I was doing a rather heavy set of leg press last week and when i was near the end I felt a pain in the back of my head like someone. It was very sharp. I kept lifting and finished my legs that day. The next day i was lifting arms and the same thing happened after a heavy set of scull crushers. I took it a little easier for the rest of the day. This week i went in to do chest. I did a warm up set and then my next set was a heavier set. I got the same pain in my head again. I stopped lifting walked for 15 minutes and was getting dizzy. I then came home and the pain was still lingering. I went to bed and the pain came back and stayed all night until i took some tylenol. I think that my breathing, or lack there of may have been a factor. I am also trying to follow the t-dawg diet and am not taking any supplements. The pain is a throbbing one that is in the top back part of my head. I also talked to someone else at my gym who said he had experienced something like this. He had no explaination for it however. If anyone can help me with some information or maybe some insight that would be great.
Have you had any concussions? I have post concussive disorder and get headaches similar to the ones you are discribing. Dehydration can trigger them, as well as sinus pressure - there are sinus cavities at the base of your skull. today i got a ‘bowling ball headache’ it feels like someone has a finger in my eyesocket, ear and temple… stress and tension headaches can have similar symptoms. check out the book ‘the definitive guide to headaches’ by milne, more, and goldberg
Get a professional massage. Have HER work down from your scalp, to your neck, to your traps, and release the tension from there. You might want to lay off the shrugs for a while until your traps mellow out a little. In case you haven’t figured it out, your traps are too tight. They run up along the back of your head. When you lift, try to control the muscles that you’re contracting too. Let your back and traps relax. This is similar to the guys that get hamstring cramps when they’re benching.
I had the same thing happen to me years ago. I was doing standing dumbell curls when BAM it felt like I was hit in the back of the head by a baseball bat. I actually dropped to the ground and blacked out for a few seconds. Then it happened a little while later doing leg presses. I thought it was an aneurysm and had a CAT scan and all that. It turns out I tore/strained my traps right at the base of my skull. I got some physio done and rest and since then I am very conscious to exhale on the concentric portion of ANY lifts – and I have had no problems.
Do you breathe while you’re doing them?
Go to a chiropractor. I’ve had the same thing twice now. Mine comes from my back being out of allignment. When my back is out of allignment, it causes the muscles around my neck to get out of allignment. This is very cureable. You can try altering your breathing to control it, but it only works so much. Go to a chiropractor.