Dizziness during workouts at gym
September 3, 2009 - 4:42pm
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I have a question: while working out at the gym, I get dizzy spells. It's really weird! I can spend an hour running on the trail with no problem; but, 30 minutes on the treadmill leaves me dizzy and light-headed. I thought perhaps it's a breathing issue, but I don't know. Today, I was doing a workout guided by my personal trainer, and had to stop a few times to regain my senses. All I was doing was pushups and lunges!
I do wear a heart rate monitor and my heart rate wasn't too high. I do hydrate during my workouts, so that wasn't it (I sweat like mad, too). It's baffling to me!
Does this happen to anyone else out there? If so, what were you told that could be contributing factors?
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The only thing I can think of is perhaps the facility is poorly ventilated - other than that if it's the same type of workout that you do outdoors, I'm also a bit stumped.
Perhaps others will read this and have more ideas for you.
It really could be the ventilation or the overall ambiance of the gym that's causing this. You might also be a little claustrophobic.
I finally got an answer on this. Yes, I'm claustrophobic, but that wasn't it. The gym is huge, bright and airy, so that wasn't it, either.
It's low blood pressure. A pediatrician happens to be one of the people I'm training this season and was standing next to me when I was talking to one of my running buddies about this. He said he also has the same problem and found that his dizziness occurs when his head is below the level of his shoulders, e.g. reclined or doing pushups, and rises up a bit too quickly. The pediatrician agreed that, because he and I both have low blood pressure (I joke that I'm really just a zombie), we're probably getting a rush of blood to our heads, making us dizzy.
I may also actually be contributing to my own fate because I maintain such a low sodium regimen. I don't cook with salt, add very little to my food, and even use unsalted, sweet cream butter versus salted. I don't eat eggs very often, also high in sodium, and rarely ever drink carbonated beverages. All this I do out of personal preference.
So, what I learned is that, not only could I stand a little more hydration and sodium in my regimen - not counting the electrolyte fluids I drink during or after a long run, I shouldn't be doing pushups (just kidding).
Actually, have you heard of Vertigo? This is treatable(by therapy) but my mom has it and found that anytime she woke up too fast, looked down to tie her shoes, etc. She would get really dizzy. Took an ER trip, CT scan and MRI to find that out, but sure indeed. Just make sure it's nothing more serious.