Quick Breathing Tip to Improve Your Bench Press

Here’s a quick and easy tip for the bench press: it is possible and possibly desirable to perform more than one rep on a single breath.

In other words, you can hold your Valsalva maneuver for multiple reps in a row, and in fact, it may actually be advantageous to perform two or perhaps three reps on one breath. 

How Could This Possibly be True?
Every time you take a new breath, you have to perform your Valsalva and get tight again. In the bench press, you’re essentially lying on your lungs (technically, you’re lying on your torso, which contains your lungs, but I digress), so every time you breathe, you create potential movement between your torso and the bench. This movement can compromise your bench press setup position, so you now have to work to reestablish that position (e.g., pulling your shoulders back into retraction) before you start the next rep.

With this in mind, if you’re not running out of oxygen, you may find it useful to perform a few reps on one breath.

But What About . . . ?
It’s certainly worth pointing out two caveats with this tip. First, this breathing technique works very well with the bench press, but I would not generally recommend it for any of the standing lifts (e.g., squat, deadlift, press, etc.).

Second, don’t take this as a personal challenge to see how many reps you can bench press on one breath. There are no bonus points for “reps-per-breath,” and the last thing you want to do is pass out from a lack of oxygen when you’re holding a heavy barbell above your face.

Keeping these two caveats in mind, feel free to try this out - intelligently - the next time you bench press.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

• Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

---

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

These Aren't the Cues You're Looking For

Stop cueing your muscles.

That’s essentially it. If you stop reading right now (this article, mind you - not reading in general), you’ll already have improved as a human.

Hungry for more? We’ll keep it short and tasty.

Cue Movements - Not Muscles
When training, you want to move in a specific manner. With this in mind, when necessary, you give yourself a cue that reinforces that movement.

Megan correctly executes the “knees out” cue.

Do your knees tend to cave in when squatting? Cue “knees out.”

Perhaps you pull the barbell around your knees on the deadlift? Cue “push the floor,” “straighten the knees,” or “knees back.”

Struggle with the bar path on the press? Try cueing “aim for your nose” or “throw it back.”

Movements generally rely on the contributions of multiple muscle groups, so trying to cue the muscles involved is usually counterproductive and often rather complicated.

This is true of most physical endeavors. Can you imagine a basketball coach - trying to help a player with his shot - cueing “squeeze-the-quads, activate-the-glutes, fire-the-gastocs, flex-the-delts, contact-the-triceps, use-the-wrist-flexors!” One gets the idea.

But What About . . . ?
Of course, there are exceptions, and these can occur when you are trying to prevent movement (not cause movement). This is what happens when you think of contracting a specific muscle group.

Try it. Tell yourself to contract your biceps. You’ll instantly find yourself with a perfectly immobile elbow joint - frozen in place as if you’re prepping for a bodybuilding show.

So, if you’re getting ready to squat, you might cue, “tight abs” to help get your trunk rigid and immovable before starting your descent.

Trying to prevent knee flexion in your press? Trying cueing “flex your quads.”

You don’t cue “squeeze your glutes” in the squat or deadlift, but you might use this cue to prevent a reaching back or “winding up” motion of the hips at the start of the press.

In general, keep it simple - cue the movement you’re looking for, and the relevant muscles will get involved automatically (you’ve got your cerebellum to thank for that).

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

• Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

---

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

Improve ALL of Your Lifts with This Cue?!

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 01/20/23)

Due to their technical nature, cues usually are very lift-specific. For example, “hips back, chest down” works really well for the squat, but it doesn’t work for a press or a bench press. However, there are exceptions to this rule; not too long ago, we made a video (check it out below) about the idea of a positive cue versus a negative cue. I'm not going to give the whole video away right here, but that concept - it's not really a cue, but it's a type of cue - applies to all lifts, and today’s topic is very similar. 

We’re talking about the cue of “slow start” or simply “slow down.” Typically, when you use this cue (either of them), you're going to use it in your warm-ups or at least when the weight is light enough that slowing down shouldn't negatively affect the lift, i.e., it's not always going to work so well when the weight gets heavy. 

Let’s take a look at a few examples of this cue in action. On the press, some people struggle with “winding up the hips,” i.e., the hips should move forward first, but some lifters tend to move the hips backward before moving them forward. This can be a difficult habit to break, but if you simply tell yourself “slow down” or “slow start,” you can resist the urge to have your hips go back and instead slowly force your hips to go forward.

On the squat, a common error is to lead with the hips on the descent; in other words, the lifter bends or breaks at the hips first and then bend the knees, whereas we would like to see simultaneous breaking of the hips and knees.

If you break at the hips first, just tell yourself “slow start,” and that will give you the time - during those first couple inches of descent - to focus on making your knees go forward and out at the same time that your hips go backward.

On the clean, you want to make sure that the barbell touches your thighs at the jumping position (roughly the mid-thigh), so when we teach it - and you can always do this when you're when you're practicing this on your own - we go slow at first because we have to learn to touch that point on the thighs every single time.

Eventually, it will be quick, and in fact, eventually it must be quick since a heavy clean or snatch won’t be successful if it’s slow, but the lift needs to be correct before it’s quick. As a result, if you're missing that point on the thighs, simply tell yourself to slow down, and when you get to that point on your thighs, that’s when you speed up. Again, in reality, the entire lift should be speeding up, but if you’re working to correct something, slowing down can be very useful.

Hopefully, this helps you in your training, and as always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

• Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

---

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

What "Internet Fitness" and "Trainers" Get WRONG About Lifting Weights

What should you focus on when lifting weights? What should you think about? The mainstream fitness industry gets this wrong all the time.

---

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Click the button below to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach and start getting stronger TODAY.

Fix All of Your Lifts with this ONE Solution!

Want to fix ALL of your lifts with one easy technique? Watch this short video and find out how.

(This is a Blast from the Past video originally published on 03/21/22.)

---

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Click the button below to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach and start getting stronger TODAY.

One Cue to Rule Them All: Fix Every Single One of Your Lifts

Let’s quickly cover a cue - specifically a type of cue - that helps every single one of your lifts.

What Could Possibly Help All of My Lifts?

When giving yourself a cue, use a positive cue - not a negative cue. I don’t mean a positive cue in the sense that it makes you feel good - you’re not doing this to feel better about yourself or your lifting. A positive cue simply means that you give yourself a task to accomplish. More specifically, give yourself something to do - not something to avoid doing.

Example: The Squat

If your knees slide forward on the squat, don’t tell yourself, “Stop letting my knees slide forward.” Instead, use the cue, “Set my knees” or “Block my knees.” Again, you’re giving yourself something to do rather than something not to do.

If you ride a motorcycle, you’re already familiar with this concept. When instructors teach you how to ride, they teach you to look where you intend to go - do NOT look where you don’t want to go because whatever you look at is invariably what you ride toward. Same idea here.

Example: The Clean (or Snatch)

If you’ve got an early arm pull on your clean or snatch, don’t cue “Don’t bend my arms.” It might work, but most of the time, you’re better off using a positive cue such as “Long arms,” “Straight arms,” or even “Tight triceps.”

Example: The Deadlift

If you’re letting the bar drift away from you on the deadlift, don’t cue “Don’t let it get away from me.” Instead, try “Pin it to the shins” or simply “Keep it close.” If the bar is looping because you’re pulling around your knees, try cueing “Push the floor” or “Stay over the bar.”

Again, give yourself a job to do, not something to avoid doing. As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

---

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Would you like to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach?