10 Lifting Mistakes in 10 Minutes

From beginners to experienced lifters, these mistakes show up everywhere. In under 10 minutes, Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers covers 10 common lifting errors and how to correct them quickly.

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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?

8 Tips to Breathe & Brace CORRECTLY When Lifting Heavy (Also: #1 Mistake!)

Let’s cover 8 tips on how to breathe and brace when lifting. Tips #1-4 cover how to do this correctly while tips #5-8 cover what not to do (i.e., common mistakes).

Tip #1: If the bar is moving, you’re not breathing.
Breathe in at the start of the movement, hold that breath throughout the entire rep, and then breathe it out at the end of the movement.

Remember this – if the bar is moving, you’re not breathing.

Breath is support, and thus we want to hold a nice full breath in our lungs when lifting. For example, in the squat, take a breath in at the top of the rep, hold that breath all the way down and back up again, and then release it after you’ve locked out the rep.

On the deadlift, breathe in when the bar is on the floor, hold that breath all the way up to lockout and then back down again, and then release that breath only when the bar is back on the floor.

Tip #2: How do you hold your breath correctly?
Specifically, you perform a Valsalva maneuver, i.e., you forcefully hold your breath against a closed glottis. Put another way, you hold your breath in your throat.

If you’re not sure how to do this, say the word “hick” and hold the “ck’ sound. If you do this, you’re performing the Valsalva maneuver correctly.

Tip #3: Get ready to take a punch.
As you perform your Valsalva maneuver, you’re going to make your midsection tight and rigid. Tighten every single muscle in your trunk (never say “core” unless you’re a “too-tight-polo-shirt-wearing-clip-board-holding-personal-trainer”). Pretend you’re about to take a punch right in the gut, and you’ll probably be doing this very well indeed.

Keep these muscles flexed rigidly all the way down and back up again (or all the way up and down again in the case of the the deadlift), and you’ll be bracing correctly.

Tip #4: Belt
Use a lifting belt.

Among other benefits, a belt provides excellent proprioceptive feedback on what you’re doing with the muscles of your midsection. Also, since you now have something to brace against, you can brace harder, i.e., you can use those trunk muscles more effectively with a belt than without a belt.

Tip #5: Don’t breathe like a buffoon when deadlifting.
Don’t release your breath at the top of the deadlift.

Remember – breath is support, so keep that support until the bar is resting on the floor again.

You’re not hanging out at the top of the deadlift for long – you’re not going to pass out before the bar is back on the deck, so this is easy to do in the technical sense, but releasing your breath at the top can be a difficult habit to break if you’ve been making this error for a while.

To fix this, cue yourself to “lift silently.” From the time the bar starts moving, your mouth shouldn’t make any noise until the bar is resting on the floor again, and this cue does an excellent job reminding you of this.

Tip #6: Don’t “bear down.”
The cue “bear down” is sometimes used to remind people to get tight and brace hard.

However, you never want to push anything in a downward direction when bracing correctly. You are not giving birth, nor are you pooping (although both involve the Valsalva maneuver), so don’t push anything downward when getting tight unless you want to be changing your pants after squatting.

Again, simply think of getting tight as preparing to take a punch. If anything, you can cue yourself to “bear in” (or “bear upward”) as if you’re trying to crush your belly button.

Tip #7: Don’t overcomplicate this.
You’ve been breathing your whole life without thinking about it. You’ve also been performing the Valsalva maneuver your whole life without thinking about it (e.g., anytime you’ve tried to push a stuck vehicle or heavy box).

With that said, now that you’re focused on breathing and bracing correctly, it’s easy to complicate it, and the “fitness social media” world loves to make this worse.

Take a big breath, brace hard like you’re going to get punched, and hold that through the entire rep.

Don’t buy into that old 80s and 90s fitness magazine nonsense about “breathing in on the way down and breathing out on the way up.” Again, if the bar is moving, you’re not breathing.

Tip #8: Don’t hold your breath with puffed out cheeks.
If you’re holding your breath with puffed out cheeks, i.e., if you’re holding your breath against your lips, you’re performing the Valsalva maneuver incorrectly.

This is probably the most common breathing and bracing error we see, so remember – you hold your breath in your throat and not in your mouth against your lips. If you’re doing it correctly, you should be able to Valsalva with your mouth closed or open. Try out the “hick” method back in tip #2, and you’ll be doing it correctly.

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.)

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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?

Why THIS is What You're Missing

You're not physically (or mentally) normal without this. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers explains.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 06/05/23)

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.

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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?

Why do I Keep FAILING?!

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 11/03/23)

Are you missing reps on your linear progression? Let’s address one potential problem, and it’s one that’s easy to fix.

Specifically, let’s talk about rest periods (i.e., how long you’re resting between sets). I know - not very exciting. However, rest periods are important because they can either support your training, or - if chosen poorly - they can derail your training.

When someone starts training with us here at Testify, we have a conversation on day one wherein we discuss rest periods, and during this conversation, we address two things:

1. Resting Between Warm-up Sets
The short version? You don’t need to do it. That’s right. Don’t rest between warm-up sets. The act of changing your weights will provide enough rest while you're warming up. These are warm-up weights and don’t require much of a break between sets. You are welcome to rest several minutes, but most people don’t have all day to train, and this is the place to save time in the workout.

One caveat - you’ll probably want to rest a few minutes after your last warm-up set, i.e., before your first work set, which brings us to . . .

2. Resting Between Work Sets
You definitely want to rest between work sets. When you’re getting started with the Starting Strength linear progression, somewhere between three and five minutes will probably suffice. Treat that range as a minimum.

