Workout Advice Please: Faintness/Crashing

In My Humble Opinion
1

Pre-emptive statement: I’ve seen multiple doctors about this (among other symptoms) and have had bloodwork done, and it appears there is no obvious medical cause. Oh, and if it matters, I am a 34-year-old female.

I started working with a personal trainer in July. She is good at helping with my chronic low back pain and general mobility issues. We do pretty standard all-around strength training stuff for about an hour 1-2 times a week: weightlifting, core training, squats and the like. (I see her 6 times a month.) When we started the program, I alternated with moderate cardio on off-days. No serious calorie restriction or anything like that.

I started experiencing problems right away. I kept hitting some kind of wall during workouts where I was faint and dizzy, which she said was relatively normal for starting out after a long period of being sedentary. But on my off days I was doing moderate cardio (just walking) without a problem. During the second month, I hit a point where even walking around the neighborhood would get me winded (I’m out of shape, but not that out of shape.) I was unable to make it through our workouts without extreme dizziness and feeling like I was going to pass out. After a workout, if I even made it through, I would be wiped for the rest of the day. This happened whether I ate beforehand, or not.

I was then mysteriously ill for a good two months (nausea, stomach upset, weird hormonal things) which forced me to focus on nutrition out of sheer desperation, and actually, I started feeling considerably better - not 100%, but better. When I returned to training, she scaled back on the intensity a bit, and I’ve been killing it for the last month. While I’ve been focusing on preparing meals at home and eating vegetables and that sort of thing, there has been no attempt at calorie restriction.

Today she increased the weight on me (in what felt like a totally reasonable increment) and I am right back where I started. I got about 45 minutes into the workout and after I hit the squat rack, things went south. I finished that activity with great effort but couldn’t recover, and when I was doing a squat to overhead plate press, I reached that point where I felt like if I continued, I was going to drop the plate on my head. So, we stopped early. She gave me a Capri sun she had sitting in her garage fridge and I felt better almost instantly. So I’m assuming this is a blood sugar crash kind of thing.

But like, how do I prevent this from happening? I’ve experimented with eating different things beforehand, including eating nothing at all, and it doesn’t seem to matter. At the height of my fitness a few years ago, I was pushing cars across parking lots and could do 100 pushups, it’s not like I’m a wimp. Now I can’t do 10 fucking squats on the rack without feeling like I’m gonna pass out? I don’t like it.

Thanks for your input.

2

If your oxygen level is dropping too low, you might experience these kinds of symptoms. Get a pulse oximeter and see what your blood oxygen level is during these times. They’re pretty cheap ($30?) and you can get them at most drug stores.

3

Since you mentioned squats specifically, that brings postural syncope/orthostatic hypotension to mind. One way to fight it is to be scrupulous about staying hydrated. Staying hydrated is about water, but about ions, too.

4

If you think it’s blood sugar related, eat sugar before your workout and see if it helps. Go with pure carb as much as possible - ie, glucose tabs (available in any pharmacy under diabetic supplies) or (much more tasty and my sugar-of-choice) gummy lifesavers or that kind of thing. Eat a few before you start, and eat some every 20 min or so.

Blood sugar is also easily checked. You can buy blood glucose meters at WalMart or Target relatively cheaply. Or wrassle down a diabetic and ask them if they have a spare meter you can borrow.

5

Maybe try drinking a sports drink, lots of it, while you’re working out. It will provide hydration, electrolytes, and sugars. If it cures your problem, it might be related to one of those things.

6

Consider insulin resistance. I’ve got that, related to PCOS, and I know that feeling. Your brain tells your muscles to work but the muscles don’t respond, because they have no fuel because they don’t take in any fuel. Ramping up on sugar doesn’t help. And now that I know what low bloodguar is/feels like, I know it’s a totally different feeling.

