Heavy Weight Lifting Side Effects

heavy weight lifting side effects

Looking for heavy weight lifting side effects? Heavy weight lifting is the ideal thing that you can do as you lay out the foundation of your lifting career. It doesn’t matter if you are at the beginner, intermediate or advanced level at the gym, you’ll always want to increase your lifting number. Exercising daily can do wonders for your body and it’s no secret that most people want to lift heavy weights at the gym. This raised an issue in the gym community and how people are so obsessed with the number and always want to lift heavier weights. But have you ever considered that there could be side effects of doing this? 

People are generally aware of the benefits of lifting heavy weights but there are very few people who know that there can be side effects of lifting heavyweights.

This can be easily seen in any of the heavyweight lifting Olympic videos and how the athletes got unconscious or bleed out from their noses. We are going to discuss why is heavy lifting bad for you. Let’s begin and understand what are the side effects of lifting weights. If you want to build muscles and increase strength, portion is the food you should eat. But before eating you should definitely consider learning about the Common Myths about Whey Proteins

Heavy Weight Lifting Side Effects

High chance of blackout 

There are many viral videos of lifters passing out in the gym. And if you close most of the time people are lifting heavy weights. So, what’s the scientific reason behind this and why most of the time it only happens with heavy lifters. 

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Blackout is likely to happen because of syncope. Syncope(fainting) is a condition where the blood pressure declines and the heart is unable to pass or transfer oxygen to the brain. This lack of oxygen to the brain leads to blackouts. Syncope condition is likely to be caused under heavy pressure or load. Now, if we go down more deep in the situation, there is more than one reason why it happens during lifting heavy weights. 

Valsalva Maneuver 

Most people are not familiar with the word Valsalva but this is the major reason behind blackouts happens during lifting heavy weights. Valsalva is common practice to powerlifters where they hold the breath in their belly to lift the weight up from the ground and release it through sticking point as they go up. Valsalva is the best practice for lifters to lift heavy but with it comes the risk of blackout or fainting. This also raises the question, if it is best practice why so many times lifters pass out?

The reason behind that is the increased amount of pressure or blood flow in the left atrium of the chest. It also leads to an increase in stroke volume. But the delay in blood flow decreases the stroke volume and thus increases the pulse rate. In simple words, all of this process leads to a decline in blood pressure and thus becomes a reason for blackout in most cases.

This also a debate topic in the health industry, in short, if a person follows the Valsalva process and holds the breath to create the maximum force to lift weights then there is a chance of passing out. If the lifter avoids this process and breathes during the movement of action then there is a high chance of injury or unsuccessful lift. 

Besides that, there are some other reasons that lead to blackouts. Some are- dehydration and an empty stomach. 

Dehydration is a serious health issue and likely leads to fainting while lifting heavy weights. Less water in the body leads to less body fluid, which further affects the blood pressure and reduces it. Some common signs of dehydration are – headache, dizziness, dark urine. 

Not only dehydration but the person who does exercise empty stomach or lift heavy in the gym has more risk of blackout. Make sure to take high nutrition diet 2 hours before your heavy workout. 

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Nose bleeding 

Just like a blackout, nose bleeding is another main issue related to heavy weights. You may have seen a lot of videos of powerlifters lifting heavy weights in competition bleeding from their nose. This raises the question of why it happens with over weights and how it happens? Well, just like you I have the same question when I saw the video on the internet. But after digging deep into it, I found that it is not a life-threatening condition but may lead to serious emergency conditions in very few cases.

Nose bleeding occurs due to an increase in blood pressure. When a lifter lifts the weight the contraction of muscles raises the pump in blood in small time, thus leads to bleeding from the nose. Besides that, there are other reasons also that are responsible for nose bleeding like – poor diet or wrong gear, but in most cases, it is an increase in blood pressure.

