet of our small intestine and three feet of our large intestine packaged into our abdomen,” he says. “That’s a lot of turns and twists to package all of that inside of us.” Because of this, he says, poop and gas can get trapped around some of those bends.

“Laying on your side helps with getting gravity on your side and changing the way our intestines are positioned within your abdominal cavity,” Dr. Kwapisz says. He recommends laying on your side for 15 minutes, moving your knees to your chest up and down a few times, and then flipping onto the other side and doing the same.

Squatting

This is really about the motion of moving your knees toward your chest, Dr. Meisner says. “That helps with expulsion,” he explains. This movement helps stimulate the way you’re supposed to poop and can also help push out gas. “It’s relaxing your colon to its more natural positioning,” he says.

Try doing 15 squats at a comfortable pace and seeing where that gets you.

Child’s pose

Child’s pose, in case you’re not familiar, is a yoga pose where you kneel on the floor with your toes together and your knees hip-width apart, bending forward so that your torso is between your knees and your arms are extended in front of you.

“This helps relax the pelvic floor, a network of muscles that holds everything in,” Dr. Stein says. Your pelvic floor is involved in the process when you fart and relaxing it can help ease things out. Get into position and hold it for 30 seconds or so. Then, try it again.

Pigeon pose

Another yoga pose, the pigeon pose involves sitting on the ground and bending your right leg toward your left hand. Stretch your left leg straight behind you, lower your hips toward the floor, and keep your hips square. If you can, lean forward and bend your torso over your right leg. Then, switch and do this on the other side.

“This also helps relax your pelvic floor,” Dr. Stein says. And, ultimately, it helps gas exit your body. You can also try holding this move for 30 seconds to a minute to see if it helps.

Positions to relieve gas while pregnant

There are all sorts of pain and discomfort when it comes to pregnancy, which can make gas pain even more frustrating. If you are pregnant and dealing with constipation and gas discomfort, the Cleveland Clinic suggests eating more fiber, drinking more water, and moving your body. If that doesn’t help get things moving, you can try out some yoga poses.

Sakina Williams, M.S., RYT-1000, C-IAYT, pre-natal certified yoga instructor at Tangerine Yoga, recommends prenatal yoga for a variety of benefits. “Safely practicing yoga after the first trimester can help sleeplessness, low back pain, combat nausea, and reduce stress,” says Williams. “Yoga asanas, or postures, can help to strengthen the pelvic floor, increase flexibility, and endurance to aid in childbirth.”

Williams urges those pregnant looking for positions to relieve gas to follow safe pregnancy yoga stretches, as there are certain things that you should skip or avoid while pregnant. “Any yoga postures that require a lying prone (belly down) or flat on the back, twisting and deep back bending,” Williams says, should be avoided. “It is [also] usually recommended not to practice hot yoga or breathwork with breath retention.”

If you’re looking to relieve gas with pregnancy-safe methods, try some of these poses recommended by Williams, who says, “These poses can shift the trapped gas and move it through the digestive tract and shift the pressure from the stomach.”

Happy baby pose

While lying flat on your back, bring your knees towards the sides of your body with the bottom of your feet facing the sky. If you can, grab onto your feet and gently rock side to side—just like a baby.

Seated forward fold

For a seated forward fold, sit upright on the ground with your legs straight in front of you. Then, go ahead and gently bring your stomach towards your legs and stretch your arms towards your feet.

Goddess squat

Stand with your feet about three feet apart with your feet turned out at a 45-degree angle. Hold your arms above you and bend at the elbows with your palms facing each other. Begin to exhale and bend your knees while looking straight ahead.

Wide-knee-supported child’s pose

This is essentially the same as a typical child’s pose, but for this pose, you keep your knees spread out and your big toes together. This helps to open the joints of your spinal vertebrae and hips, which can help you relax into the pose.

Positions to relieve gas in babies

Gas can be particularly painful in babies, so knowing the best positions to help them pass gas can do wonders for your child. While the Cleveland Clinic recommends special formula options for an extra-gassy baby if they have a more sensitive digestive system, there are some positions that can help them pass gas too. Here are some poses Cleveland Clinic recommends.

Lay your baby on their back while moving their legs in a circular motion up and down. The movement should mimic legs pedaling on a bicycle.

This is the baby version of the knees-to-chest pose. To do this, lay your baby on their back and hold onto their feet. Slowly bend their legs to bring their knees towards their bellies. This should help them pass gas.

When to see a doctor

It’s important to point out that it’s normal to have some gas. “Everybody has gas and everybody poops,” Dr. Stein says.

But gas is a problem when it’s interrupting your daily life, you can’t control it or hold it in, and/or it’s painful, she says. Dr. Meisner recommends looking at your diet and weeding out foods that are known to cause gas (see above).

And, if that doesn’t help you find relief, it’s time to consult your doctor. They can do a slew of different tests to check for things like Celiac disease, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), and food intolerance, among other things, says Dr. Kwapisz.

