Skinny Bloke Tries to Bulk Up - Suffers Headaches.

[TheBALDpuma]

I would go get it checked out...

It could be bad, or it could not, but why risk it.

The tension in the neck chap is barking up the wrong tree. I am a SnC coach and powerlifter, and twice in the last few years I have pulled tendons in the back of my neck through lifting. It's caused by stressing your neck back too much on a big lift - an easy thing to correct but not so easy when you're going for a really big lift, or a PR. You end up with a lot of pain up your neck and into the back of your head, and then a headache/stiff neck in the same place for a few days (currently suffering from this atm). These symptoms are pretty different to what you've described. One of my athletes had similar symptoms, went to her GP and got the works in terms of scans in order to rule out any issues in her head.

[Ossiantoad]

I've now read quite a lot about this subject and everyone says 'get checked out by the Dr' followed up by something along the lines of 'had scan, it was normal'.

There seems to be some pretty sound advice around breathing and posture. I may have been inadvertently performing the valsalva maneuver by forgetting to breathe or compressing veins in my neck by twisting to check out my posture side-on in the mirror.

I'm going to attempt an upper-body push routine today, this is one that went well last week so perhaps the exercises it contains are easier on whichever part of my body it is that is struggling.

[Hythan]

So have you been to your/a GP?

[MURRAY007]

First off, did you ever suffer from the bloated/cramp feeling after eating carbs prior to switching diets?

if not then not sure why you went for low GI carbs, normal ones would have been fine as long as you monitored the amount. also you can mix fats & carbs in the same meal.

also whats your day job, do you sit at a desk most of the day and then workout, if so then how much carbs do you eat during the day, prior to working out, (e.g. 20% of your total, 50% of your total)???
reason i ask, if you do have a desk job, look into carb back loading, its where you eat mainly protein and fats during the day, then go workout and have all your carbs after the gym.
reason for it you don't need carbs if your hardly moving around in the day time.

you mentioned you went running with your brother before weight training, did you get the headaches then.

Also if your PT designed your programme around your needs and daily activity then you should get the headaches, as you should know what your goals are, e.g. fat loss, strength training, muscle building, improved cardiovascular???
also how is your breathing during the exercise, what is your TEMPO during the exercise.
all these are valid question,

BUT like everyone here states, you'll never know if you have an underlining problem with blood pressure or something until you see the GP. once you have these results your PT should then be able to adjust.

hope some of this helps.

[nunpuncher]

Try performing the same workouts with 60% or so of your normal weight for each lift. Concentrate on breathing properly during reps and see if you still get the headaches. I'm not saying over loading or incorrect breathing is the issue but at least if you try that it rules out 2 of the simplest explanations.

[Ossiantoad]

Did a chest/shoulder/tricep session on Monday and I was hampered by the headaches. My breathing was fine and my posture was good so I ruled those two out. I had started to drink a lot more tea and water instead of coffee but it didn't seems to make any difference. I played around with different numbers of reps and weights. It seems that attempting 8-10 or a certain weight causes too much pain in the head by rep 7 or 8 but doing a higher weight for 5 or 6 reps is do-able.

Anyway, left the gym having completed the exercises in my routine, knowing I had had a workout but frustrated that I couldn't go to failure on most due to the pain.

When I got home I had a dull headache which continued into the next day, about 24 hours in total.

Took Tuesday off and then went for a leg session lunchtime today. I was expecting this to be worse because squats are very hard work. First set was at a lowish weight and I had to stop at eight. Interestingly this time the pain was not in my temple but in my neck, another place where I sometimes feel headaches.

I had a drink and lay on one of those large inflatable balls with my head hanging over backwards to try and get the blood flowing and it seemed to work.

By taking longer beaks between sets, aiming for 6-8 reps per set and using the ball I had my best session yet and feel pretty good now.

One other thing, I've been drinking masses of water and less coffee. Just this morning my pee has gone crystal clear and I'm going every hour at least. Perhaps I have reached an hitherto unknown level of hydration.

I'm probably try again on Friday.

[Ossiantoad]

Took six days off and went back to the gym yesterday, had a good work out without too much bother.

Went back today. Murdered my legs and didn't feel a thing in my head. I was vaguely conscious of a mild hint of a headache but nothing that stopped me giving it my all.

Fingers crossed I might have worked through it and won.

[Prof Prolapse]

If you've had your heart checked out by professional using objective equipment. You can probably rule it out now.

Back to basics, What's your diet like before exercise?

Do you drink water before or during training?