When it comes to having proper form when lifting weights or exercising, a lot of people don’t realize that how you breathe can play an important role in maintaining good form. Spending as much time as I have over the years in gyms I’ve heard all sorts of breathing cues….I’ve also heard a lot of weird noises along the way too. But the most common tips I’ve heard are to “hold your breath during the lift, exhale anytime you are putting forth effort, inhale when lowering weight, just breathe normally and breathe out when lifting the weight.” All of them have some merit but most importantly the biggest concern here is being able to maintain a solid rigid core when exercising. Injury prevention is our cornerstone.
“Having a Sloppy Loose Core = Injury Waiting to Happen!”
Structurally speaking, we need to maintain proper spinal alignment and this can be influenced drastically by how and when you breathe during a given exercise. If you think about it, there isn’t an exercise in the gym that any coach would advocate having a “sloppy, loose core” with; is there? If there is please let me know, but I honestly can’t think of one. Everything we do I can’t say I’ve ever advocated being loose around your spine and through your core. I’m sure some of you have seen people that look similar to a wet noodle while lifting weights. If by chance you are one of those we need to fix that ASAP.
Back to the basics of breathing. The first step starts with being able to brace your core the right way. We’re not talking about sucking your abs to your spine or drawing in your abs. This isn’t beneficial, it narrows up your torso when our goal is to have as broad of a base of support as possible. We cue people to tighten their core as if someone was about to gut punch them. Or think what you would do if you’re lying on your back and someone was about to walk across your stomach. The key is being braced as tight as possible but still being able to inhale and exhale air. It’s not as easy as it sounds but it is learnable. And learning this saves lives…or at least time spent rehabbing an injury that could’ve been prevented.
“Maintaining Structural Integrity While Moving is a Cornerstone of Injury Prevention.”
Braced core? Check. Now what? It’s easier to give everyone an example to follow. Lets say we have a barbell across our upper back and shoulders getting ready to do a back squat. We already braced our core, now it’s time to inhale. But we’re not going to inhale with our chest. As soon as someone does that it requires them to disengage their core and use there abs to bring that air in. Which in turn causes us to lose our integrity. We instead are going to breathe with our diaphragm. If you take in air and your chest instantly expands and lifts you did it wrong. In order to be able to keep our core braced we must breathe with our diaphragm. Your stomach should expand and the last half of your breath should expand your chest. That allows you to achieve close to a maximal amount of oxygen while maintaining our rigid core.
By bracing your core and inhaling with your diaphragm you will increase your intra-abdominal pressure which will allow you to maintain full structural integrity of your spine throughout the entire movement. So back to the back squat example. Your core is braced, you got your air, now we’ll descend into the bottom of the squat keeping everything tight and holding onto our breath. On the way up you can exhale slightly, notice I said slightly. If you dump all your air at the bottom that weight is going to dump you on your face because all integrity will be gone. Plus you don’t need a weight belt to give you that false exoskeleton of structural integrity.
“Weightbelts Can Mask a Weak Core and The Inability to Brace Your Core.”
By breathing with your diaphragm you can maintain tension the entire time throughout the descent and ascent of the squat as well as any of the other lifts you would do in the gym. It works in reverse when deadlifting as you can see from the video above. Maintaining structural integrity throughout the duration of a every lift is very important both for injury prevention and your improved performance. Just please remember, if you experience any dizziness or light-headedness, be sure to release some air during those high effort moments so you don’t pass out. You can always get more air in after you stand that Clean up before attempting the Jerk. Because you can’t attempt the Jerk or even that second Squat if you’re laying on the floor unconscious.
Keep breathing friends!
Geoff