I was diagnosed with insulin resistance years before I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes. Not so much diagnosed as “hmm yeah you’re probably insulin resistant. Take this Metformin.” I didn’t really get any counseling on it. I finally started to read about it as I found myself more and more unable to sustain any sort of physical work. And not in a “i’m tired” way but in a “oh my god I can’t raise my arms” sort of way. I often run out of muscle capacity before running out of lung capacity.

I am not very well versed on all of it. So if you do find out that you have IR, I know you will research the fuck out of it and come up with some tricks and tips for people who have it but want to be active. Please come back and share if that’s the case.

Uhm…not wishing you have it, of course…but… :wink:

7

That’s a little scary, yeah. I’ve been diagnosed with high cholesterol in the past (it’s borderline/normal now) so I know I’m headed down the Type II Diabetes road if I don’t get my act together. I went through this faintness problem a few years ago and we actually did test my insulin levels - I had to poke myself several times a day for weeks, and it sucked, but they didn’t get any abnormal results at the time. The doctors told me to ‘‘eat more,’’ which makes sense because I was restricting my calories significantly.

I may just have to try this.

My only other idea was to bring chocolate milk with me (which I use for recovery sometimes) and if I started to feel that way, to drink some.

I drank a lot of water during my workout today (a full Kleen Canteen) so it must be the sugar.

8

Both of these seem like great alternatives. The sports drink will hydrate you with the water it’s made out of, but also keep your sugar levels intact.

The chocolate milk has the same function, but with the added benefit of protein.

9

If it does turn out to be IR (which I have also), I’ve read that high intensity exercise is just generally difficult, for reasons ZipperJJ referred to. Medium-intensity makes it *possible *for your body to get energy to your muscles at the rate at which they’re using it. Some intense stuff is good for your heart, but it shouldn’t be the bulk of your exercise program.

I have observed while doing medium-intensity cardio (ie, walking fast) that I still get a mild hypoglycemic feeling about 45 minutes in, but I can push through it and it goes away.

10

Try having some oatmeal and fruit about 30 mins before working out, or something like a glycogen supplement. I have one I use before hard workouts (or I did, when I was working out, time to get back to the gym), and make sure you are sipping something water or a workout drink - I use one called AMRAP.

11

I wouldn’t recommend drinking milk during working out unless you know you’re okay with it. It’s great post-workout, but milk and milk products can often lead to stomach discomfort during the workout.

12

Good to know - as I am prone to stomach problems as it is.

13

You should also look into post-exercise hypotension as a cause. Certain individuals will exhibit pronounced decreases in blood pressure after a period of exercise. In myself just this morning I measured 113/71 before my workout at 7:00 am, and three hours later at 9:51 measure 91/56. At 91/56 I’m a little symptomatic, I need to pay close attention to how quickly I stand up or I get lightheaded.

14

From the sound of it, I’d guess an issue with blood sugar regulation or hypotension.

Since you mentioned a capri sun helped, that would imply more a blood sugar issue.

I went through a period where I couldn’t work out because if I did, I’d have weird health problems for the next few days. After trial and error, I figured it was because of blood sugar regulation issues. So what I’d do is before working out I’d eat, and I would consume high glycemic, easily digested carbs (like sugary beverages) while working out. I’d calculate how many calories I was going to burn by working out and try to eat as many or more before and during the workout.

Granted its not good for weight loss (which wasn’t my goal) but that stopped the health problems that occurred afterwards.

Do you have a glucometer? They are available at walmart pretty cheap. Do you get any anxiety symptoms when this happens, shaking or anything like that?

Obviously I’m not a doctor, but even if it a blood sugar issue there could be many culprits. Insulin resistance, low glyogen stores, trouble performing gluconeogenesis, etc.

If you diet, do you have any negative effects? If you eat 1000 calories a day below maintenance does that cause health issues too?

15

If you may have insulin resistance and are headed for type II diabetes, perhaps more sugar isn’t the answer. A possible reason you’re having such a hard time is because your body is used to having lots of carbs, especially sugar. Your body has gotten lazy in terms of fuel, metabolism and exertion. You said that after changing your nutrition, you had an easier time. Presumably, your nutrition changes included cutting back on carbs?

