How to avoid dizziness during or after a workout

by Angela Reed-Fox

Feeling faint during or after a workout is not hugely rare. If you're new to vigorous workouts, or you've recently upped the intensity of your workouts you are more at risk of feeling dizzy or faint during or after your workout. However, I'm going to explain why it happens - and how you can avoid it.

There are two main reasons why you might feel dizzy. One is low blood sugar, and the other is low blood pressure.

Low blood sugar

**If you have diabetes**:
This is most common if you are diabetic and taking medication which directly reduces the sugar level of your blood - gliclazide and similar oral medications can do this (metformin, the most common antidiabetic medication will not do this) and some injectable treatments including insulin. If you are diabetic and you are undertaking new types of workouts, we strongly advise you let your diabetes nurse know what you're intending to do. You should take a small carbohydrate snack 20-30mins before you start your workout. Bring what you usually use for hypos if this is something you encounter.

If you are not diabetic, low blood sugar is less likely to cause a problem. However, with sudden intense exercise, particularly at high resistance, this can see your blood sugar dropping lower than normal for you. This can make you feel dizzy or faint. In this case:

As a precaution, before the workout:

• Don't ride hungry. Just a light snack before you ride – a couple of light crackers or a biscuit.
• Choose a lower intensity session and only increase the intensity when you're ready. This might be choosing particular classes, or just using a slightly lower weight.
  

Low blood pressure

It’s often the case that people (mostly women) with low blood pressure can feel dizzy during or after exercise. This is because one of the way the body maintains an even temperature is by dilating the blood vessels to cool down - this is why your skin goes red when you're hot. Also when you're working hard at a high intensity, your muscles are also demanding a greater blood supply. This is perfectly natural, and usually OK - only if you usually have low blood pressure, in this condition, less of your blood is supplying your brain with oxygen, which makes you feel dizzy or faint.

There are a few things you can do to avoid feeling faint or dizzy:

• Make sure you’re well hydrated – and that means you’ve drunk plenty of fluids in the 24-48 hours before the class (and to avoid a headache, drink plenty afterwards too).
• Know your blood pressure. If your BP is usually above 120/80mmHg, this is less likely to be an issue for you. Don't know what your BP is? Ask your local surgery for a check - pharmacies also often offer this service free.
• Start steady until you know how your body is going to respond. You can mix in higher intensity classes once you're acclimatised.
  

Avoiding dizziness during the session

• Let the instructor know if sometimes you feel dizzy.
  
• Bring a drink with you – and take sips when you feel thirsty
• Bring a snack - a light snack of a biscuit or a couple of jelly babies should be enough - if your blood sugar is low, this will help; if nothing else, when you feel dizzy, this will keep your mind off how you feel and get you feeling better a bit faster!
• Choose a well-ventilated area
• Focus on breathing more deeply from your diaphragm (the large muscle that separates your chest from your abdomen). This enables you to take in more oxygen and get rid of carbon dioxide more quickly. Using the 'accessory muscles' in our shoulders can make us tire more quickly, as it's not so efficient.
• If you start to feel dizzy, get some fresh air – sit on the floor by the doors, or outside to cool off. Take your drink with you.
  

If you keep feeling dizzy or faint

 Check your blood pressure etc and have a chat with your nurse or doctor to figure out what could be causing it. It's usually something very simple and easily managed.

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