Training & Nutrition - Excercise Headaches

Anyone get headaches after they take spinning classes or any other type of workout. I do ALL the time. I have to get to a doctor but found that if I eat trail mix and drink Gatorade after my workouts it helps. How bad is this for me?? I am trying to lose weight!!! I am also training for a 40 mile ride at the end of May

You are dehydrated. The brain tissue loses water quickly when you dehydrate.

Check the color of your urine. Clear = enough water in your system. How long after you exercise do you go before you have to urinate?

Personally, I get headaches when I run out of electrolytes. BUT!!! Realize I sweat by the gallon. Enough on a moderate day, I am supposed to drink over 2 large bottles of water per hour.

Check the hydration first. Then go from there.

I got these all the time after a hard workout. I now take Nuun tablets in my water, and the headaches have gone away. It is dehydration, yes, but for me (a salty sweater) electrolyte replacement was key as well. Nuun will be much easier on your diet than Gatorade (or endurolytes or whatever)

"How long after you exercise do you go before you have to urinate?"

I usually go right away.

Do you take the Nuun tablets before you workout or during your workout?

Nuun during - you just drop one tab in each bottle. I have the lemon / lime and even think it tastes OK. If It's also pretty key to keep drinking (not necc. with Nuun) after you finish working out.

u might also try B6 & B12. I heard they help open your blood vessels

exercise also dilates blood vessels. I saw a report on these types of headaches once. Sometimes they are an indication of something else, so best to have them checked by a doc. They're not that rare though. I used to get them occasionally during exercise and sex. They were debilitating. Never figured out what caused them, but I haven't had one in a couple years. I was in my early 20's, so I wasn't as concerned with having a stroke as someone older might have been, though a doc did clear me. For me, they seem to be a type of cluster headache, and physical activity was the trigger (I also had neck and shoulder tension from lots of violin practice). Never tried a good dose of caffeine pre-workout, but I now I wonder. That's just my experience.

Oh yeah, good point - food triggers. Here are mine:

Sugar - like an orange!
Alchohol - if I don't eat and drink a lot of water
Lack of caffeine - don't want to go without my coffee

The worst headaches come from a combination of the above. Those are killers and very very difficult to get over. If I hit it early with Excedrine & coffee, then I have a chance of getting rid of it. Sometimes though, they last 24 hrs.

That happens to me a lot, too - sometimes the next day. It's not dehydration, so I guess something to do with electrolytes, though I'm guessing low blood sugar might also be a cause? Anyone know?


I now take Nuun tablets in my water, and the headaches have gone away. It is dehydration, yes, but for me (a salty sweater) electrolyte replacement was key as well.

Never heard of them, but think I will try. Thanks for the tip.

fyi: on a recent 100 mile ride, I added a salt packet to every water bottle, not much - barely noticeable