Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Breathe, Breathe in the Air


"I turn my back to the wind
To catch my breath
Before I start off again"

Breathing during weight training - this is an area I never see addressed, be it in books, videos, or on the gym floor. All day I have to remind my clients to breathe properly during each phase of a movement. Folks tend to either hold their breath, or reverse the inhale/exhale during the shortening phase of a contraction. Why do we hold our breath during weight lifting? It is a natural physiological reaction to physical AND mental stress. Notice the next time you are stumped at your computer at work. You will most likely have to let out a huge breath of air, from stress. The same thing happens in the gym. Powerlifters actually try to take advantage of that stress and do what is known as the Valsalva Manuever in order to lift more weight. This is a fabulous way to spike your blood pressure off the charts, or in some cases end up with this or this.

Salma Hayek takes my breath away, and, for a slightly different reason, so does a tough set of barbell squats. There is great demand for oxygen here in your muscles, and in your brain. There is also a demand of sorts by your spine for you to breathe properly. You must meet those demands by breathing during each repetition. You inhale on the downward phases; dropping into a squat, lowering a barbell, and bear down on your abs and exhale during the upward phases. To clarify bearing down, I mean the same feeling you have in your core at the tail end of a cough or sneeze. Breathing this way has a two-fold action: you are supplying much needed O2 to your muscles, and you are forcing all your core muscles, which aid in expiring spent O2, to tighten around and support your spine.

Your blood pressure is elevated during exercise, which is a good thing. You are also elevating your heart rate during your workout. The end result is lower resting blood pressure and lower resting heart rate. Your cardiovascular system operates at greater output, with less effort. So, during your workouts keep your breathing correct to add to that efficiency. As my wise, pithy yoga teacher Ruzica tells me, "the difference between life and death is breath." Breathe properly, your back, brain, muscles, and insurance provider will thank you.

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