Nausea on Leg day...why and how do I overcome it?

I started working out again, thanks to this sight, about a month ago. The change in my body in the short amount of time is tremendous.

Something I always had a problem with in highschool and college was on leg day…I ALWAYS got lightheaded and nauseated, and puking was not an uncommon occurence. I would just puke and then go on with my workout.

Well, I had an ‘episode’ at the gym on my last leg day. I had done leg extensions, leg curls, dead lifts, and was mid way through my squats when I puked all over the squat rack. I got some water, did another set, and then dry heaved.

One of the ‘trainers’ (don’t get me started) came over and wanted to call an ambulance and take me to the emergency room. I told him I was ok, that this happens all the time. I went to do another set, and HE PUT HIS HANDS ON ME AND STOPPED ME FROM DOING MY NEXT SET…Well, I blew up, and it was not PUKING. How I did not kill that guy is still a mystery to me. A talk with the manager got me a free month, but I was STILL royally pissed off that some jackass had to stick his nose in my business.

I know I have only been at this a month, but I DO a very INTENSE leg workout, as these are the biggest muscles in my body, they take quite a load to get wokred, and I also get psyched on leg day as I can move a lot of metal and can REALLY see results quickly.

My question is how do I overcome the nausea? Is there something I can take? Am I not getting sufficient oxygen, or do I simply create so much lactic acid that my body can’t deal with it. I don’t need some busybodied do gooder screwing with me in the middle of my workout, but at the same time, I guess some people find it disturbing that someone is not afraid of getting sick.

I am planning on starting the meltdown workout after the first of the year, and from the sounds of it, I will be puking again…will this pass as I get into better shape, or am I doomed to be a puker?

Sir Hacksalot

How long before u lift weights do u eat and what do u eat? If u eat a big meal too close to training that could cause it, but i know when im out of shape like before football season i throw up when i run alot but it usually stops within a few intense running sessions and when i get into better shape.

Going through this pain is what seperates the winners from the losers. The Richard Simmons from the T-Men! Doing deadlifts and squats are just the exercises. Doing DEADLIFTS and SQUATS with full intensity using the exercises for their ultimate stimulus is the key. Like you said they are using many large bodyparts and tax your system heavily. I have supersetted on leg days and had to sit down to pass a few before. Fortunately the guys at my gym get the same way. Make sure you are breathing, is a big thing. If you hold your breath you will get nauseated quicker. Also, drinkin those ephadrine/caffeine drinks during a workout can magnify the problem. Bottom line, make sure you warm-up correctly, stretch inbetween, allow enough rest days, and eat good. FULL INTENSITY. BALLS TO THE WALL! I have yet to actually puke or pass out, but I do not try avoid it… it could happen any day. And tell that “pencil-neck-geek-personal trainer” to NEVER again get in your way or next time you will shove a 10 pound plate up his ass! Tell him Mrs. Jones needs help on the hip abducter machine! I like seeing guys like you in the gym, it is motivating.

I’ll keep it direct rather than getting into pH levels and oxygen depletion. I used to have the same trouble until a powerlifter clued me several years ago. Take 3-4 Tums about an hour before legs and another couple just before starting (pH). After an intense set, immediately lie down on the floor with your legs elevated on a bench (oxygen depletion to brain due to blood flow diversion)while fixing your eyes upon a specific point on the ceiling (prevents visual field disturbance that often goes with light-headedness). After about 10-20 breathing cycles you’ll be able to resume another set without sharing the contents of your last meal with the rest of the gym. BTW, nice intensity bro–most folks can’t take it that far.

It’s good that you take your work out so seriously and I will confess that there have been many times I have thrown up at the gym as well BUT I do it in the bathroom or a trash can if I can’t make it. If you were in my gym and you threw up on my squat rack and then dry heaved and didn’t have the common sense to take a break I would throw you out. Intensity is one thing but being inconsiderate is another thing other people have to workout at that gym and they don’t want to smell your vomit.

