Q for fitness experts (men's) re lightheadedness

AshinAms

My boyfriend just started a workout program at the gym. He is relatively fit, has 5 kilos to lose and is at 25% body fat and when they did a bleep test he comes up with a reasonable VO2max etc. My question is this:

He has a 78 minute workout but for most of that time he is at his max heart rate of 173. Despite being quite fit on the cardio equipment he seems to suffer inordinatley with the weights. A couple of weeks ago we went in the evening (6 pm) and he hadn't eaten since lunchtime. He was (understandably I thought) very light headed after the leg press and almost fainted. We put it down to not having eaten and wrote it off as him being a bit stupid. Subsequently he has been once, on a Saturday at lunch time after having breakfast and a light snack for lunch and was ok.

Today he was not ok. We had breakfast around 10 and went to gym around 11.45. He was maxed on the cardio almost immediately but did not feel lightheaded. However when he did the leg press the same thing happened again. He is actually quite unwell and not just trying to get out of going.

Is this something he should be concerned about and if not, how can we change it? It's no fun going to the gym with someone who then has to lay down all day to recover.

Help!

koosdel

Is he doing the cardio before weights?

biznurse

Does he normally have problems with pain in his legs or swelling? Sometimes a person can have a problem with leg circulation ... If he's eating as you say, and it continues to happen, I'd absolutely have a doc check it out.... Have him keep a diary of what he eats and times, fluid intake and times, and his physiological response to the different exercises for a week..... That will help the doc if it continues and he needs to be seen.... Linda/RN

AshinAms

@Koos: he had been doing the cardio before weights but today I asked him to mix it up a bit and also not to put so much stress on one muscle group at a time. The trainer who created the plan is trying to make him work harder and work each muscle group to exhaustion consecutively so for eg, upper body cardio exercises and upper body strength are together. I don't think he has enough time to recover between exercises or muscle groups so I tried to get him to break up the weights training with cardio to give it a rest in between. He didn't listen though! I've tried to point out that doing the exercise at full intensity and then a) not completing the workout and b) being completely unable to do anything else the rest of the day is not helpful. Any more ideas?

@Linda: thanks for your reply. He has had some trouble with cardiac arrythmia in the past caused by uncontrolled oesophagitis but unless there is something he isn't telling me I don't think it's that. No problems with the legs other than running injuries. It's very peculiar. I think I'll make an appointment at the dr for him.

koosdel

The simple answer is usually the right answer.

Without knowing his goals, or how qualified the trainer is.. I think doing weight lifting first is he answer.

AshinAms

Today he's going to skip the leg press and see what happens.

Azdak

@Koos: he had been doing the cardio before weights but today I asked him to mix it up a bit and also not to put so much stress on one muscle group at a time. The trainer who created the plan is trying to make him work harder and work each muscle group to exhaustion consecutively so for eg, upper body cardio exercises and upper body strength are together. I don't think he has enough time to recover between exercises or muscle groups so I tried to get him to break up the weights training with cardio to give it a rest in between. He didn't listen though! I've tried to point out that doing the exercise at full intensity and then a) not completing the workout and b) being completely unable to do anything else the rest of the day is not helpful. Any more ideas?

@Linda: thanks for your reply. He has had some trouble with cardiac arrythmia in the past caused by uncontrolled oesophagitis but unless there is something he isn't telling me I don't think it's that. No problems with the legs other than running injuries. It's very peculiar. I think I'll make an appointment at the dr for him.

It sounds like you are dealing with a couple of donkeys here--the "trainer" and your boyfriend. I don't care how young he is, or even if he is reasonably fit, to put a beginner on a program like you describe is stupid. The proof is in the results--how is feeling lightheaded and sick a good thing?

I have worked with clients from the age of 12 through 90. There is one priniciple that always applies to starting a workout program--you always start and initially stay at a level that you can comfortably tolerate. No matter how low the exercise level is, that's where you start. After that, you can increase according to your level of adaptation. You don't get results any more quickly by beating yourself up at the beginning. It takes a certain amount of time--different for each person--to adpat to a new routine. That can be hard for people to accept--someone who is motivated and has a "program" from a "trainer" wants to start strong and see quick results. Unfortunately, that is often the exact wrong thing to do.

The only way you can tell whether this is a physical problem or just a bad workout strategy is to drop everything down to a basic level and see how it goes.

I have had experiences where people do have specific problems with a leg press or squats. Basically, some people either hold their breath or physically struggle with redistributing blood flow after that type of heavy exercise exertion. Once again, the solution is the same--you start off with a level of weight that you can tolerate, no matter how low, and work up gradually.

AshinAms

I have had experiences where people do have specific problems with a leg press or squats. Basically, some people either hold their breath or physically struggle with redistributing blood flow after that type of heavy exercise exertion. Once again, the solution is the same--you start off with a level of weight that you can tolerate, no matter how low, and work up gradually.

@Azdak: Loved the bit about the pair of donkeys, I think you could be right Thing is - I trust the trainer implicitly as he has helped me lose a stack of weight and I never had any kind of problems but maybe there are other dynamics at play. I think you are spot on about the breathing as I seem to remember feeling a bit sick from doing squats in the past when I was really pushing it and I was breathing too shallowly. I asked him to reduce the weight on the leg press to his own body weight and then increase he thinks it's right. I think you have a point about adaptation too - there are those who are willing to accept all kinds of misery in the weeks that it takes to adapt and those that just arent Let's see what happens.

jfinnivan

I read somewhere that the fitness benefit from a workout starts dropping off after 45 minutes. 75 Minutes seems like a long time, especially for a beginner.