You have to train your body to function properly without all that sugar. High carb, especially sugar, most of all fructose, puts your body into energy hoarding mode which primes the body to store energy rather than use it, which fattens you up and slows down your metabolism and general ability to exert yourself.

Think of it like someone who is so used to consuming alcohol or tobacco that if they don’t drink and smoke, they have difficulty mentally exerting themselves. The answer to that problem isn’t: “Have a drink and a smoke before doing work that requires mental exertion”, it’s “Get used to mentally exerting yourself without alcohol and tobacco”. It’s going to suck hard as your body adapts but once you’re over the hill, it will get progressively easier. A hard life is made up of easy choices.
You may want to make time to watch these two videos, you may find them enlightening:
This one talks about fasting, high sugar diet and metabolism. Most of the insights about fasting are applicable to low carb diets: Fasting vs. Eating Less: What's the Difference? (Science of Fasting) - YouTube
This one compares sugar to alcohol: WHY Sugar is as Bad as Alcohol (Fructose, The Liver Toxin) - YouTube

16

I was diagnosed with orthostatic hypotension, which sounds a lot like what you’ve got going on. Mine is triggered most strongly by working out, specifically intense resistance work. The way I found out about it was by almost passing out once while working out, and checking my blood pressure- it was at 70/40.

Went to a cardiologist, who did a tilt-table test on me. They managed to make me completely pass out within minutes, and said, “Yep, that’s what you’ve got. Try not to work out so hard.”

17

Michael, have you done any intermittent fasting yourself? I’ve looked into it but it seems the benefits for women are less pronounced. I just like the idea of having to deal with food-related decisions less frequently.

Honestly, your entire response seems spot-on to me. These are the wages of shitty past behaviors, most likely.

I wouldn’t say I’ve intentionally cut down on carbs but I’ve intentionally started cooking at home instead of eating out and ordering junk delivery. I recently cut out sodas at home, too, as I’d gotten addicted to ginger ale to deal with the nausea (now replaced with lemon ginger tea.) I did go out to eat last night and instead of the big-ass burger and fries I’d normally order, I had water, sauteed perch and vegetables (which was all pretty tasty.) So yeah, anecdotally, I’m eating fewer carbs.

18

I haven’t tried IF although I have had good results reducing sugar intake. I use sugarless soda and seldom snack on sugary stuff. I rarely miss it. From what I understand, you can get most of the benefits of fasting with a low carb diet.

Wages of shitty past behavior: Most people are either raised into those shitty behaviors or gradually fall into them. Don’t beat yourself up over it, it’s understandable to make that mistake. I think we’ve all been in situations where we felt kinda shitty, unmotivated, stressed, depressed and we dealt with it by vegging out in warm clothing and eating sugary food to comfort ourselves. Doing that once in a while is fine but making a habit of high-sugar food, rest and warmth slowly makes your body and mind atrophy.

Reversing that trajectory will require low sugar intake, exercise and perhaps cold exposure. Your body and mind will painfully creak awake like a muscle that hasn’t worked in years. Having meditation experience will help you through that.

Another video you may like which relates to exercise: WHY Exercise is so Underrated (Brain Power & Movement Link) - YouTube

19

I got an interesting little insight out of watching that second video, as I tend to drink rarely and have a pretty good concept of what ‘‘drinking in moderation’’ looks like. I’ve had a harder time understanding what moderation looks like with food. Learning that fructose has a similar effect as alcohol on the liver makes me realize I should be eating added sugar about as often as I should be drinking alcohol. A good rule of thumb: binge drinking = binge eating. If someone needed to down a glass of whiskey after every workout, I’d be concerned.

I’ll probably visit a cardiologist just to be on the safe side.

20

I call bullshit on cold exposure. What about the hefty percentage of the world’s population that lives in tropical regions? Are they doomed to atrophying minds?