strange - dizzy when doing deadlifts..

pearshapedmum

last year I did the strong lifts programme for 3 months with no problem. I had a 6 month break and am in my first week of the advanced programme of strong curves. I have kept my weights really light to begin with to ease in to things. I have no problems with any of the exercises but have found that I get really dizzy after each set of deadlifts (40KG) even though im pretty sure that im breathing throughout. does this happen to anyone else?!

jimmmer

When you say breathing throughout - you are creating abdominal pressure through breath during the rep? This is important to protect your lower back.

Anyway, some people find if they get up too quickly after an exertion, then they spin out a bit. My missus is like this. Perhaps take your time rising after that last rep?

Joannesmith2818

I feel more of an effect after deadlifts than I do with any other exercise. I have just put it down to it being an exercise that gets the heart pumping more and works alot of body parts. I wouldn't say I felt dizzy though, maybe slightly lightheaded for about a minute, sometimes sicky if I had gone for a PB . Like Jimmmer said, try work on the breathing x

jimmmer

It's a taxing exercise on your cns. There's really nothing else like it.

Get the breathing right, make sure the load is appropriate for your current strength level and progress it at a rate that you can keep your form crisp at and recover from.

There are no deadlines for getting strong and doing it in a way that keeps you safe and injury-free might seem slower, but an uninjured lifter progresses faster than an injured one any day of the week.

Good luck!

kishstl

+1 on Jimmer's comments. Also try to find a point on the wall that is just slightly above your eyeline when you are over the bar and gripped. Keep your gaze on that spot throughout the movement. Some find that when they start by looking at the bar and lift, the combo of workload and eye tracking causes dizziness.

pearshapedmum

thanks for the replies guys - I will try to focus somewhere ahead and make sure I take it nice and slow.
jimmmer - 'creating abdominal pressure'. is that the same as tensing your abs for the exercise??!! I do this and exhale when coming up. on the third set I did start to feel my lower abs working which was nice.

Larissa_NY

Don't exhale when you're coming up. Exhale and you lose tension, and the last place you want to do that is when you're trying to pull up a heavy load. That is a one-way ticket to Snap City.

Here are a couple of resources to help you learn how to breathe when you're lifting heavy weights:

http://startingstrength.com/resources/forum/showthread.php?t=39644
http://www.myweightlifting.com/valsalva-maneuver/
http://startingstrength.com/index.php/site/article/the_valsalva_and_stroke#.VR1cVeEYEik
http://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/15850/how-to-breathe-in-lifts-requiring-tight-core-squats-deadlifts

fishgutzy

For me it was the beta blocker I was taking for Migraines. Stopped taking them and no more dead lift dizzies. The BB was preventing my heart rate from getting high enough for the surge. Wearing an HRM during dead lifts after being off the BB, my heart rate would surge over 120 during a set.

jimmmer

pearshapedmum wrote: »

thanks for the replies guys - I will try to focus somewhere ahead and make sure I take it nice and slow.
jimmmer - 'creating abdominal pressure'. is that the same as tensing your abs for the exercise??!! I do this and exhale when coming up. on the third set I did start to feel my lower abs working which was nice.

Check out this vid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcY3YSW9vX4

This man has squatted 860lb raw. He knows a thing or two about bracing. If you can put it into practice, you'll find a) you'll reduce/eliminate injury risk, and b) the weights will suddenly feel lighter.