Deadlifts, Dizziness, and Disproportionate Lifts

Discussion in 'Health and Fitness' started by Banpen Fugyo, Sep 17, 2012.

  1. Banpen Fugyo

    Banpen Fugyo 10000 Changes No Surprise

    Hello, few questions:

    I'm 6'4" 205lbs and I've been lifting on and off for years. This time around I've been hitting the gym 3x a week very consistently. My personal records are as follows …

    Bench 190 est 1RM
    Squat 240 est 1RM
    Deads 330 est 1RM (probably more)

    Deads seem to keep getting higher and higher every week, while most everything else I do seems to be a bit of a struggle. I know that generally deads are higher for most people but I was wondering if there was a correlation between height and deadlift proficiency, as it seems my shorter training partners have the opposite problems as I do.

    Secondly, since I started lifting over 240, I get very lightheaded after deadlift sets. I'm breathing in on the way down and exhaling on the way up. I heard holding my breath might help? I've also heard having my lungs 3/4 full might help? I just don't want to face plant into the free weights :)
     
  2. Ero-Sennin

    Ero-Sennin Well-Known Member Supporter

    Long arms are usually on taller people, which help tremendously in pushing weight since it doesn't have to go so far. Complete opposite of pull-ups/benchpres for taller people.

    Stand up slower and don't just let go of the weight (meaning set it down, don't just drop it from the standing and if you do that in the gym I friggen hate you! ; D). I've always gotten a little light headed from deadlifts of any lower back exercise and I've tried everything with breathing. Definitely don't hold your breath!
     
  3. Banpen Fugyo

    Banpen Fugyo 10000 Changes No Surprise

    I was thinking that holding your breath is stupid too, but the reasoning behind it is that holding it for the full movement (inhale, lift off, stand, back down, exhale) is a way to keep your spine and abs rigid, preventing a back injury.

    I think the lightheadedness just comes with the territory...

    Thanks for the reply
     
  4. Ero-Sennin

    Ero-Sennin Well-Known Member Supporter

    You can get all that same stability while breathing! It takes practice like anything else and a good way to get some is to do your core exercises while making sure you breath a steady pace the entire time. Not easy, but it has a lot of benefits for lifting. Holding your breath is never good and may even cause more light headedness or even passing out.
     
  5. seiken steve

    seiken steve golden member

    we're more or less the same build, deadlifting always came easy to me and squat/bench were always a challenge.

    its just the way we were built.

    i dont know of any top deadlifters who are breathing during the reps. you want your midsection to be as soild as possible. if anything a bit of shouting is the most i've seen as far as breathing goes.
     
  6. Fish Of Doom

    Fish Of Doom Will : Mind : Motion Supporter

    re: breathing:

    you need intra-abdominal pressure for two reasons: one is protection of the spine, and the other is full muscle activation. breathing is a function of muscle action, therefore restricting your breathing enables you to use the relevant muscles (which are most of the torso muscles, actually) fully, as well as helping activate other muscle groups like the pelvic floor by giving them something to push against, so to speak. you CAN do this while exhaling, which in some cases (ie the stereotypical grunt/yell) can increase your full-body tension by letting the involved muscles shorten, but if you waste all your air, those muscles lose the resistance they were contracting against, and you actually lose said tension.

    from a pure performance standpoint, i would recommend holding your breath at least until the last half of the movement. on extremely heavy loads, you WILL breathe out or the weight isn't going up, but it's your choice whether to exhale or not on sub-maximal lifts.
    the dizziness might be (but i'm not a doctor, so if you really want to be sure, go check with one) orthostatic hypotension, which is basically a drop in PB when you stand up really fast. both breath holding and restricted breathing will temporarily raise your blood pressure, so they MIGHT help, but again, i'm not a doctor, so i'm not focusing on this from the angle of a potential pathology and solutions for it, therefore you might want to make absolutely sure you don't have any high BP issues or anything before you fiddle with your breathing.
     
  7. Fish Of Doom

    Fish Of Doom Will : Mind : Motion Supporter

    double post
     
    Last edited: Sep 20, 2012

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