“Lift your chin … Chest out … Look straight ahead … Support your abs … Grip the bar tightly … Push the floor out through the four corners of your feet … Move your hips forward as you clear your knees … Stand tall … Control your descent … Gently touch the ground, pause, and come back … “
“Oh yeah, don’t forget to breathe!”
Strength training has gotten very technical these days. There was a time when “grab it and break it” was all you needed to build strength and size, but now we have this field called personal training where a coach justifies their pay, apparently, by the amount of instructions they spit up. ! What happened to the KISS principle?
Breathing is at the top of most trainers’ list of instructional exercises. The rule is “exhale when lifting a weight and inhale when lowering it.” I guess it’s pretty simple, but what happens if you lift a maximum load? Should the breath remain the same? And during high-speed explosive movements? Or what if you do a super slow workout where each rep can take 14 seconds or more?
I know what you’re thinking, who cares about those things! You are a bodybuilder, your only concern is building muscle. It does not use extremely heavy loads, nor does it go too fast or slow. It’s more along the lines of moderately heavy loads performed at a moderate pace for a moderate number of sets and reps, so why not breathe like we’ve always been taught?
Well, remember one thing: success leaves clues! Take out any video of your favorite bodybuilding star and see how they train. In particular, pay attention to your breathing. When Kai Greene is bench 500 pounds or Ronnie Coleman is squatting 800 pounds, do they casually exhale when they lift and inhale when they come down?
I do not believe it!
When the going gets tough, the “tough guys” hold their breath. You would too! In fact, we all perform what is called a Valsalva maneuver (that is, exhaling against a closed glottis) unconsciously when faced with near maximal efforts. If you don’t believe me, pay attention the next time you’re “exerting force” sitting on a toilet! Trust me, you are not holding your breath from the smell! Then again …
Research indicates that to maximize intra-abdominal pressure during strength training, you should breathe deeply (approximately 75% of maximum) into your abdomen and hold that breath if possible during one rep, exhaling only when you complete the rep. This provides optimal spinal support with the fewest side effects, and makes you stronger!
However, breathing, and in particular holding your breath, is an instinctive process. If you try to lift a heavy load, you will naturally hold your breath. You really don’t need to think about it.
Both Dr. Stuart McGill and Dr. Mel Siff, two experts in the field of strength and rehabilitation, agree that the common recommendation in weight training to exhale when lifting and inhale when coming down is wrong. Siff argues that “careful instruction in the technique of a given exercise will automatically result in the body responding with the optimal muscle recruitment strategy for the duration of the movement.” This also applies to breathing. Let it happen naturally.
Frankly, a personal trainer who goes through all the nuances of so-called “proper breathing” when demonstrating an exercise will only serve to confuse the client and likely impair their performance rather than help them.
Of course, there are some times when a reminder is necessary. For example, many beginners often stop breathing during low intensity repetitive lifting, so a little push may be necessary every now and then. Also, in isometric (static) contractions, the pressure can increase quite a bit if you hold your breath; in this case, rapid breathing helps. And finally, hypertensive and heart patients should be encouraged to breathe with pursed lips or to hum through their noses when lifting objects.
The truth of the matter is that most of us breathe pretty well on instinct alone. Playing around with this could negatively affect performance in the gym (or in the bathroom for that matter!)
So, to summarize this article in one sentence: Let your breathing or breath hold occur naturally during strength training, just remember to breathe in every rep.
