Passed out on a clean. Any reason not to proceed?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Is this related to carotid sinus sensitivity?

It is.

[jwbucha]

Late to the party here, but I'm going to go against the grain and say its NOT a "normal" passing-out-in-the-clean.
OP, do you mean a clean, or a power clean? (those terms are used interchangeably quite a bit here and other places).



That's not normal to me.
Usually you catch it wrong (or not) on your neck/throat/collar bones and pass out while standing up, or just after standing.
Memory loss to that extent isn't a thing normally.

Espeically with ...



That doesn't seem like that would be a weight to do "it"; recovering from the bottom of the catch/front-squat, even if caught incorrectly. Even for a total novice.
If the OP says this was a 65 lb power clean, welp, that would be even more disconcerting (to me).

Power clean as described in the videos and book.

As an update, I continue to get light headed after presses and bench press. I have not passed out again, but definitely sit down after the work sets of press and bench press. NLP still progressing 5 pounds a workout on squats, 1-2 lbs a workout on bench and press. Deadlift is going up 5 pounds every other workout. I'm just doing 3x5 chins in place of a pull-off-the-ground movement on the days I'm not deadlifting for now.

I'm just chalking this up to inexperience and assume my body will adapt as long as I'm not passing out completely for now. Age 35, 5'7, 190 lbs, and Dr. Wittmer is looking at my bloodwork with a consult scheduled just for curiosity. Diet and carbs are fine I think, I'm up 15 lbs in body weight in 6 weeks.

Most likely outcome is I missed the correct rack position and dropped the bar on my neck.

[Jason Donaldson]

As an update, I continue to get light headed after presses and bench press. I have not passed out again, but definitely sit down after the work sets of press and bench press.

This really screams to me to check your valsalva. Holding it in your face, not against the glottis can contribute heavily to this. I adopted a "war face" kind of approach to work against this: I bare my teeth when I valsalva, as a way to make sure my lips are parted. It's easy to slip into the Dizzy Gillespie style, though, so it takes constant, vigilant practice.

That said, I still get light headed from heavy grinds. Putting a hand on a stable object helps. Taking a knee is a good preventive measure. Sitting down is fine.

Maintaining tension, especially in the legs, instead of a sudden release of everything also helps. The one time I ever outright blacked out was upon the release from a heavy pin press, years ago in a public gym. I woke up almost immediately on my rear, back against the mirror (I face out whenever possible). I was only out very briefly - I knew this because I know where in the music I was listening to I heard last and upon coming to - and the first thing I did was look around to make sure nobody saw it... It seems that putting the bar on the pins allowed me to relax suddenly, which I think exacerbates the blood pressure drop that leads to syncope.

The head rush is cheaper and safer than doing drugs, at least. Well, once you learn to manage it...

[jwbucha]

This really screams to me to check your valsalva. Holding it in your face, not against the glottis can contribute heavily to this. I adopted a "war face" kind of approach to work against this: I bare my teeth when I valsalva, as a way to make sure my lips are parted. It's easy to slip into the Dizzy Gillespie style, though, so it takes constant, vigilant practice.

That said, I still get light headed from heavy grinds. Putting a hand on a stable object helps. Taking a knee is a good preventive measure. Sitting down is fine.

Maintaining tension, especially in the legs, instead of a sudden release of everything also helps. The one time I ever outright blacked out was upon the release from a heavy pin press, years ago in a public gym. I woke up almost immediately on my rear, back against the mirror (I face out whenever possible). I was only out very briefly - I knew this because I know where in the music I was listening to I heard last and upon coming to - and the first thing I did was look around to make sure nobody saw it... It seems that putting the bar on the pins allowed me to relax suddenly, which I think exacerbates the blood pressure drop that leads to syncope.

The head rush is cheaper and safer than doing drugs, at least. Well, once you learn to manage it...

Thanks. I’ve watched the video from Stef and I definitely make sure my mouth is open. The tension to relaxation effect makes sense.