Nausea & Fainting After Heavy Sets

Bigger Stronger Leaner Over 35 Lifter
1

I’m at my wit’s end and could really use some advice. I’m a 48 year old ex-college athlete (baseball) turned self-employed mechanical engineer…a 12 hr./day “desk job” with predictable results on my physique. About 2 years ago, I decided to do something about the extra 50lbs I was carrying around and started lifting and running again, as well as paying a lot more attention to how I eat.

The extra weight is mostly off now…but I’m STILL fighting a problem that showed up during my first week back in the gym. Whenever I do any sort of sustained high intensity work…heavy squats, bench or shoulder press work, quads…almost anything with iron near my max (2-5 rep stuff), I get really nauseous and light headed about halfway through my workout. I routinely pass out after squats or heavy 'flies.

Aside from being embarrassing as hell, I’m always woozy and feel like warmed-over dog shit for about 12 hours afterwards, which kind of defeats the purpose of exercising anyway. I’ve spoken to my doctor about this several times, but he�??s yet to find any reason (blood pressure, glucose, etc.) for the problem during my regular checkups.

He keeps telling me to “back off on my intensity level” but I just don’t see that being the issue; there are several other 40+ yr old guys at my gym who hit it just as hard (or harder) than I do, and besides…I can stand around in my sweats and do nothing at home for free, why would I want to pay to do it at the gym? I guess I’m not opposed to changing docs if there is reason to believe that my current one is overlooking something.

Anyone else here had to deal with anything like this…and found a cause/solution for it? Is there something I could be missing nutrition-wise? Right now, the only supplements I’m on are a good multi-vitamin, a Metabolic Drive shake once per day, and Alpha Male for testosterone support. I freely admit to having been one seriously out-of-shape dude when I got back into the gym, but damn…after nearly two steady years of 10-12 hours per week lifting plus cardio I out to be past this, right?

3

Get your heart checked. EKG. Seriously. And if your doctor seems to be blowing you off, get a second opinion.

4

Has anyone witnessed you while passed out? Could this be seizure activity?

5

[quote]RedElephant14 wrote:
Has anyone witnessed you while passed out?
[/quote]

Thankfully(?) yes…there are usually between 5 and 10 other guys in the gym when I’m there. One of the “regulars” is an EMT, which is probably the reason I’ve thus far been spared the embarrassment of having an ambulance called. There is no history of epilepsy in my family that I’m aware of.

Push: Thanks for the offer to evaluate my diet with regards to this problem. I’m figuring that a one-day “snapshot” might not be enough info, so I’m doing a full weeks log, which I’ll post here this coming Friday.

Bigdawg: The possibility of heart-related issues has crossed my mind to, and I even asked my doc about scheduling an EKG. Was told that he didn’t “see the need for that yet”…which DID kind of piss me off. Thanks for the wake-up call…I think I’ll be looking for a new primary-care physician.

6

I sometimes get woozy while deadlifting. It only happens when I fail to have a big enough breakfast. I workout in the morning about an hour after eating. If I have a huge bowl of oatmeal, I’m good to go.

7

I agree with everything that’s been posted especially finding yourself a good doctor. You might also want to pay attention to how your breathing on the heavy sets. There were times I am almost hit the floor because I was holding my breath as I was grinding out at near max.

8

last1standing,

As a nursing student (on-hold for the time being), I have learned quickly to advocate for the patient regardless of the doctor’s advice.

Sometimes patients don’t know how to advocate for themselves. Your feeling pissed off is an intuition you have and you should listen to it.

You are worth the effort of getting another opinion. In my nurse-student opinion, your age and reported condition, plus your episodes at the gym justify an EKG to hopefully rule-out heart issues.

When a doctor tells me why something is not justify, I make him/her explain why. If their reasoning doesn’t match my own research and academic studies, I get a second opinion. This often has steered me towards better doctors. A few have thanked me for what I’ve taught them, because they were humble enough to check out my info and see that I was right.

You gotta advocate for you. You might have a circulatory condition yet to be diagnosed.

What other opinions do you guys reading this have about letting a little air out during the concentric phase of heavy lifts?

9

I used to have the same problem with becoming faint in the gym…I never passed out totally but I used to become nauseous and had the feeling like I was going to vomit…It became embarrassing because i would lie on the gym floor and people would ask if I am okay…I even fainted a few times in the street once I left the gym…I don’t have a magic bullet for you but this hasn’t happened to me in a long time since I changed two things…

first of all, I began to pay more attention to my breathing and made sure I inhaled when decending the weight and exhaled when lifting it…the second thing I did was to rest about 45 seconds to one minute between each set…I am also lifting much heavier than I used to …I am 45 and been in the gym for three years or so…so my advice is to not move from one set ot the other too quickly and to control your breathing and not hold your breath for long periods of time while exzercising…oh by the way, my blood pressure is normal.

