{"id":96321,"date":"2020-12-11T08:23:18","date_gmt":"2020-12-11T14:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?p=96321"},"modified":"2021-09-26T09:53:34","modified_gmt":"2021-09-26T14:53:34","slug":"how-to-breathe-when-lifting-weights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/health-fitness\/fitness\/how-to-breathe-when-lifting-weights\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Breathe When Lifting Weights"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-96359\" src=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Breathe-Lifting-Header-1.jpg\" alt=\"Poster by Art of Manliness about breathing while lifting weights.\" width=\"632\" height=\"353\" srcset=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Breathe-Lifting-Header-1.jpg 900w, https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Breathe-Lifting-Header-1-768x429.jpg 768w, https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Breathe-Lifting-Header-1-320x179.jpg 320w, https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Breathe-Lifting-Header-1-640x358.jpg 640w, https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Breathe-Lifting-Header-1-400x224.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>With our archives now 3,500+ articles deep, we\u2019ve decided to republish a classic piece each Friday to help our newer readers discover some of the best, evergreen gems from the past. This article was originally published in September 2018.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When I started lifting weights back in high school, I was told that the proper way to breathe when doing it was to inhale while going down on the lift, and to exhale on the way up.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So when I squatted, I\u2019d breathe in while I lowered my thighs to parallel to the ground, and breathe out as I rose up and straightened my legs out again.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I was told that it was important to breathe like this because it ensured my blood pressure didn&#8217;t get too high while hoisting all that weight, thus preventing me from passing out or having a stroke. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And so I thusly breathed while lifting weights for over a decade until I started working with Matt Reynolds, owner of <a href=\"https:\/\/store.barbell-logic.com\/art-of-manliness\/\">Barbell Logic Online Coaching<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead of exhaling on the way out, he wanted me to hold my breath for the entirety of the rep.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;What in the name of Eugen Sandow?!\u201d I exclaimed. \u201cWon&#8217;t that cause me to black out?&#8221; <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;No, and it protects your back when you&#8217;re performing heavy lifts,\u201d Matt replied. \u201cBreathing like this is called the Valsalva maneuver.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;That\u2019s a funny name, but tell me more.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He did. I absorbed it all, changed up my breathing pattern, and have been a better lifter for it. Today I\u2019ll pass on this know-how to you.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>How to Perform the Valsalva Maneuver<\/h3>\n<div id=\"attachment_96360\" style=\"width: 603px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-96360\" class=\"wp-image-96360\" src=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Breathe-Lifting-2.jpg\" alt=\"Poster by Art of Manliness about ideal body posture.\" width=\"593\" height=\"496\" srcset=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Breathe-Lifting-2.jpg 900w, https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Breathe-Lifting-2-768x643.jpg 768w, https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Breathe-Lifting-2-320x268.jpg 320w, https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Breathe-Lifting-2-640x535.jpg 640w, https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Breathe-Lifting-2-400x335.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 593px) 100vw, 593px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-96360\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Illustration inspired by&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2CTAzNk\"><em>Starting Strength<\/em><\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before you can understand the benefits of the Valsalva maneuver (which was named for a 17th century Italian physician), you need to know what\u2019s involved in doing it. So let\u2019s tackle that first.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>1. Take a big belly breath. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you take your big breath, you want your belly to expand, but you don&#8217;t want your chest to get big. Think &#8220;breathe into my belly.&#8221; You\u2019re not really breathing air into your belly. That\u2019s just a cue for you to get the deep breath we\u2019re looking for.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>2. Close your glottis and exhale against it.<\/b>&nbsp;The glottis is what allows air to go in and out of your windpipe when you breathe. <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you close your glottis and exhale against it, air can&#8217;t escape your lungs, which in turn elevates intra-abdominal and intra-thoracic pressure<\/span>. This provides your &#8220;core&#8221; the stability it needs to perform a heavy lift. More on this below.<\/p>\n<p><b>3. Perform the entire lift while continuing to exhale against your closed glottis<\/b>. Do not let air out while going down or when you&#8217;re coming back up with the lift. Keep exhaling against your closed glottis for the entirety of the lift.<\/p>\n<p><b>4. Let the air escape from your glottis after the exertion.<\/b> After you complete the rep, you can release the air from your glottis.<\/p>\n<p><b>5. Repeat the process for the next rep.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Make sure you\u2019re exhaling against your closed glottis, and not your closed mouth &#8212; it can be hard to tell the difference when you\u2019re just starting out. You can tell if you\u2019re exhaling against your closed mouth if you feel a lot of pressure in your sinuses and\/or your face. A telltale sign that you\u2019re performing the Valsalva maneuver against your mouth and not your glottis is that little red dots will appear around your eyelids, on your cheeks, and maybe on your nose. Those are broken capillaries from all the pressure you just exerted on those areas. Broken capillaries pose no health risks. They just temporarily make your ugly mug look even uglier. &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To ensure you\u2019re exhaling against your glottis and not your mouth, try performing the Valsalva maneuver with your mouth open. If you can feel air coming out of your mouth while performing your lift, you\u2019re not using your glottis. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3>The Benefits of the Valsalva Maneuver When Lifting Heavy Weight<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Valsalva maneuver creates a lot of internal pressure in your torso. This increase in abdominal pressure turns your normal day-to-day, sponge-like core into a stiff, telephone pole-like core. That rigidity is what protects your spine while you&#8217;re lifting heavy weight and it makes for a more efficient lift &#8212; rigid structures transfer force better than spongy structures. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your body naturally performs the Valsalva maneuver whenever you&#8217;re lifting or pushing something heavy. Mark Rippetoe, creator of <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3m2S5QC\"><em>Starting Strength<\/em><\/a>, uses the example of pushing a car to highlight this instinctive response. Think back to when you\u2019ve had to push a stalled car. You took a big breath and held it while simultaneously tightening the muscles in your core. You do the same thing when you hear someone say, \u201cBrace yourself!\u201d In both scenarios, you do the Valsalva maneuver without even thinking about it. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Weightlifting belts help magnify the pressure that performing the Valsalva maneuver creates in your torso. As we discussed in our article on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/articles\/weightlifting-belt\/\">why you should wear a weightlifting belt<\/a>, these belts don&#8217;t support your back while lifting, as it is often assumed. Instead, the belt provides a proprioceptive cue to your torso to squeeze and tighten your core muscles harder when you\u2019re lifting a really heavy weight. Just as you can tense your bicep muscles more when you\u2019re curling 20-lb dumbbells than when you\u2019re curling a couple of soup cans, your core muscles can tense up more when they\u2019ve got something to push against. The weightlifting belt provides that pushback. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Valsalva maneuver keeps your back safe while lifting and allows you to transfer more force to the bar. You can probably get away with &#8220;inhale on the way down and exhale on the way up&#8221; with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/health-fitness\/fitness\/bro-basics-how-to-do-a-bicep-curl\/\">bicep curls<\/a> and high rep squats, but if you want to start pushing and pulling heavy weight on the barbell, you&#8217;ll have to do the Valsalva. Heck, if the load is heavy enough, your body will make you do the Valsalva maneuver even if you&#8217;re not trying to (but it\u2019s better to do it intentionally and methodically, from the start of the lift all the way through to the end).<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Won&#8217;t the Valsalva Maneuver Cause a Stroke\/Increase Blood Pressure\/Burst an Aneurysm\/Kill You?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many doctors and trainers tell weightlifters to avoid using the Valsalva maneuver because it&#8217;s dangerous. Not only does the Valsalva maneuver create high pressure in the torso, they say, it also increases pressure in the brain, heart, and blood vessels which could result in a stroke, ruptured aneurysm, or chronic high blood pressure. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dr. Jonathon Sullivan, MD, PhD &#8212; a physician and Starting Strength coach &#8212; did a pretty extensive write-up analyzing the research on the dangers of performing the Valsalva maneuver while lifting heavy weights. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/startingstrength.com\/articles\/valsalva_stroke_sullivan.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I&#8217;d encourage you to read the entirety of the article here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To summarize, there&#8217;s no evidence that performing the Valsalva maneuver while lifting will increase the chances of having a stroke, an aneurysm, or chronic high blood pressure. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now for the subtleties: If you have an intracranial aneurysm, you probably don&#8217;t know you do, and you won&#8217;t know until it bursts. Can doing the Valsalva maneuver while lifting weights cause it to burst? Maybe, but <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/21546472\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">one study<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> found that an aneurysm is more likely to rupture from straining to poop, having sex, or blowing your nose; i.e., just doing regular life things is more likely to burst an aneurysm than lifting weights with the Valsalva maneuver. If you have a family history of aneurysms or suspect you have an intracranial aneurysm, you probably shouldn&#8217;t be lifting at all unless cleared by your doctor. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What about high blood pressure? While your blood pressure spikes pretty dang high when you combine the Valsalva maneuver with lifting heavy weight, no research exists that this causes <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">chronic <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">high blood pressure. It will soon return to normal; the spike in pressure is temporary and won&#8217;t cause any long-term health problems.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>For an in-depth lecture on the Valsalva maneuver, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=d8_1xq8c23c\">check out this video by Starting Strength Coach Dr. Steph Bradford<\/a>. She gets into the physiology and safety of it in great detail.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There you go &#8212; how to breathe while lifting weights. Use the Valsalva maneuver: it\u2019s generally safe, protects your back, and allows you to lift the bar more efficiently.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With our archives now 3,500+ articles deep, we\u2019ve decided to republish a classic piece each Friday to help our newer readers discover some of the best, evergreen gems from the past. This article was originally published in September 2018. When I started lifting weights back in high school, I was told that the proper way [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":101735,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,230,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-fitness","category-health-fitness"],"featured_image_urls":{"large":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2018\/09\/breathe-538x280.png","aom":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2018\/09\/breathe-372x230.png","reactor-320":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2018\/09\/breathe-320x185.png"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v26.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Valsalva Maneuver in Weightlifting | The Art of Manliness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Valsalva maneuver keeps your back safe while lifting and allows you to transfer more force to the bar. Here&#039;s how to do it properly and safely.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/health-fitness\/fitness\/how-to-breathe-when-lifting-weights\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Breathe When Lifting Weights | The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Valsalva maneuver keeps your back safe while lifting and allows you to transfer more force to the bar. 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