I hope you cleaned your own puke up and didnt leave it for the trainer. Actually he did nothing wrong, at any time if he feels your health is in danger he is obligated to step in. If not and you keel over your family can sue his butt,release or no release.

lets see, new member working out less than a month, not in great shape, throws up while working out (can be a symptom or heart attack) then almost throws up again, and then attempts to contiune workout. Geez, I do believe I would be telling you to sit down before continuing.

BTW it aint your gym, you only pay to use it, they CAN tell you what to do in it.

SOLUTION: Puke on the trainer. (I hope you didn’t puke on the floor but in the bathroom, the floor would be rather putrid… ever seen Stand By Me when the fat kid goes to the pie eatin’ contest …) :wink:

I can’t believe that training to the extreme of barfing or almost passing out is that good for you. I would tend to agree with Johnny here. Further, I think you can get the workout you really require for growth with a bit less intensity…especially with only a month under your belt. I would also suggest a physical which includes a thalium stress test. You may have a heart valve problem that is the cause of your breath shortness.

A few years back I used to feel nauseaous, dizzy and often vomitted after squats. I even passed out on two occasions.

I personally believe its due to a low level of cardiovascular fitness. You see, when you squat hard your heart pumps a huge amount of blood towards the legs to meet the demands you’re making on your body. However, if your cardiovascular fitness level is really low, your heart is really slow in pumping blood back up to vital organs in your body, most notably the brain.
So the brain’s performance rapidly deteriorates (eyesight becomes fuzzy, ears start ringing etc), the body starts to sweat profusely and rejects the food in the stomach.

I’m quite sure that introducing some cardio work into your training program will over time eliminate the adverse reaction to squats. It worked for me.

The nausea was a common occurence all throughout highschool during intense conditioning sessions in the offseason, when doing squats and deadlifts. The same thing would happen DURING the season as well, and that was when I was in AWESOME shape. Heck, I can remember thinking in the first half of a basketball game, “dear God, don’t let me puke in front of all these people”.

I would be nauseous during rugby practice as well…I got made fun of quite a bit about it as a matter of fact…when we would run 300 and 400 meter sprints, after the first one, I would either puke/dry heave or have a SEVERE headache, and I would just push through it. It was REALLY bad when we would push on the scrum sled…I never would puke, but good God, would I get a headache. It is just something that I go through during intense anaerobic exercise, and kind of put up with.

I did have a better time of it last night…My wife pointed out that I was INDEED holding my breath for LONG periods of time…which obviously contributed to the dizziness.
I found the headaches and dizziness going away from making myself breathe, but I still got kind of nauseated, but not as bad. I also found that laying on a bench with my legs up between sets really seemed to help.

After my hitting my legs pretty hard, I road an exercise bike for about 30 minutes and kept my heartrate about 65% of my max…about 10 minutes into it, I noticed that my headache and nausea were gone. I know that cardio is somewhat frowned up here, but maybe THIS is something that will condition my body to deliver O2 to my muscles in a more efficient manner, and allow me to perform ANAEROBIC work at a higher level.

Any thoughts on that theory?

Sir Hacksalot

1 bring a puke pail, label it so and the trainers will leave you alone.
2 there is NOTHING WRONG with feeling or being sick after training legs, just moniter it, if it happens EVERYTIME, try going lighter one wo, if you still get sick somethings probably wrong with you.
3 As they said BREATH AT THE TOP OF ALL REPS
4 Dont work untill you pass out, this can be really dangerous. If you are going to use spotters. Ive only passed out once doing, reverse band presses, using about 75 lbs over my max bench, and it was only for a secong luckily I was in a power rack with two good spotters, be careful.

I used to feel sick while training before, but after really pickin up the pace (which will kick your ass at first) you will get into shape enough to do anything without getting sick.

