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Beginners to Exercise

Created: 2012/01/01, Members: 970, Messages: 18927

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Light headed??

carolinek21 Posts: 2 Joined: 2012/01/28	2012/01/28, 02:42 PM HI all, I recently just joined a gym about a week ago. I got on the treadmill and everything was fine untill I decided to get off. I was just doing a brisk walk at a slight incline, and I felt very wierd and light headed when I got off. Is this normal for first timers? If not I'm assuming I just need more sugar intake prior to my workout. And yes I did eat before hand, but maybe not enough. Thanks in advance for any input.

kolhy Posts: 108 Joined: 2011/12/31	2012/01/28, 03:40 PM (Edited: kolhy - 2012/01/28, 04:15 PM) Hi Caroline, Did you do a proper cool down? When you exercise your heart pumps blood very fast (heart rate is elevated). Blood returns to the heart via the muscle pump (muscles contracting against veins) and the respiratory pump (pressure differences in the chest wall). Both these "pumps" facilitate the movement of blood back towards the heart. Now, when you stop moving (especially all of the sudden), these mechanisms halt or slow down BUT your heart rate and the force of heart contractions take a little longer to recover back to normal. This sets you up for a sudden decrease in cardiac output (your heart is beating fast and hard BUT there is less blood too pump out because less blood is being pumped back). This leads to decrease in blood flow to the brain (responsible for that dizziness) and can potentially lead to a fainting episode. Fainting is actually a protective mechanism of your body. When you faint, the horizontal position restores blood flow to your brain - no permanent damage (aside from any bumps/bruises sustained from the fall!!). I highly recommend avoiding this :p Some people are more predisposed to this than others. Also, it is more likely to happen to someone that is not regularly active or in someone who restricts their diet &/or liquids. While we're on the topic, cool downs are especially important for someone with a heart condition. The lack of cooling down can be an extreme stress to the heart and trigger some serious consequences. Also, some heart conditions can cause dizziness and fainting episodes during exercise (and sometimes after) - please check this out with your physician if symptoms occured during exercise. There ARE other reasons that this could have happened, but I won't bore you with the details. From your description it sounds like your experience was due to blood pooling in your lower extrememites caused by a sudden cessation of exercise. Fix? Take 5-10 minutes to continue the exercise but at a much lower intensity (cool down), ensure a good pre-workout meal/drink and drink lots of liquids. Monitor this and bring any concerns to your physician.
7707mutt Posts: 7,686 Joined: 2002/06/18	2012/01/29, 02:46 PM carolinek21 HI all, I recently just joined a gym about a week ago. I got on the treadmill and everything was fine untill I decided to get off. I was just doing a brisk walk at a slight incline, and I felt very wierd and light headed when I got off. Is this normal for first timers? If not I'm assuming I just need more sugar intake prior to my workout. And yes I did eat before hand, but maybe not enough. Thanks in advance for any input. ---Sometimes this can happen, make sure to take a min on it at a reduced rate to cool down and relax.