When strength training, I get very sick every time. Help?

slmckenzie · October 2013

So, I've run into a dilemma with regards to my working out / weight loss here in the last few months, and I'm not entirely sure what's wrong with me, or how to go about getting it fixed! My trainer is also confused and has been asking around, but there hasn't been much consensus yet as to what may be going on.

To make a long story short - if I do cardio (i.e. running, spin class, etc.) I can be absolutely spent after an hour's workout, but feel just fine - just tired and sweaty. But, if I attempt to do any strength training (i.e. any of my trainer's workouts), I can feel sick within 5-15 minutes of his workout! And I don't just mean "sick" as in pooped / winded / exhausted. I mean it as in very shaky, very dizzy and lightheaded, tunnel vision, sometimes a headache, a "detached" feeling from my body (like I'm to the point of just about passing out), etc.

I don't understand how this can be so bad, when I can do cardio and feel just fine! And, I am by no means in shape. During a 5k, for example, I have to walk about half of it (39 min. average), and my average HR is about 175 bpm, with my max around 210 bpm (which basically means that when I walk, mine sits around 140 bpm, and when I start jogging it immediately ramps up to around 200+ bpm). So, in shape I am not! But I can push my body and my heart so far during cardio, and still feel fine - which is why I'm so confused when doing strength training at the gym, and feeling like crap almost immediately afterwards!

I've already had some blood work done, and I passed that with flying colors. Everything was great, except I think my HDL was a bit low. Otherwise, it was very good. I've tried with experimenting with what I eat before I go to the gym (i.e. a low-carb large salad with lots of protein for lunch, all the way to a loaded-carb Jimmy Johns sandwich for lunch; a small snack in the afternoon, no snack in the afternoon; coffee in the afternoon, avoiding coffee in the afternoon; etc.). Nothing I try seems to make a difference with regards to how I feel during strength training.

Anyone else have a problem with this before? My trainer said that he used to before, and it eventually worked itself out and went away. I'm hoping that'll be the case for me eventually, but it's already been two months of fairly steady strength training mixed into our cardio routine, and I'm still feeling this way. It doesn't seem like it's gotten any better at all since I started.

I also suffer from vertigo and seem to get really dizzy and nauseous easily when I'm upside down, in a moving vehicle, etc. So I don't know if that means anything with regards to how I feel during the strength training workouts. But I thought I'd throw it out there as well as additional info, in case it helps out at all.

Thanks for any help and ideas you may have!

EvanKeel · October 2013

When you saw your doctor was it just for blood work, or did you mention this problem? Physician assistance aside, I tend to get ill during strength training under the following conditions:

-If I eat less than 2 hours before a workout. It doesn't seem to matter what I eat but the time does make a difference.

-If I do super sets or circuit training. I can jog a mile in about 9 minutes and not feel bad. But if a trainer has me do some weighted lunges immediately followed by push ups (just an example) for several sets, then I'm shaky, feel nauseated, and I'll start to see small spots in my vision.

I have no idea why it happens. Maybe my breathing sucks. Who knows? I kind of don't care, because I don't do those exercises anymore. Instead I'll focus on compound lifts with adequate time between sets with some light cardio before weights and some more moderate/intense cardio after.

SezxyStef · October 2013

Open your diary...let us see how much you are eating...

Same thing happened to my husband yesterday...he had worked the night shift...slept when he got home after a bowl of cereal...got up ate another bowl of cereal....sat on his butt all day playing a video game...got up to workout with me..(yes we lift) and mid way through the workout bam...what you were feeling...

Why because he hadn't eaten enough..and he knew it..

Grabbed water, cottage cheese and oreo's (haha) to get his surger up so he could continue (he knows the oreo's weren't the best but it gave him that burst he needed....he read it in an article once by Arnold who said he kept peanut butter cups in his bag for days like that)

spoiledpuppies · October 2013

My trainer told me it was because I didn't eat enough before the workout.

brraanndi · October 2013

Or maybe his workouts are ridiculous.

Is your trainer trying to make you flip tires or something on your first day?

clbortiz · October 2013

I have found that not eating enough before lifting weights makes me feel exactly as you described. I have noticed that if I weight lift with my trainer after I have had at least two meals and a snack in me (so after lunch) then I feel great wrking out with her, but if I lift with her after only one meal and a snack I get light headed, dizzy, nauseated, and get that detached feeling that you are describing. Timing of how long before I eat before weight lifting does not seem to affect me.

She and other trainers at my gym think it has to do with my blood sugar during weight lifting and just not eating enough if I lift earlier in the morning. So for me, I just make sure weight lifiting is never before lunch and cardio can be whenever I feel like it.

Cherimoose · October 2013

I also suffer from vertigo and seem to get really dizzy and nauseous easily when I'm upside down, in a moving vehicle, etc. So I don't know if that means anything with regards to how I feel during the strength training workouts.

It probably does. Try doing only exercises where your torso is vertical - for example a split squat instead of a squat, and an upright chest press machine instead of a bench press. Let us know what happens.

slmckenzie · February 2014

So, I just want to apologize for a post and dash situation that I made with this thread! It always irks me when I see others do it in other forums, and yet I did it on this thread! I wanted to apologize and respond back to those of you who made the post...