Sorry Collin, but I have to disagree with your response to being nauseated will disapate as you get in better shape. Quite the contrary. As you are able to handle more and more weight, it becomes even more taxing. Your muscles grow, but you organs and other stuff, do not. Also, you should not breath at the top of every rep but begin your exhale as you push, or pull for that matter. Inhale on the negative.

One more thing I would like to add… if I may. The measure of a good workout can be seen in your emotional status. If you can still leave the gym feeling like an animal, iz ser gut. But if you leave the gym dead tired or emotionally drained your overtraining your system.

More taxing yes, but not more sickening. A rare super intense workout might make a rock puke, but as you get in better shape workouts that used to make you sick will not.

You shouldn’t puke in a public gym.

Puking during a leg workout does not necessarily mean that you are working out intensely, it means you ate to close to your workout time!
I have performed some of the most intense leg workouts and I have never thrown up during or after any leg workout. I once squatted 225 for 50 reps. --I never felt like puking, but I did feel like dying.
You sound like an stupid, ignorant, arrogant hard guy. If you puked in my gym, I’d bitch slap you, make you clean up your vomit and then I’d toss you out on your ass!

I’m with Avoids on this one. Puking is your body telling you that SOMETHING IS WRONG. Whether it’s that you just ingested something that’s poisonous or that you’ve gone beyond the amount of exercise that is medically sound for you, something is wrong and your body is forcing you to stop (at least momentarily). If I were you, I would step back and reevaluate your attitude on working out. Sounds to me like you’ve got a sort of love-affair going with the idea of being so hard-core that you hurl. Yes, intensity is good, but there are plenty of people who train intensely without spewing. Also, think about the rest of your training life. Do you really want to be throwing up twice a week for as long as you continue to train? Believe me, as you get older the appeal will fade quickly…but you should ideally look to continue training well into old age, right? (Assuming you haven’t really damaged yourself first.)

I just wanted to add that this is the most retarded post I have ever read on this site. Many bodybuilders feel nauseated from lifting especially when it comes to legs. After squats, leg presses and hack squats I usually can’t eat anything for more than an hour due to that feeling even though I have never thrown up. For some relatively new trainer to walk into a gym and throw up all over the equipment, jump right back in and then start dry heaving, I would think that the trainer did the best thing by stepping in and saying something. I train intensely also, however, I am also in medical school and I know for a fact that throwing up every time you lift weights to the point of dry heaving means that you need to slow your overly enthused ass down. Yes, intensity is important, however, dry heaving means your body ius trying to tell you something that you obvioulsy are too wrapped up in yourself to realize. I would assume that you plan on not just lifting for the next few months and continuing to lift for the rest of your life. Do you really plan on throwing up every single time you lift from now on? I swear I would have bitch slapped you if you had thrown up on equipment that I was getting ready to use and then acted as if there was nothing wrong with it. There is a big difference between being focused and being an asshole.

JP, you said, “You sound like an stupid, ignorant, arrogant hard guy. If you puked in my gym, I’d bitch slap you, make you clean up your vomit and then I’d toss you out on your ass!”

I respond with this: If I were stupid, arrogant, and ignorant, then why the hell did I ask the question?

Ignorance is not knowing. I may very well be guilty of that. That’s why I asked the question.

Stupidity is KNOWING and still doing it. I am NOT that, as I found a way to lessen the nausea, and have put that practice into place.

Arrogance…what you call arrogance, I call confidence. It ain’t bragging if you can back it, and I have been and always will be willing to put my money where my mouth is.

And as for you bitchslapping me, you talk awfully big from behind a keyboard. If you met me, you would finish ever sentence with Sir, and smile when you said it.

To some of the others. Thanks for your help. like I said, I discovered I was INDEED holding my breath, which caused me to become lightheaded and have headaches. I also incorporated some cardio, which has increased my level of conditioning, and allowed me to work harder in the gym when I DO go heavy.

Thanks guys,
Sir Hacksalot