10

Andreisdaman, when this happens to you, are you doing high reps or otherwise creating a lot of lactic acid?

11

last1standing,
I’m a real doc, and here are my thoughts. I started a serious comeback 5 months ago. I had the same symptoms whenever I did any heavy cleans, squats, or DL’s. I puked a few times, dropped many weights while coming close to passing out. But I did not faint. In the past couple of months, I have gotten much better. In fact, although I get trashed and wiped out from heavy training, I no longer get nauseated and woozy.
In my case, I believe the problem was 80% deconditioning, maybe the rest inadequate fluids, forgotten technique, and some CNS shock over and above the physical overload.
Two years is too long to still be having this problem. I CANNOT BELIEVE your doc has not taken this seriously and done a series of tests (then again, I can, docs are mostly jerks). The two areas of your body that are most likely culprits are a) your cardiovascular system, and b)your neurological system. Also, many medications and alcohol intake could be culprits.
A CV workup should include an EKG and a Stress Test, plus blood work. A neurological exam would include an MRI of your brain, plus an EEG. After, of course, a good physical exam.
This may seem like overkill, but from your description of the problem you need AN ANSWER. A good internal medicine doctor could manage all of the above tests without needing specialists, unless the problem proves to be rare.
I would rather tell you that “hang in there, it’ll ease up”, but I can’t. There are literally a dozen conditions I can think of off the top of my head which could cause this problem. Doc

12

I have had episodes of fainting under exertion, also. I had a cardiac and neurological checkup, which included wearing a Holter monitor to record my heart rhythms for 24 hours. I had a stress test with a cardiac ultrasound. There was also a “tilt table” test, where you lie down for several minutes, and then you are slowly raised to a vertical position. I don’t know what comes next, because I passed out, but your heart is being monitored the whole time.

In any case, I was OK. The diagnosis was Vasovagal syncope, which is common, especially in people with a low resting heart rate, and low blood pressure. It is also common in tall people with long legs. Some people call this syndrome “blood pooling”. I was instructed to always keep myself well hydrated, and add more salt to my diet. If you feel faint, sit or lie down, and squeeze your calf muscles hard a few times to get the blood moving until you feel better.

In any case, find an MD who didn’t graduate last in his med school class. This is first-year knowledge, and if your doctor sees no reason to investigate the cause of fainting, then I would never step into his office again.

Good luck to you.

13

[quote]bigdawg011 wrote:
Andreisdaman, when this happens to you, are you doing high reps or otherwise creating a lot of lactic acid?[/quote]

As a matter of fact when this happens to me I am usually pushing myself hard…trying to squeeze in my usual amount of reps (12)even when the weight is too difficult and at the same time moving from one exercise to the other too quickly (within 30 seconds)…I was doing this because the bodybuilding mags said that resting only 30 seconds and at the same time making sure you push yourself to failure is the best way to optimize growth and strength…but they don’t factor in that I am 45 not 25…pushing yourself to total central nervous system failure by lifting too heavy, too, to failure, at too fast a pace is probably why some experience this…like I said…I still lift heavy BUT…I DO NOT push myself to total failure (I stop just short of failure)and I take a little more time to rest (45 seconds to one minute instead of 30 seconds)…this combined with controlling my breathing has totally eliminated nausea and fainting…I am also now able to train five days a week instead of the two or three I was doing before…so my opinion is that maybe those who are suffering from fainting and extreme nausea are pushing themselves to total CNS failure due to the combination of pushing themselves to failure and moving too fast from one exercise to the other

14

[quote]bigdawg011 wrote:
Andreisdaman, when this happens to you, are you doing high reps or otherwise creating a lot of lactic acid?[/quote]

oh yes…to answer your question bigdawg, I do believe that because I was moving too fast and pushing myself too hard to failure that the build up of lactic acid in my body was much much higher than normal…come to think of it…(this just popped into my mind)…the fainting would happen especially when I was training with a partner…because I now realize I was trying my best to keep up with him or trying to outdo him and this caused me to work myself even harder and yes…build up more lactic acid…working out alone is much better for me

16

[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
In short:

Ischemic insufficiency to the brainstem, caused by atherosclerosis (you are in the age range and used to be very overweight).

Or maybe, carotid body atherosclerosis, messing up bloodpressure to the brain, resulting in vasovagal syncope.