I appreciate all your input that you had on this. I'm not sure what the issue is. My trainer at the time thought that it might have to do with any of a number of factors, and recommended that I have some bloodwork done to rule out any issues that I may have. As luck would have it, my company that I work for was having a free bloodwork screening clinic shortly thereafter, so I signed up for it and had everything tested. To my surprise, everything came back great! (Well, except for being overweight with an obese BMI....) But nothing was wrong with my cholesterol, or any other the other attributes that the bloodwork tested.

So, we kind of gave up on trying to figure out what was wrong for now. I managed to survive by drinking a gatorade during the workout (against gym rules, lol) to keep electrolytes and sugars and whatever else at a level that kept me from almost passing out after each workout. This worked, for the most part, but I still did have some issues periodically. I usually was able to resolve those by going home, laying on the couch for awhile and munching on a small snack.

I couldn't seem to prevent it from happening ahead of time, however. I tried eating large meals before a workout, small snacks, healthy snacks, large calorie-intense meals (hey, I tried everything!), etc. Nothing seemed to help.

What was unusual about it was that I would get sick and nauseous doing very little strenuous workouts with my trainer. It seemed that if I did anything muscle-intensive, I would feel sick. But I could do insane amounts of cardio, and feel just fine. I would be sweating like crazy, but I would feel fine! (My heart rate averages around 180-210 during any cardio workouts that I do, helping me to burn an insane amount of calories in a short time, but at the same time making me extremely out of breath and fatigued.) So, it seemed that it was only affecting me when i worked out my muscular system moreso than cardio-based workouts.

I guess the point is fairly moot by this point. I have gained all my weight back that I lost a few years back, and I'm starting all over again from scratch (grr....). I think I'll be going back to more cardio-based workouts for now to lose the weight, and then look at switching over to more lifting-type sessions after I've lost some significant weight. Perhaps that will help me to keep from getting nauseous and passing out every time I lift!

Thanks again for your help, and I apologize once more for leaving everyone hanging with my post-and-dash thread!

saires_au · February 2014

I wonder if having another trainer assess you while lifting may be helpful. If you are inadvertently holding your breath or bearing down during resistance training you may be inducing a vasovagal episode. Best of luck with your journey

slmckenzie · February 2014

Interesting... I might have to look more into that. Thanks!

craftywitch_63 · February 2014

So, I've run into a dilemma with regards to my working out / weight loss here in the last few months, and I'm not entirely sure what's wrong with me, or how to go about getting it fixed! My trainer is also confused and has been asking around, but there hasn't been much consensus yet as to what may be going on.

To make a long story short - if I do cardio (i.e. running, spin class, etc.) I can be absolutely spent after an hour's workout, but feel just fine - just tired and sweaty. But, if I attempt to do any strength training (i.e. any of my trainer's workouts), I can feel sick within 5-15 minutes of his workout! And I don't just mean "sick" as in pooped / winded / exhausted. I mean it as in very shaky, very dizzy and lightheaded, tunnel vision, sometimes a headache, a "detached" feeling from my body (like I'm to the point of just about passing out), etc.

I don't understand how this can be so bad, when I can do cardio and feel just fine! And, I am by no means in shape. During a 5k, for example, I have to walk about half of it (39 min. average), and my average HR is about 175 bpm, with my max around 210 bpm (which basically means that when I walk, mine sits around 140 bpm, and when I start jogging it immediately ramps up to around 200+ bpm). So, in shape I am not! But I can push my body and my heart so far during cardio, and still feel fine - which is why I'm so confused when doing strength training at the gym, and feeling like crap almost immediately afterwards!

I've already had some blood work done, and I passed that with flying colors. Everything was great, except I think my HDL was a bit low. Otherwise, it was very good. I've tried with experimenting with what I eat before I go to the gym (i.e. a low-carb large salad with lots of protein for lunch, all the way to a loaded-carb Jimmy Johns sandwich for lunch; a small snack in the afternoon, no snack in the afternoon; coffee in the afternoon, avoiding coffee in the afternoon; etc.). Nothing I try seems to make a difference with regards to how I feel during strength training.

Anyone else have a problem with this before? My trainer said that he used to before, and it eventually worked itself out and went away. I'm hoping that'll be the case for me eventually, but it's already been two months of fairly steady strength training mixed into our cardio routine, and I'm still feeling this way. It doesn't seem like it's gotten any better at all since I started.

I also suffer from vertigo and seem to get really dizzy and nauseous easily when I'm upside down, in a moving vehicle, etc. So I don't know if that means anything with regards to how I feel during the strength training workouts. But I thought I'd throw it out there as well as additional info, in case it helps out at all.

Thanks for any help and ideas you may have!

\

It sounded like low blood sugar or possibly rhabdomyolysis (yes, it's a word, no, that's not a typo) but rhabdomyolysis would show up in the bloodwork. Low blood sugar wouldn't necessarily, though. I take protein shakes to the gym with me and slam one down when I get the shakes.

The vertigo sounds like either an ear or sinus infection. Better go back to the doc and tell him about the vertigo. He will probably look in your ears and maybe get a CT scan of your head, jic.

When strength training, I get very sick every time. Help?

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