Want to squat 225 lb like Sarah? be sure to rest long enough between your work sets.

Remember that the purpose of strength training is - not surprisingly - to get stronger. To get stronger, you need to do the prescribed training for the day - you need to lift what you said you were going to lift - and to lift that weight, you need to rest enough to complete all the reps of your work sets.

The Main Point
That last part is the main point - rest long enough to ensure that you complete the next set successfully. When you read “three to five minutes,” remind yourself that this is appropriate for when you’re starting out, and also remind yourself that this is a minimum. When things get heavier and more challenging, there will come a time when you need to rest longer - you’ll rest six minutes, seven minutes, etc.

Establish the Habit
One of the most enjoyable parts of lifting weights is . . . not lifting weights, so force yourself to get used to resting - even at the beginning of your strength training journey.

If it’s your second workout, take the three, four, or five minute break even if you know you could get back under the bar and complete the next set with a shorter rest break. Start establishing the habit of getting adequate rest right away in your training. If you tend to rush things, a timer can be a handy tool to ensure that you’re waiting long enough before starting your next set.

Practical Limitations
There are, of course, some practical limitations to how long you’ll actually rest, and you’ll notice that I’m not suggesting that you rest 15 minutes between sets. Even if a 10-15 minute rest period might be useful, it simply may not be practical in terms of your schedule for the day.

Wrapping Up
In general, though, rest long enough to ensure that you can complete the next set. Completing your work sets will allow you to get stronger, and in this way, you will still be making progress on your linear progression four months, five months, or even six months into it instead of missing reps in the first or second month.

It may help to remember that this isn’t conditioning; of course, there will still be a conditioning benefit, but that’s not why you’re strength training. You’re doing it to get stronger, so take the appropriate rest, 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:

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

• 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.

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

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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?

Go Home, Get Weak, and DIE: Why Your Doctor is WRONG about Lifting Weights

You've heard it before: "Why are you doing this?" "You don't need to be lifting those heavy weights." And they're all wrong. So wrong. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers explains.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 05/29/23)

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.

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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?

Bar Math: Are You Using the S.A.D. Method? Stop It Now.

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 10/01/21)

Bar math can be tricky, and if you’re a new lifter (or even an experienced one!), you might find that simply loading the correct weight on the bar is one of the more difficult aspects of your training experience. Let’s solve this (if you like, you can just scroll to the end of this article and watch the video instead!).

First - what not to do. Do NOT use the “subtract-and-divide” (SAD) method to figure out your bar math. Here’s an example - we want 110 lb on the bar (i.e., 110 lb total - including the bar’s weight), so we subtract the 45 lb bar from 110 lb, and we get 65 lb left over. We then divide 65 by 2 since we have to split that 65 lb between each side of the barbell to get 32.5 lb, and now we need to figure out how to load 32.5 lb on each side.

Again - do NOT do this. Mathematically, yes, it makes sense, but in the long run, it’s neither the easiest nor the quickest way to go about this process. We’ve seen people break out calculators to do this, and we’ve even seen people working some long division to accomplish this process, but no matter what tools you have at your disposal, SAD isn’t very practical, and it’s rather error prone as well.

The best method is to simply load the largest possible plate (without going over your target weight) that you can every single time. Your brain works decently with subtraction and division, but it works quite a bit better with addition and multiplication, and this “largest possible plate” (LPP) method takes advantage of this fact. An additional advantage to this method is that you’ll start to memorize some “milestone weights” or “landmark weights” along the way (this will happen whether you mean to do so or not!), and this is extremely useful.

Let’s run through the 110 lb example again - this time using LPP. (Warning - this looks bad on paper, but it’s far easier in practice.)

• Can I add a 45 lb plate (on each side)? 45 x 2 = 90, and adding 90 lb to the bar is too much, so no, I can’t. Move on.

• Can I add a 25? 25 x 2 = 50, and 50 + 45 (bar’s weight) = 95, so yes, I can.

  • By the way, 95 lb is one of those landmark weights you’ll eventually have memorized, which is very useful as you’ll build upon that for other weights.

• Now we’re at 95 lb. Can I add a 10? 10 x 2 = 20, and 20 + 95 = 115, and that’s too much, so no, I can’t add a 10. Move on.

• We’re still at 95 lb. Can I add a 5? 5 x 2 = 10, and 10 + 95 = 105, so yes, I can.

• Now we’re at 105 lb, and I’m close enough to 110 that I realize that I need 5 more lb total, so I simply add a 2.5 lb plate to each side, and I’m done. (Technically, there’s a little “subtract-and-divide” going on here at the end, but I get to do it with very small numbers, which is nice.)

To recap:

• Adding 25s (i.e., one to each side) takes us to 95 lb (in total weight).

• Adding 5s takes us to 105 lb.

• Adding 2.5s takes us to 110 lb.

This is actually far simpler in practice than it looks on paper, but you’ll have to try it out to believe me. Again, all you need to do is put the largest possible plate on every single time without actually going above the weight that you’re trying to reach.

By doing this repeatedly as you train each day, you’ll eventually know that 25-lb plates take you to 95 lb, 45-lb plates take you to 135 lb, etc., and this type of accidental memorization speeds up the process even more. In the long run, if you force yourself to keep doing your bar math in this manner, you’ll be a faster and more accurate “bar mathematician” than if you stuck with the ol’ SAD method.

Feel free to check out our video on this topic, 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:

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

• 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.

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

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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?