Squats/Leg Press= Nausea, lightheaded, short of breath

[Crypty]

I think a lot of you probably know where this is going already, so ill try and keep it short
-today was my first leg day in almost 2 weeks. took a break from lifting for full body recovery
-Went out to lunch w/ dad and had an omelet w/ bacon and american chesse+ home fries and wheat bread w jelly
-Got home drank a protein shake 26g prot. + 5g glutamine
-Went to gym, now this is 1 hour since my meal and 30 since my shake.
-Started squats 3x10@200lb deep, good form. I started to feel lightheaded and out of breath after about the 2nd set. I continuously took sips of water and rested about 5 full mins between sets. Managed only to get 8, 7, and 7 reps towards my goal of 10, so it was a pretty weak day squatting
-Onto the leg press, 3x10 first at 290lb then 240 and 240. I managed 10, 10 and 8 reps.
-Now I was even more out of breath, breathing deeply didn't seem to cut it. Had some more water before driving home. At this point I was feeling nauseous, dizzy, dehydrated and weak. Whats worse is I felt as if I couldn't get enough oxygen out of the air I was breathing so heavily.

As I write this an hour after my last set I still feel a bit nauseous. It also took me a long time (about 30 mins post workout) to feel like i could catch my breath. At one point I felt close to throwing up. I understand some people actually do.

So my question is really about how to prevent this from happening, and what it might be that I did wrong to cause this horrible discomfort. I don't think I lifted significantly harder than usual. The other time I was feeling nauseous after a leg day I sipped gatorade and my problems went away quickly. Does it have to do with a lack of sugar, electrolytes, something like that?

[DJAuto]

Causes:

1. Improper breathing technique.
2. Reaching your lactate threshold.

[Crypty]

Causes:

1. Improper breathing technique.
2. Reaching your lactate threshold.

Thanks. I try to take a deep breath during the concentric motion and exhale deeply on the eccentric. Could you explain the lactate threshold briefly?

[hazard52003]

everyone has bad days?

[Crypty]

everyone has bad days?

True but I consider a "bad" day to be feeling weak, perhaps performing under my goals.This was different from a bad day, being significantly more unpleasant. I figured this might have been a result of what I ate, or what I didn't eat, or worse, the sign of some medical issue.

[DJAuto]

Thanks. I try to take a deep breath during the concentric motion and exhale deeply on the eccentric. Could you explain the lactate threshold briefly?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaerob...ction_Point.29

[vicshen]

I think a lot of you probably know where this is going already, so ill try and keep it shor......

I have the exactly same experience. Could anybody help and explain like I am a 5 year old.

[ZoSo15]

You're out of shape. Simple as that.

And I'm not talking about your physique.

[Tyciol]

You're out of shape. Simple as that. And I'm not talking about your physique.

That's relative. With intense enough demands to be compared to, anyone can be out of shape. What he's describing is someone pushed to their limits, it seems like he was able to reach his cardio limits using his leg work.

[__Iceman__]

The food and the shake could be a definite possibility. Dairy products can take a lot of energy to digest. And since most of your oxygen is redirected towards your legs due to the demand of the workload, you have less oxygen to be used for digestion. And the combination of both your muscles and digestive both trying to take in as much oxygen as possible reduces the oxygen flow to your brain.

An improved cardiovascular system would definitely help, but you should also try to avoid working out too soon after eating a large meal. An hour and a half or two is just fine. But definitely avoid drinking the protein shake 30 minutes before.

This exact thing happened to me where I chugged a 700ml protein shake half an hour before working out. Plenty of energy levels earlier in the day, but right when starting my squat sets I had horrible energy levels. Went on to leg press and ended up pulling my adductor despite using easy to manage weight.

[nick.v]

try to keep your pre-workout meal light especially if it's an hour or less before your workout, eggs and toast on their own would have been plenty. you probably could have done without the shake 30 min before too.

[sekke]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. If it was your first leg day in two weeks, you may have just gone too hard. The neuromuscular part of your body remembers how to squat deep and hard but it's just not conditioned for it after your break.

I notice this every time I take a week off/deload that when I come back and do squats/deadlift I start breathing heavy, and feel like it was a lot harder than it should have been. After a few workouts I'm usually back to prebreak conditioning. I've been close to puking before after a hard workout when after a deload period I jumped back in too fast.

If you find yourself getting out of breath pretty often, adding in some light cardio to warm-up preworkout (like 1000m on a rower) wouldn't hurt.

[Uberknee]

A lot of people get absolutely annihilated doing leg work outs, if you are pushing yourself they are the most intense workout of all.

1. They will get easier than this as you get fitter/your body adapts to legs. This may only take 1 workout if you were in good lifting shape before the 2 week break.

2. They will always be hard and will always kick you ass.

3. Don't eat massive meals 1hr and then follow it up with a protein shake 30mins before a leg workout you psychopath. I like to have had 2 meals in me and leave about 2-3 hours before my last meal when I workout, depending on the size of the meal. I have a carb/protein drink while I workout for fuel during and after the workout, it seems a lot of others like a preworkout supp instead of intra. Follow it all up with a protein shake.

^^^Nutrition like this goes a loooonnngg way to getting you through tough leg workouts, supps like Creatine mono and pure beta alanine can help to get you over the 'i feel sick' hump into the 'i can really push out those last few reps' vibe.