Almost fainted during Deadlifts, and how I fixed it

[jason1987]

I had posted a thread in a different category, but for some reason I think the moderators deleted it? I can't find it, even when I search my previous posts through my profile.... Anyway....

I was having a problem in which, when I got to my work set of my deadlifts, my FIRST rep would always make me feel extremely light headed, almost to the point where I would faint. There has been two occasions where the dizziness was so bad, that I decided not to proceed with deadlifts that day.

Yesterday, during my warm up set I picked up 275lbs for 1 rep and had the WORST feeling of dizziness I'd ever experienced doing this movement. I grabbed onto my power rack and held on for dear life. My ears were ringing and my face was tingling, it was a nightmare.

I sat there for about 3 minutes deciding whether or not I should proceed with my work set. I then found a post where Mark suggested not taking in such a deep breath during deadlifts.

I then realized that I had been hyper ventilating and following that up with a huge deep breath always on my first rep of deadlifts. But after the first rep, my breathing pattern changed to whatever was naturally happening in my body and the subsequent reps were fine.

So I decided to try my work set after all.... and just made sure to breathe normally and take a regular amount of air into my lungs, hold it and lift. The result was that I performed the entire set without that feeling of dizziness, vertigo, ringing, etc....

So if anyone else is experiencing this, try not taking as deep of a breath, since it might be contributing to a drop in blood pressure like it was for me.

Cheers!

[carson]

Thanks. This may be applicable to the bench. I must focus on that. I've never had a problem with the Deads but I have with the Bench. I'll concentrate on that the next time I do bench work.

[Michael Stransky]

This makes sense to me, got lightheaded some time ago and I remember I had taken exceptionally big breath before deadlifting.

[mrflibble]

So I decided to try my work set after all.... and just made sure to breathe normally and take a regular amount of air into my lungs, hold it and lift.

Careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. You're right to stop hyperventilating, but you do want to take in a bigger than normal breath. You'll get away with not doing so now, but not once the weight starts to get heavy.

[scwot]

Careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. You're right to stop hyperventilating, but you do want to take in a bigger than normal breath. You'll get away with not doing so now, but not once the weight starts to get heavy.

Agree with this. On squats, bench etc I take in as much air as possible. When it comes to deadlifts I'd describe it as about 80%. I still suck in the air as hard to brace but cut it off a bit early.

[jason1987]

Careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. You're right to stop hyperventilating, but you do want to take in a bigger than normal breath. You'll get away with not doing so now, but not once the weight starts to get heavy.

I would say it's actually more than a normal amount that I'm taking in right now, but it's not 100% full like I was doing before.

[mrflibble]

That sounds like you're probably in the right ballpark then. I like scwot's 80%. Both the static and bent over start of the deadlift leave my insides feeling a little "squished" making a 100% inhalation feel wrong.

[vanslix]

Thanks. This may be applicable to the bench. I must focus on that. I've never had a problem with the Deads but I have with the Bench. I'll concentrate on that the next time I do bench work.

I'm the exact opposite. On bench the breathing comes intuitively to me. On deads, I have to exert a lot of brain power on the ol' breath. I'll have to try this on deads.

[ColoWayno]

I would try taking some slow, moderately deep breaths before the lift. When you breathe out do so against some pressure (like blowing out a candle or some weird yoga ocean breathing (it's like fogging a mirror). Then take and hold enough for the lift as suggested.

[jason1987]

I would try taking some slow, moderately deep breaths before the lift. When you breathe out do so against some pressure (like blowing out a candle or some weird yoga ocean breathing (it's like fogging a mirror). Then take and hold enough for the lift as suggested.

I think what we've all agreed upon so far in this thread is that filling yourself up 100% hasn't been the most helpful. For squats, I can do it without issue, but deadlifts, it seems to cause issues.