Headaches during/after intense workouts?

[MollytheMO]

This isn't a new problem for me...but I tend to get really bad headaches when I do intense cardio sessions. I started noticing it more last year while biking in the mornings (usually biking before breakfast, just drinking water). Drinking a lot of water before, during, and after the workouts seemed to help, but not much. I haven't ridden my bike for a few months due to the cold--yes, I'm a pansy when it comes to cold weather--and riding at moderate intensity for about half an hour yesterday resulted in a whopper.

They seem like sinus headaches, and usually only last for about an hour after I quit. I don't like taking aspirin and just wait them out. Today while working out (lots of pushups, squats, fast explosive stuff, etc) I got my heart rate up and could feel a headache coming on. Immediately after stopping I was so tired that I actually slept for almost an hour--though I'm counting that to the fact that I've been Primal for a few weeks and am a little tired from carb craving.

I don't suspect anything serious, seeing as how these have been occurring for years--but after trying drinking lots water, drinking no water, eating before a workout, fasting before a workout, etc with little to no change I'm getting more than a little tired of them.

Anyway. Anyone else suffer these? Or am I just a weirdo? XD

[Guest Snake McClain]

The first thin that came to mind was dehydration but you said you drink lots of water....it is possible your blood pressure is rising rapidly. Other than those two things I'm stumped.

[wildross]

Have you had your blood pressure checked lately?

[MollytheMO]

Not recently. But last time it was checked the doctor said that it was on the low side of normal. I hadn't thought of the blood pressure bit before, though....

[ebm1224]

i've had a similar thing in the past where, a couple hours after a workout, i would get a headache. it hasn't happened in awhile though (knock on wood). i'm not really sure what did it. so, i guess we're both weirdos.

[jdanger]

If you haven't been to the doctor for a general physical it's always a good idea to get checked out but post workout headaches are common when starting higher intensity exercise. As far as I know the etiology isn't fully hammered out yet but most theories involve dilated blood vessels and changes in blood pressure during/after exercise. The delayed headaches can be a result of these effects since as your body begins to come back down to its resting set point a lot of things are going on at once and things don't always go back to normal in an orderly fashion. For instance if your heart rate drops faster than your circulatory system constricts (after dilating to optimize bloodflow to support exercise) the net result is low blood pressure which can cause headaches and lightheadedness.

This probably isn't a problem if you're healthy and as you adapt to the intensity the headaches should go away or at least become less common. In the meantime make sure you have a reasonable cool down strategy to bring yourself back to baseline in a controlled manner. This will mitigate these sorts of problems even after you've adapted to the intensity. Also make sure to stay properly hydrated and stocked up on electrolytes (sodium).