Yes I know – we are all breathing – and if we weren’t we would be… well… DEAD.
But have you ever paid attention to your breathing when you exercise? Runners have to teach themselves to breathe correctly during their runs so that they are not exerted and out of breath by mile one (which speaking from experience is not always easy to train yourself to do)
What about resistance or weight training? Did you know that focusing on your breathing as well as your technique is important too? DO you typically try and hold your breath while lifting the heaviest weight that you possibly can and then grunt as you push the weigh away from your body?
Listen – I am not going to harp on you if you are one of those lifters who grunts and groans and yells in the gym – but I do think you are excessive… and a little over the top with the “look at how strong I am” type of communication you are going for… We get it – you want us to watch you lift heavy stuff… but I am going to come over here and just focus on myself… mmmmkkkaaayyy… (stepping off soapbox)
The importance of breathing in your resistance training is crucial. Just like you want to make sure that you are doing the exercise correctly – you also want to make sure that you are breathing correctly too. If you find yourself holding your breath, consciously make an effort to count your reps out loud. This will help you start to focus on correct breathing – also if you are lifting things that may be a little too heavy (at the moment) take it down a pound or two until you can breathe correctly and still get a great training session in.
How to breath during resistance training:
Breathe in during the relaxation or reset of the exercise.
Breathe out during the resistance/tension or lift of the exercise.
Focusing on your breathing can help you obtain the maximum benefits from your work out as well as help you burn calories.
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<3 Meggs