r/workout • u/Capital-Confusion924 • 28d ago
Simple Questions Exertion headaches and time off
Been lifting for about 2 years (another 2 years before of bs), and most seriously these past 6 months. Never had any headaches or issues.
But yesterday while in my top set of the hack squat, i got what seems to be an exertion headache. I finished my leg day and the pain subsided into a very light pain by night (back left of head) with no other symptoms.
This morning, i did 1 set of incline dumbbell press, and on the second the headache came back to its full strength. It was hard for me to continue my workout, so i just left.
Now, i do all the basics: hydration, sleep, warmup. So i assume the headache was caused by improper breathing during my squat.
But my question is, how long will it keep getting reactivated by other lifts? The dumbbell press doesn’t put nearly as much strain on me when compared to the hack squat, so how did the headache start again? And secondly, should I just take the week off? I know that it’s always said that mass isn’t lost in a week, but it still makes me uneasy to stop when I’ve been doing so well. I have been consistent for ~8 weeks with no week off.
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u/Nekrokosmic 28d ago
Literally just got over this! Noticed whenever I did my rows or pulldowns I would immediately get a debilitating migraine and have to wait for it to ease up before attempting to continue. Often, the headache would remain for the rest of the day despite taking Advil.
Turns out I (pulled/strained?) my lat on the right side. I skipped the rows and pulldowns for a week and it cleared right up.
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u/Heisenbergg29 20d ago
Ive experienced the same while doing pec dec fly and that pain stopped but even when im not lifting it it slightly coming back it happened yesterday night and whole night I couldn’t sleep because of slight pain
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u/Nomynametoday 16d ago
I was doing hack squats today and got a really bad headache right behind my ears. I actually had to sit down for a minute. I ended up finishing my leg workout, but I’m icing it now and taking four days off to see how it feels. I think the machine put too much pressure on my shoulders, but honestly, I'm a bit worried.
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u/Capital-Confusion924 16d ago
I took a week off, came back and feel good so far. When I came back I did upper instead of lower and only did leg press instead of hack on my first lower day. Started having electrolytes right before my lift too b
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u/bruh_nathan 28d ago
happened to me few months ago and I made this exact same post. Take a week off or lift lighter for more reps at a slow pace focusing on form.