Hitting the Gym

I started going to the gym again last week. I was so confident, since it was only 8 months since my last work-out, that I started doing the routine that I used to do. Then I realized that I was incredibly out of shape.

I started experiencing orthostatic hypotension (OSH).

Not once. Not twice. Not thrice. But almost all throughout my 1 and a half hour session.

Of course, you would wonder how is it possible that I was experiencing orthostatic hypotension for almost one and a half hour when most people would usually lie down and stop their work-out once they feel faint and start experiencing a tunneling of their vision.

Blame it on my incredibly stubborn mind and self-consciousness.

I was surrounded by grunting alpha males who were lifting weights and were probably doing their thing for months already. I didn’t want to make a scene. So, once the symptoms started, I stopped what I was doing, sat down on one of the benches and acted like I was really tired after that particular set, my back slouched and head slightly flexed, hoping the posture might facilitate an increase in the circulation to my brain. Once the symptoms were gone, I was back to my usual routine until I started seeing darkness in my peripheries and a gradual tunneling of my vision once again. Then I would go to the water dispenser, fill the glass with water up to the brim and sat down on one of the benches, drinking slowly, until the symptoms were finally gone. And the cycle repeats itself.

I was adamant that I would be able to do my usual routine that this went on for the next hour.

By the time I finished my work-out, I was nursing an incredibly huge headache.

At least, nobody knew that I was already OSH-ing during that time. Hehehe…


*** OSH was the incorrect term for my condition that time. I forget the more appropriate term but it had something to do with severe heat loss due to excessive sweating.