The process of nose bleeding goes something like this- when a lifter puts efforts to lift the weight, he tenses the abdominal area of his body and the blood goes from down to up directly to the brain and neck area. The reason why blood comes out from the nose is that when blood pressure increases the blood comes out from the blood vessels that is an area very close to the skin and known as “Kiesselbach’s Plexus”. It is one of the primary heavy weight lifting side effects.

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Muscular Strain

This injury occurs when the muscles of your body overstretch or are torn. This generally occurs when a person lifts more weight than his capacity. When a power lift heavy weight, his main focus is to lift weight without losing his balance, form, or posture. Most lifter experience strains in their lower back, neck, shoulder, and hamstring. 

In the long run, the lifter will experience pain on a daily basis and also limit his body movements. 

The primary focus of every lifter is to increase his lifting number. But in this process, the form and technique take a very big hit. According to fitness experts, a sudden change or spike in weight can lead to more severe injuries.

When a human body suddenly experiences heavy weight, all the joints and muscles are put under a lot of pressure and a slight discomfort can trigger severe injuries. 

Professional powerlifters usually experience pain for a long time and according to reports, around 80% of powerlifters are injured while lifting heavy weights.

People with poor posture, weak abdominal or back muscles are more injured when lifting heavy loads. People who lift over weights are more prone to joint injuries due to the muscle tension and pressure on the joints. A slight imbalance or bad form can result in a severe joint injury. If you are experiencing muscles statins these are some ways you can put an end to it

Rest

It gives the muscle appropriate time to recover and you should avoid using those muscles. Take a maximum of 2-3 days off and then slowly use that affected muscles.

Ice

Apply ice immediately on the affected muscle groups. The ice should never be out directly on the muscle area, always place it between a towel. The ice should be put more than a half-hour on a single muscle. You can repeat this process within 2 hours of the day of the injury.

Compression

It is the best technique to reduce swelling, you can put a bandage on the muscle area to reduce the blood circulation.

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Angina( Heart Disease)

We know that exercise is good for health and we believe it’s true. Moderation exercise can help you boost your metabolism, immunity, strengthen your bones and muscles, good for mental health, and many more. But you can only experience these benefits if you perform moderate and safe exercise. Lifting heavy has huge risks and more injuries and also not good for your heart. 

Angina is a mild ischemic heart disease that is caused when your body carries heavy loads and it temporarily blocks the blood vessels. The blockage of these muscles stops the blood flow to the heart and this creates a mild pressure on the heart. You can feel the pain in your chest, arm, jaw, and upper back. Some people only experience this pain when they lift heavy objects and some can feel this pain for a few hours. 

If you ever watched a powerlifter that carried heavy loads you can see that they sweat a lot. Generally, people think it’s all the fat he is burning but that is not always the case. Angina can also trigger excessive sweating and heavy palpitation, and both are not good for your health. If you feel that you sweat a lot more than other guys at the gym, it could be genetic but it can also be angina. You can test this by either visiting a doctor for a more accurate result or you can just decrease the weight you’re lifting. We are not indicating you to decrease your exercise routine, you can add more reps than heavier weights.

There are few other symptoms that also occurs from this disease like

  • Nausea
  • Dizziness

The Bottom Line

Daily exercise can do wonders to your body and improve every inch of your body. But one should mainly focus on performing exercise with moderate weights. According to research, you can also build muscle strength with appropriate weight. Lifting heavy weight is a high-risk activity and more prone to injuries.

There is a 90% chance that people who lift heavy weights have bad form and technique. It is mainly because the body is not fully prepared to lift huge loads. It can be mostly seen in deadlifts when people find it hard to keep their back staring under a lot of weight.

Whether you are an experienced athlete or a beginner, it’s better to lift moderate weight than challenging your body with a huge lifting number. Although heavy weight lifting side effects only occur rarely but every gym person should never ignore it.

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Hi, gurbi is a fashion blogger, designer, and fashion consultant. He is 25 yrs old man who love the world of fashion.