“If there are concerns, I definitely would advise a doctor’s visit,” he adds.

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How to Make Yourself Fart: 5 Techniques Backed by Science

Much like zen masters can control their minds, an elite group of dudes can control a bodily function that’s just as powerful: their farts.

No, we’re not talking about holding them in. We’re talking about farting on command, an impressive feat that rivals that of raising one eyebrow and licking your elbow.

To the blind eye, farting appears to be a matter of chance. The average person farts 13-21 times a day, mostly at random. But with the proper technique, you can actually make yourself fart any time, anywhere—and it’s easier than you think.

In this article, you’ll learn five tried and true methods to rip ass whenever you please as well as which foods will give you some grade A flatulence fuel.

The Air-Swallow Farting Method

Of all the methods to make yourself fart, the air-swallow is the easiest (and most socially acceptable). Here’s how it works:

1. Sit up straight on a comfortable surface
2. Fill your mouth with air (don’t inhale it into your lungs)
3. Swallow the air
4. Repeat until you feel the trapped gas working its way down to your derrière

Bet they didn’t teach you that trick in science class.

The Anal Inhale Farting Method

At first, this sounds like a superhuman feat—inhaling with your butthole? But it’s actually quite simple. Just like you can make yourself burp by swallowing air with your mouth, you can make yourself fart by letting air in and out of your butt.

1. Lie down somewhere flat and pull your legs towards your head
2. Relax your rectum and let the air seep in slowly
3. Keep at it until you feel a butt bomb bubble up
4. Let ‘er rip

For the sake of your reputation, we don’t recommend conducting this exercise in public. But after a long day of holding in farts (or poop) at work, there’s no reason why this shouldn’t be added to your evening wind-down routine.

2 Yoga Poses to Make Yourself Fart

If you thought your child’s pose during yoga was only good for improving flexibility and lowering your blood pressure, think again. Don’t be fooled by the pristine pictures and soothing sounds—yoga is a great way to release gas.

Here are two positions where the odds of ripping ass are exceptionally high:

Knees-to-Chest Pose (Apanasana)

Apana is Sanskrit for “downward-moving life force” and asana means “pose.” As the name implies, this posture is similar to “happy baby” and designed to push bodily toxins downward, through, and out of your body.

DUDE translation: It’s the definitive ass-ripping position.

Don’t get it twisted—you don’t need any overpriced classes or yoga gurus to induce your flatulence for you. You can get into the apanasana pose anywhere in five simple steps:

1. Lay on your back
2. Bend both knees
3. Pull both knees towards your chest
4. Breathe slowly and deeply
5. Let your rear end roar

Start by holding this pose for 20 seconds at a time. It may take a few minutes for your “downward-moving life force” to work its way out.

Seated Forward Bend (Paschimottanasana)

This pose is designed to loosen up your hammies—and your farts. When done correctly, paschimottanasana improves digestion and relaxes your torso, creating the perfect storm for the perfect fart.

Here’s how it’s done:

1. Sit with your legs extended in front of you
2. Place your hands next to your body and press into the floor
3. Hinge at your hips and fold your torso forward
4. Walk your hands alongside your body as you get deeper into the pose

After a few long breaths, your ass should exhale as well.

Make Yourself Fart by Squatting

All it takes is a quick look at the discussion forums on Bodybuilding.com or Reddit to see that gym farts have plagued nearly every dude that’s stepped into a gym. But there’s one gym area that appears to induce unseen levels of noxious fumes: the squat rack.

Weightlifters are notorious for experiencing mid-squat gastrointestinal attacks—understandably so. For starters, heavy breathing causes excess air to build up in your digestive tract. On top of that, the squat position is scientifically proven to reduce strain on the bowels.

You don’t need to be a powerlifter to produce stinky squats, though. If you want gas relief on-demand, simply lower yourself into a bodyweight squat with your knees bent at 90 degrees. After a few up-and-down movements, you should be primed for passing gas.

Foods That Make You Fart

Just like runners need a big breakfast on race day, you need the right fuel in your digestive system to make yourself fart. In case you haven’t studied up on what causes obscenely smelly farts, here are some foods that are like rocket fuel for flatulence:

• Cruciferous vegetables: broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage
• Beans
• Dairy products (beware if you have lactose intolerance)
• Beer and wine
• High-fiber foods
• Artificial sweeteners, like sorbitol
• Chewing gum
• Fizzy drinks
• Whole grains

Now that you’ve got a good amount of intestinal gas in the tank (and maybe feeling a little bloated), here’s how to let it loose. We must note that doing all of these things at the same time may cause some constipation.

Please Pass Gas Responsibly

Mastering the art of making yourself fart is an impressive feat. But with great power comes great responsibility. Our only task is to use these strategies for good, not evil deeds like hotboxing your friend’s car with farts or dutch oven-ing somebody in bed.