Hi angels (and men of Own, of course!)
Today we're diving into when to breathe while training and why your coach won't shut up about it.
Let's get into it
Breathing might seem automatic, but when it comes to training, mastering your breathing can significantly impact your performance and recovery. A lot of people will sit on a machine and just breathe whenever they need to, but breathing in time with your reps can make a world of difference.
The muscles in the trunk, including the diaphragm, transverse abdominis (deep core), and obliques (side core), play a crucial role in stabilising the spine and pelvis during lifting. Proper breathing helps create intra-abdominal pressure, which acts like an internal brace, supporting the spine and reducing the risk of injury. By inhaling deeply and engaging the diaphragm, you increase this pressure, providing a solid foundation that enhances core stability and allows you to lift heavier weights safely. So how do you ‘breathe’?
Concentric vs. Eccentric
When lifting weights, each repetition involves both a positive (concentric) and a negative (eccentric) phase. In a squat, the negative phase is when you lower into the squat position, controlling the descent as your muscles lengthen. The positive phase occurs when you push back up to standing, contracting your muscles as they shorten. Similarly, in a shoulder press, the negative phase happens when you lower the weights back down to shoulder height, and the positive phase is when you press the weights overhead, engaging your shoulder muscles as they contract and lift. An easy trick to remember this is to think 'easy eccentric' as the eccentric phase is usually easier than the concentric phase. You may have seen your coach write 'slow eccentric phase' - this could refer to the way down on a squat, pull up etc.
Breathing Technique
Let’s start with how you breathe. You want to breathe in your nose to maximise oxygen intake and out your mouth to expel carbon dioxide efficiently. While exercising, the aim is to balance your core stability and oxygen levels. For recovery, try diaphragmatic breathing: inhale slowly and deeply through your nose, widen your ribcage, fill your belly, and then exhale slowly through your mouth. This technique activates the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting relaxation, reducing heart rate, and speeding up recovery between sets.
Breathing While Moving
Before you start moving, take a big deep breath in. Now let’s create the abdominal pressure. Breathe in and send your breath to widen your ribcage and into your belly. To brace/tense your core, imagine someone is about to punch you in your belly and that ‘squeeze’ you would do to protect yourself is the tightness we’re looking for. Once you have your brace, move through the eccentric/negative phase of the rep. If your rep has a prescribed pause at the bottom, maintain your brace while you complete this, other wise, reach your depth and then enter the concentric/positive phase of the rep. For a beginner/intermediate lifter, we recommend maintaining your brace throughout the concentric phase. For an advanced lifter, you can try a slight exhale, similar to blowing up a balloon. To maintain your intra-abdominal pressure, this is an audible breath, short and shaped through pursed lips.
If this is getting confusing, here are some specific exercise examples!
- Push-ups: Inhale and brace before you move down, maintain brace as you lower (eccentric/negative phase) yourself to the ground, pause if required, and brace as you push back up (concentric/positive phase). Then breathe out, reset and take another breath in.
- Squats: Inhale and brace before you move down, maintain the brace as you lower into the squat position (eccentric/negative phase), pause if required, and brace as you stand back up (concentric/positive phase). Then breathe out, reset and take another breath in.
- Chest Press: Inhale and brace before you move the bar down, maintain the brace while lowering the barbell or dumbbells toward your chest (eccentric/negative phase), pause if required, and brace as you press them back up to the starting position (concentric/positive phase). Then breathe out, reset and take another breath in.
- Bicep Curls: Inhale and brace before you move the bar down, maintain the brace as you curl the weight up (concentric/positive phase), pause if required, and lower the weight back down to the starting position (eccentric/negative phase). Then breathe out, reset and take another breath in.
Our final thoughts
Breathing in sync with your movements helps create intra-abdominal pressure, which stabilises your core and protects your spine, improving your lifting performance. It also keeps your nervous system in check, promoting focus and reducing the risk of injury. With every lift, remember to breathe intentionally, it's not just about lifting the weight but also about optimising your body's fitness and strength.