Just Breathe

When I first went to my very first personal trainer 11+ years ago, the first thing they taught me was how to breathe:

Inhale through the nose, keeping shoulders down.

Suck in enough air so it fills up every part of the lungs.

Exhale through the mouth.

This is a loud process. The person next to you should turn their head and wonder “What the heck?”

How to breathe when weight lifting:

When are lifting a weight, you need to inhale during the recovery part of the move, or the eccentric phase of the lifting. For instance, let’s take tricep dips (click here for a quick review):

You’re ready to go in the starting position, hands are on a bench behind your hips, feet out in front of you. Time to dip. You lower yourself, bending the elbows. This is the eccentric phase – so time to inhale through the nose.

Now, you are down at the bottom, arms are at a 90 degree angle (or close to it). Time to press up, right? OUCH! This is the part where the muscles are contracting or the concentric phase. Which means – time to exhale.

Never hold your breath. Your muscles need oxygen to function at their optimal level – so take a breath and give it to them. I have a few clients that do this particularly when the going gets rough and I’m standing there yelling, “Breathe! For all that is good and right in the universe – BREATHE!”

When you hold your breath for long periods of time you run the risk of getting light-headed, passing out (pppppllllleeeeeaaassssseeee don’t do this if I’m training you), bursting some blood vessels or -- heaven forbid -- creating a hernia.

Other clients I have breathe, but with very quick and shallow breaths. This will take you down the yellow brick road to light-headedness, which in the end short changes you out of a thorough workout.

On a more psychological level, I also like to take deep, full breaths when I lift because it keeps me focused on the muscles I’m working. I am less likely to be thinking of what lesson I need to prepare for my son’s kindergarten Art Masterpiece class if I’m one with the movement and breathing appropriately through it. Kind of new-agey, incense burning, bordering on weird? Oh, well. Using this technique, I can lift harder and lift more because it often gets me through the pain ...

Hhmmm. Sounds a bit similar to another experience where I had to use deep breathing to get through the pain. Could that be labor? Well, no problem then! We’re pros at that, right? :)