The TRUTH About Breathing, Bracing, and Lifting Heavy
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Stop making this mistake. It’s inefficient, it’s unnecessary, and it makes you look like you’ve been reading too many 80s and 90s fitness magazines.
The mistake we’re discussing is that of breathing like a buffoon when lifting.
This error shows up in a number of ways, but a very popular version of this mistake is seen when people breathe in on the way down and breathe out on the way up. We have a lot of old fitness magazines and books to thank for this preposterous way of breathing, and in short, don’t do it.
Your body intuitively knows that this is silly nonsense. You don’t breathe like this when you’re constipated, and you don’t breathe like this when you’re trying to push a stuck vehicle out of a ditch. In these situations, your body automatically takes the correct and most efficient action - you take a big breath, you tighten your abs and “bear down,” you then push as hard as you can, and you don’t release that breath until the effort is over.
The same is true in lifting, and the way to remember this is simple: All breathing (both in and out) takes place only at one location - the start and finish point of the lift.
Put another way - if the barbell is moving, you’re not breathing.
Let’s cover the specifics of this for the squat, bench, press, and be sure to read all the way to the end for the deadlift since that’s the lift in which people breathe the silliest.
The Squat
Take a breath in at the top, hold that breath all the way down and back up again with every muscle in your trunk bracing hard, and then release the breath. Be sure to watch the video below on how to brace correctly (i.e., perform the Valsalva maneuver).
The Bench Press
Breathing for the bench press is identical to that of the squat - take a breath in at the top, hold it all the way down and back up again, and then release it.
The Press
Unlike the squat and bench, in which each rep starts from the top of the lift, the press starts at the bottom of the movement, so the breathing takes place at this location instead. In the press, take a breath in at the bottom and get tight, press the bar up, then lower it (don’t blow out your air at the top), and then release your breath when you’re back at the starting position.
The Deadlift
Don’t do it. Just don’t. I die a little bit inside every time a lifter makes this error in the deadlift . . . don’t blow out your air at the top of the lift.
Breathing for the deadlift is identical to that of the press since the lift starts at the bottom, so take a breath when the bar is on the floor, set your back, pull the bar up to the lockout position, set it down quickly, and then release your breath.
If you’ve been releasing your breath at the top of the deadlift, it can be a hard habit to break, but it’s not a physically difficult challenge. People have performed long, grueling pulls - 8, 9, and 10 second deadlifts - and then set the bar back down before releasing the breath. If they can do it, you can do it.
Remember that breathing only takes place in one location - the start (and finish) point of the lift - and you’ll be good to go. Breath is stability, so hold that breath until you’re back where you started.
As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.
-Phil
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