How to breathe correctly during strength exercises

Normally we do not think how to breathe, do not track the depth and rhythm of breathing. However, it is important during weight training. Proper breathing can increase the stabilization of the spine, to normalize pressure and provide sufficient oxygen to muscles.

So how to breathe correctly? To begin Let us examine the very way of breathing, and then talk about continuity and delays.

diaphragmatic breathing

One of the mistakes that prevent and deal with getting excellent results, - the rapid shallow breathing.

To check if you properly breathe, spend a little test. Stand up straight, put one hand on his chest and the other on his stomach, and quietly take a few breaths. Under a palm movement is felt? If the stomach rises, you breathe deeply, cycling all the light if the chest - breathing is shallow. Deep breathing is also called phrenic.

Diaphragm - the muscle that separates the chest and abdominal cavity and serves to expand the lungs. It accounts for 60 to 80% of lung ventilation operation.

As a child, all breathe deeply. Due to sedentary work, stress, uncomfortable clothes, breathing changes with age, it becomes superficial. During this breathing only the upper part of the lungs filled with air. As less air enters, breathing becomes more frequent, increasing the pressure on the neck and shoulders, which are already loaded in people with sedentary work.

The diaphragm, on the contrary, becomes weaker due to which is not sufficient intra-abdominal pressure is created, formed bad posture - center of the abdomen falls inside, bringing together the lower ribs and pelvis.

In addition, during shallow breathing quickened you force your body to work harder to get the same amount of oxygen as in a quiet deep breathing. This reduces the efficiency of your movements - you spend more effort, although this is not required.

Therefore it is necessary to work on breathing even during exercise. Try to breathe deeply and evenly. When inhaling stomach should inflate. Yes, you will have to concentrate more on his body, but for the sake of good posture, relieve tension from the muscles of the neck and shoulders and more economical movement should do it.

To tune in strength training with proper breathing, pay attention to how you breathe, even during the warm-up. Try to do all the exercises with rhythmic deep breathing. So you learn to breathe correctly more quickly.

Exhale on the effort, inhale on relaxation

This is the most popular advice on breathing, which can be heard in the gym and beyond: inhale when you make an easy part of the exercise, exhale on effort.

Strong and safe movement is possible only with hard spine, which transfers power from the large muscle groups. The spine is reinforced with a muscle strain bark - direct and oblique abdominal muscles, pelvic floor, back. During inhalation it is impossible to stretch well press and other muscles crust, so it is difficult to provide the necessary rigidity of the spine.

When you exhale, on the contrary, quite easy to strain muscles bark. Breathing affects them reflexively, through the nervous system. Muscles tense, fixing the spine and helping to develop maximum strength. That is why the effort to be performed on the exhale.

If you pay attention to your breath during heavy exercise, you may notice a brief cessation of breathing at the time of maximum effort. This is quite natural. Short breath holding is used by experienced powerlifters and weightlifters for lifting large weights. This breathing technique called the Valsalva maneuver, but its use is very cautious.

Do the Valsalva maneuver is dangerous

Valsalva maneuver - a procedure by which a high pressure is created in the middle ear cavity as well as the thoracic and abdominal cavities. It is used in ENT to test patency of the Eustachian tubes and cardiology to detect abnormalities of the heart. Also, this maneuver is used in powerlifting and weightlifting athletes and helps to lift a lot of weight.

Valsalva maneuver, used in power sports, as follows: a man takes a deep breath (about 75% of the maximum possible) and then, at the moment of maximum effort, it holds the breath for a few seconds, and tries to exhale air through the closeness glottis. Breath lingers throughout the repetition, exhaling takes place after.

Valsalva maneuver increases the pressure in the chest. It passed through the diaphragm into the abdominal cavity, which creates a good support for the back and helps to resist the forces trying to move the spine. As a result, the athlete can lift more weight, and risk of injury is reduced.

However Valsalva maneuver often criticized because it increases, and so high during strength training pressure, because of what can occur heart attack.

Opinions on this matter differ. Dr. Jonathon Sullivan (Jonathon Sullivan), professor of the department of emergency medicine at Wayne State University, considersThat when using the Valsalva maneuver should be afraid of a heart attack only to those who have already had problems with the cardiovascular system.

In another studyEffects of Weightlifting and Breathing Technique on Blood Pressure and Heart Rate. it has been found that the use of this technique for one-time maximum lift causes only minor changes in blood pressure. Valsalva maneuver is only suitable for lifting really heavy weights with low reps.

Using the Valsalva maneuver for multiple reps with little weight can cause a dangerous rise in blood pressure, the gap vascular eye and face, headaches, temporary blurred vision, can cause fainting or leakage of cerebrospinal liquid.

The latter problem has been described in the articleDo not Hold Your Breath. medical doctors Goyala Vishal (Vishal Goyal) and Malthi Srinivasan (Malathi Srinivasan) of the Department of Medicine, University of California.

50-year-old patient complained of headaches in the nasal projection, continuous cough and persistent unilateral nasal discharge. As a result, doctors have found assays cerebrospinal fluid leakage and damage to the nasal ethmoid bone. It turned out that the patient is carried out every day from the chest press with a weight of 90-136 kilograms. However, he held his breath during a lift.

Doctors have suggested that patient problems have arisen because of the Valsalva maneuver. Training raised pressure destroyed meninges, causing meningocele and cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea.

Valsalva maneuver does help to lift heavy weights, but it should not be used if:

• you are a beginner who does not have supplied equipment and a coach who can monitor the correct execution of the Valsalva maneuver;
• you prefer to exercise with small weights and many repetitions;
• you have had problems with the cardiovascular system;
• you were with intracranial pressure problems.

Securing the housing and continuous breathing

For medium loads should be applied continuously breathing without delay - exhale on effort, inhale on relaxation.

Start a little earlier to breathe for a moment, up to maximum effort. So you can do more.

Breathing should be smooth and rhythmic. Do not stop at the extreme points. Immediately after inhaling breath should be short without delay.

To ensure maximum rigidity of the body, try to use a secure method. This term was first used by Dr. Stuart McGill (Stuart McGill), a specialist in trauma and rehabilitation of the lumbar spine. Securing - activation of all muscles cortex, which allows you to create a rigid middle part of the body, to ensure the stability of the entire body and reduce the risk of injury.

Before the rise of weight Imagine that now you get hit in the stomach. Tighten your abdominal muscles and back. So you create a rigid corset, which must be held throughout the exercise. While continuously breathing, exhaling on the maximum force and further strengthening the body.

There is another theory about breathing during strength training. Dr. Stuart McGill, and Dr. Mel Stiff believe that the proper technique of exercises will automatically cause the body to breathe properly, your control is not required.

But this is true only for perfect technology. If you can not boast of such work on your breathing as well as on technology.

results

1. Try to develop diaphragmatic breathing. Breathe in the warm-up time to adjust and tune.
2. Use the Valsalva maneuver only a few repetitions with a maximum weight.
3. For exercises with lots of reps using continuous smooth breath to breath on an easy part of the exercise and exhale to the maximum force.
4. Along with the continuous use breathing consolidation - muscle tension crust to stabilize the body during exercise.

If you have any tips for breathing during weight training, write in comments.