Valsalva and low blood pressure

I’ve been trying to improve my Valsalva on my heavy sets, breathing not just into my stomach, but also into my sides and lower back. Would this change in technique potentially be enough to lower my heart rate enough to cause light-headedness (squats) or fainting (deadlift)?

I figured this was nuanced enough to post here :slight_smile:

A bit of background … My doctor and I are trying to figure out why I’ve started feeling light-headed and fainting with heavy squats and deadlifts over the past couple of months. As part of our conversation, she mentioned that the Valsalva maneuver is used for certain types of tachycardia to slow the heart rate. I already have a slower heart rate (60 sitting and 72 standing) and low blood pressure (not much difference sitting/standing, around 60/100). I’ve just gone for some basic tests but I’ve been thinking about what I might be doing differently in the gym over the past months and this was one of those things.

Thanks for some great content!

How long are you holding the valsalva for on these sets?

I haven’t noted it down, so I’ll have to give examples. It varies. I started working on improving my Valsalva for heavy sets in January.

  1. The first time I got dizzy with squats is a heavy (for me) set of 210 lbs; I did my Valsalva, unracked; stepped out, got dizzy and re-racked.
  2. I have a note about dizzyness on the 3rd rep of box squats. I take a breath between reps, so I don’t think it’s lack of oxygen.
  3. The one time I fainted was a heavy (for me) deadlift of 230 lbs; that one was about 30 s. I was so proud I held for a couple of extra seconds at the top.

Thank you :slight_smile:

Holding a valsalva for 30 seconds is a very long time.

However, your example # 1 of getting dizzy immediately upon unracking is bizarre. Do you have access to a coach?

Thanks for the info. Greatly appreciated.

As for the second question, at the time, I was part of SSOC, so my coach Staci saw the video. In that format, I doubt she could have seen anything subtle. I’ll be attending the August seminar in Canada, maybe one of the coaches will see something during the platform component. Thank again.