You’re probably expecting sweat and muscle aches as unpleasant side effects of exercise. Other symptoms, such as feeling dizzy after a workout or lightheaded after exercise, may catch you off guard or even be alarming.To figure out why you feel dizzy or shaky after an exercise, you must first grasp the various types of dizziness and their causes. Some forms of lightheadedness can be treated on your own, but others may necessitate contacting your healthcare physician.
The Most Common Causes
The workout might induce dizziness after exercise, especially if you push yourself passed your limits and work more than usual. Hyperventilation (rapid breathing, for example) can create lightheadedness.
Dizziness can also be caused by lifestyle variables or changes, such as:
- What you eat and drink
- Whether you use drugs and alcohol
- Whether you are using prescription or over-the-counter medications and herbal products or remedies
Dehydration
Dehydration can cause dizziness and nausea. This occurs when your body sweats to cool itself down during exercise. That leads you to lose water, especially if it is hot outside or you are exercising vigorously. You may feel lightheaded if you do not fully hydrate prior to and during your workout. You might experience a dry mouth, tiredness, and thirst.
Low Blood Sugar Levels
Low blood sugar levels can cause fatigue, unsteadiness, weakness, and stomach pain. This is frequent during exercise due to how your body consumes sugar or glucose. Your muscles require the sugar in your bloodstream. When that sugar evaporates, your blood sugar drops, leading to dizziness, tremor, sweating, headache, weariness, and confusion.
Hypoglycemia occurs when your blood sugar descends below a certain level (70 mg/dL). Although hypoglycemia is commonly connected with diabetes, it has also been recorded in non-diabetic athletes. Low blood sugar is produced in this scenario by an imbalance in exercise intensity, nutrition, and other factors such as heat or altitude. Drinking orange juice or eating an apple or a banana often brings comfort.
Blood Pressure Is Low
Some people suffer from post-exercise hypotension or low blood pressure, which produces dizziness. This is common when you stop exercising without properly cooling down. Your heart, lungs, and muscles transition from exertion to pump oxygenated blood through your body to pumping at their regular rate. This causes a depletion in blood pressure, which can last for up to 13 hours following activity. This benefits patients with high blood pressure, but it can occasionally produce dizziness in persons with normal blood pressure.
Medications, Alcohol, and Drug Use
Certain prescription drugs, such as those that treat hypertension and depression, can cause dizziness. Some over-the-counter medicines can also make you dizzy. Recreational drug and alcohol usage can produce dizziness on its own or in conjunction with other medications.
Ways to Prevent
Dizziness During and After Exercise
Planning ahead of time and being mindful of your surroundings might help you prevent the unsettling sensation of instability or lightheadedness at the gym or during any physical exercise.
Prepare Snacks and Meals
If you frequently work out before breakfast, it’s possible that your body hasn’t gotten any nourishment since dinner the night before. What is the most likely scenario? You get up and begin exercising, and your blood sugar drops, leaving you queasy, lightheaded, and weak. Instead of working out on an empty stomach, have a light breakfast with protein, complex carbs, and healthy fat. Try almond butter on a banana or avocado on toast, for example.
This is also true if you workout immediately after work and before dinner. Food is a form of energy. You won’t be able to keep up with the demands of your workout if you don’t have sufficient fuel in your system. Sports bars and trail mix are good on-the-go snacks.
Keep Hydrated
Both dizziness and nausea are indicators of dehydration. The significance of staying hydrated when exercising cannot be overstated. Moderate exertion rarely necessitates the amount of glucose and sodium in sports drinks. Water will keep you hydrated before, during, and after your workout.
Several things influence hydration rules. When exercising for a shorter period, in colder weather, or at a lower intensity, drinking based on thirst is generally sufficient.
Take it Slow
Stop and take a break if you start feeling dizzy while exercising. You may need to stop altogether or reduce your intensity to allow your body to cool down, such as moving from jogging to strolling. Pay attention to your body.
If a head rush occurs only sometimes, the best solution is to change positions. If you know a specific activity causes that feeling, try moving through it gradually or leave it out of your regimen.
Use Specific Breathing Techniques
Weightlifting, swimming, and Pilates are just a few workouts that combine breath and movement. When done correctly, this exercise can be both relaxing and integrative. It can also help you prevent feeling ill due to a shortage of oxygen.
The type of physical activity determines how you should breathe throughout the exercise. For example, when using weights, you should exhale as you lift and inhale as you lower the weight. If you tend to breathe shallowly while walking or jogging, learning to breathe profoundly from your belly will help you receive a full inhale and exhale.
Take a Deep Breath
When exercising, people frequently hold their breath, especially during high-intensity exercise. This can result in a fast rise in blood pressure followed by a sharp decline. This is referred to as the Valsalva effect. It can produce dizziness and lightheadedness, as well as fainting.
Avoid Shallow Breathing
Many people maintain their abdominal muscles sucked in all the time, depriving their bodies of most of each breath’s belly-expanding part. Their respiration becomes shallow as a result. Shallow breathing can be harmful during physical exercises, such as walking or running at a moderate or rapid speed when more oxygen is required. It’s also a recipe for dizziness.,
Kim’s Final Thoughts…
Dizziness after exercise may also be your body’s method of alerting you to rest. If you suspect you are sick, stressed, anxious, or are attempting to cope with seasonal allergies, take a rest day or simply do an easy workout to minimize dizziness. Similarly, suppose you are feeling hungover after a night out, recovering from an illness, or adapting to a new medicine. In that case, you should avoid going to the gym until you fully recover.
