Blackout!!!

Blacking Out With Heavy Lifts

 



Many of you may have seen this video before: BLACKOUT!!!
This is pretty common with heavy lifts and max exertions.  Why did he blackout? 
Upon intense exertions, your blood pressure in the cranial vessels rises to extreme levels.  This causes a large pressure gradient between the vessels of the brain and the Central Nervous System/Cerebral Spinal Fluid (CSF) pressure that is in the spine and surrounding the brain.  If the gradient is large enough, you may black out.  To reduce this pressure gradient, you will want to increase the pressure of the Central Nervous System.  In order to accomplish this, the Valsalva Technique may be used.  The Valsalva Technique is basically holding your breath, which along with abdominal bracing, not only increases the CNS pressure, but also increases intra-abdominal pressure, further stabilizing your spine for the heavy lift.  The Valsalva Technique is not recommended for rehabilitation clients due to the possibility of other medical conditions, as it has the possibility of leading to aneurysms or stroke.  However, for athletes performing these extraordinary lifts, the statistics of the Valsalva causing stroke or death are very low.  The Valsalva Technique increases the CNS fluid pressure, decreasing the pressure gradient between the cranial nerves and the CNS, which then reduces the load on the blood vessels.   Performed properly, this will help prevent blackouts.  However, sometimes it just is not enough.