Bushy[/quote]

Whoa, Bushy, if you’re trying to scare last1standing into getting checked out, fine, but it’s nowhere near that simple. He could have many different cardiac reasons-arrhythmias, tachcardias, bradycardias, valvular disease, aortic stenosis, cardiomyopathy, or poor ejection fraction.

Next, neurological causes could include atypical seizures, TIA’s, structural brain abnormalities such as AVM, plus odd conditions like vasovagal syndrome and neurocardiogenic syndrome. And there are some even rarer metabolic syndromes and endocrine diseases which could cause hyponatremia or other imbalances that could cause the symptoms.

The key phrase for this is “Exercise Induced Syncope”. Last1standing, please storm your way into a good doctors office and firmly demand a full workup for “Exercise Induced Syncope,” and that doctor should be obliged to take all necessary tests, because this condition can be not only serious, but…fatal. Doc

18

i have to say that happens to me also. as well as feeling that i was overheating. i believe it has to do with the blood pressure shooting throught the roof. what i learned to do is pay attention when i first sart felling woosy i back off a little and have a seat for a minute until my heart rate droppes some. as well as weting my face to cool down. this is the bodies way of telling you your close to you limit.

19

Go see a doctor, like everyone is telling you. This is the best advice you can get. You are paying him, so get your money’s worth and find one that is worth a shit.

I am not a doctor, and don’t understand half the shit that Dr. PC and Bushy say when they start talking like a medical reference book.

Try longer rest periods. Much longer. 60 seconds should be the minimum, and if I were you, I would not start another set until the nausea, lightheadedness was gone. There’s nothing wrong with a 2,3,or even 4 minute rest period.

You can get your cardio in later.

Just my opinion.

20

[quote]last1standing wrote:
I’m at my wit’s end and could really use some advice.

Anyone else here had to deal with anything like this…and found a cause/solution for it?[/quote]

Hey last1, hang in there!

About 4 years ago I went from being an occasional lifter to a more serious lifter. You know what? Every so often I get the same kind of symptoms you are describing. You’re not alone brother. While your symptoms may really be getting you down, most likely there isn’t anything physically wrong with you health-wise.

I’m a doctor - an M.D. and the most important piece of advice I can give you is to listen to what YOUR physician tells you. None of us here on the forums know you as well as he does, so by all means take his advice over ours. If you’ve known this doctor for a while and have a good relationship with him, stick with it. If you don’t really know him, like him, or feel comfortable with the care you are getting, then think about a second opinion. If you trust your current doctor, then relax and listen to his advice.

I’ll respectfully disagree with Dr.PowerClean’s recommendation’s for such an overly expensive work up at this stage. I’m not saying he’s wrong and I’m right, just that we have different philosophies. Most importantly - listen to your own doctor. You’re symptoms, while frustrating, are extremely common and shouldn’t get you too worked up at this point.

I’ve noticed that I tend to get these symptoms more often when I’m a little under the weather, or am particularly dehydrated or haven’t eaten in a while. On those days, I tend to back off on the intensity a bit. Take a look at your diet and meal schedule and make sure you’ve had enough to eat and drink during the day before working out.

Another thing I’ve learned is to recognize when I’m getting close to “over doing it”. When I start to get the feeling that I may have pushed too hard on a particular set, I drastically reduce the intensity of the rest of the workout to avoid going too far.

Full body exercises like squats and deadlifts using heavy weights were always the worst for me. You’re using such a large volume of muscle with these lifts that it places a big demand on your system. The key is to give your body plenty of rest between heavy sets. When working with low reps, you may need anywhere from 2-4 minutes between sets. Short rest periods are NOT a good idea when going heavy.

Make sure you’re paying attention to proper breathing and exercise form. Consider hiring a knowledgeable personal trainer to walk you through a workout or two to give you pointers.

Speaking of rest, how often do you take time off? Everyone’s needs are different, but consider limiting strength workouts to no more than 4 days a week and no more than 2 days in a row. Take an entire week or more off from lifting every 6-10 weeks to give your body a chance to recover.

One last piece of advice is to add some endurance lifting. Add in a “light” day to compliment each “heavy” day. On your heavy deadlift day, perhaps you’re doing 5 sets of 4 reps with 3-4 minutes in between. The next time you do deadlifts, do 2 sets of 15 reps with only 30 seconds rest. For me personally, doing the high rep, short rest, very light weight sets helped my body tremendously when it came time for the low rep, long rest, heavy weight sets a few days later.

Hope this helps. Good luck!