If you’re struggling to pass a bowel movement right now, the fastest thing you can try is changing your position. Raising your feet on a stool while sitting on the toilet can cut the time it takes to go from nearly two minutes down to about 55 seconds, based on research from Loughborough University. Beyond positioning, several other techniques, drinks, and over-the-counter options can help move things along depending on how urgent the situation is.
Change Your Sitting Position
When you sit on a standard toilet, the muscle that wraps around your rectum stays partially tightened, creating a kink that makes it harder to push stool out. Leaning forward and elevating your feet on a small stool (about 6 to 9 inches high) straightens that pathway. In a controlled study, participants using a footstool had an average defecation time of 55.5 seconds compared to 113.4 seconds without one. Some people saved over three minutes per session.
You don’t need a branded product for this. A stack of books, a shoebox, or a small step stool works. Plant your feet, lean forward so your elbows rest near your knees, and let your belly relax outward rather than sucking it in. Avoid straining hard or holding your breath, which can make things worse by tensing the pelvic floor muscles you actually need to relax.
Try Breathing and Gentle Pressure
If stool feels stuck near the exit, a technique called “bracing” can help. Take a deep breath, then push your belly outward against your abdominal wall as if you’re inflating it. This creates downward pressure without the tightening that comes from bearing down like you’re lifting something heavy. Exhale slowly while maintaining that gentle push.
Some people find it helpful to press gently on the area between the vagina and the rectum (the perineum) to provide external support. This can help guide stool toward the opening. Use a clean finger with gentle, steady pressure. If you can feel a hard mass right at the opening and nothing else is working, applying a warm, damp cloth to the area for a few minutes can relax the muscles enough to let it pass.
Drinks That Work Quickly
Warm liquids on an empty stomach trigger what’s called the gastrocolic reflex, a wave of muscle contractions in your colon. Coffee is particularly effective because it contains compounds (including one called furan) that stimulate the release of gastrin, a hormone that kicks your gut into motion. Drinking a cup of warm coffee or even just warm water first thing in the morning can prompt a bowel movement within 20 to 30 minutes for many people.
Prune juice is another reliable option. It contains sorbitol, a natural sugar alcohol your body doesn’t fully absorb, which draws water into the colon and softens stool. In a clinical study, participants drank 125 mL (about half a cup) of prune juice twice a day and experienced a mild but consistent laxative effect. If you’re looking for faster results, drinking a full glass of warm prune juice on an empty stomach tends to work within a few hours.
Over-the-Counter Laxatives
If home remedies aren’t cutting it, two main types of laxatives are available without a prescription, and they work very differently.
- Osmotic laxatives (like polyethylene glycol, sold as MiraLAX) pull water into your colon to soften stool. They’re gentle but slow, typically taking one to three days to produce a result. These work best for ongoing constipation rather than immediate relief.
- Stimulant laxatives (like senna, sold as Senokot or Ex-Lax) activate the nerves controlling your colon muscles, forcing them to contract and push stool through. These work in six to twelve hours, making them the better choice when you need results by the next morning.
Stimulant laxatives are meant for short-term, occasional use. Using them regularly can make your colon dependent on them to function, which creates a cycle that’s hard to break. Osmotic laxatives are generally considered safer for longer use, but even those shouldn’t become a daily habit without talking to a provider about what’s causing the constipation in the first place.
When Stool Is Hard and Stuck
If you’re dealing with a large, dry mass that won’t budge no matter what you try, you may be dealing with a mild impaction. A glycerin suppository inserted into the rectum can lubricate and soften the stool directly where it’s stuck, usually working within 15 to 60 minutes. A small warm-water enema (available at any pharmacy) works similarly by introducing fluid behind the blockage to help break it up.
Manual removal, where you use a gloved, lubricated finger to break up stool near the opening, is sometimes necessary but carries real risks. This needs to be done carefully and in small steps to avoid injuring the rectal lining. If the mass is large, painful, or you feel sharp abdominal cramps, bloating, or you can’t pass gas at all, that’s a sign of significant impaction that needs medical attention. Don’t take laxatives in that situation, as forcing contractions against a complete blockage can cause serious complications.
Preventing This From Happening Again
Most constipation comes down to three factors: not enough fiber, not enough water, and not enough movement through the day.
The federal dietary guidelines recommend 14 grams of fiber per 1,000 calories you eat. In practical terms, that works out to about 25 grams a day for most adult women and 28 to 34 grams for most adult men. The average American gets roughly half that. Good sources include beans, lentils, oats, berries, broccoli, and whole grain bread. If you’re adding fiber to your diet, increase it gradually over a week or two. Jumping from 12 grams to 30 grams overnight will likely cause bloating and gas.
Water matters because fiber works by absorbing liquid and forming a soft, bulky stool that’s easy to push through. Without adequate hydration, extra fiber can actually make constipation worse. Aim for enough water that your urine stays pale yellow throughout the day.
The relationship between exercise and constipation is more nuanced than most people think. A study in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology found that moderate treadmill walking for an hour didn’t significantly change how fast stool moved through the colon. That said, regular physical activity does help maintain overall gut function over time, and simply being upright and moving (rather than sitting or lying down all day) keeps things from stalling out. A short walk after meals is a reasonable habit, even if intense exercise alone isn’t a reliable fix.
What “Normal” Actually Looks Like
There’s no single correct number of bowel movements per day or week. The general range considered healthy spans from three times a day to three times a week, as long as you’re not straining and the stool passes comfortably. On the Bristol Stool Scale, a visual guide used by gastroenterologists, types 3 and 4 are considered ideal: smooth, sausage-shaped stools that are firm enough to hold together but soft enough to pass easily. Types 1 and 2 (hard lumps or lumpy sausages) indicate constipation, while types 6 and 7 point toward diarrhea.
If you notice blood in your stool, sudden constipation paired with the inability to pass gas, or you’re cycling between constipation and loose stools with no clear pattern, those are signs worth getting evaluated rather than continuing to manage on your own.