Breathing while lifting, myth or fact?

[The Survivor]

OK I get asked this once in a while of course esp. by women. I've always been told to breath normal, dont hold your breath. I know the one exercise I do where I do monitor this is the bench press where I exhale when pushing up and reverse the way down.

Other than that, am I correct here?? Just breath normal?

 

[Presser]

I always breath normal bro, i was never one to hold my breath nor was i ever one to grunt,

 

[BiggerStronger]

I don't really pay attention to how I breath. Every once in a while I'll catch myself holding my breath on a hard rep, but I think I breath normally most of the time.

 

[WesleyInman]

I think for lifting excruciatingly heavy weights it is absolutely key, for example on squat and deadlift you must hold your breath on the positive portion of the lift for optimal results...I even take huge breaths on each rep prior to the lifting portion on my bench and pressing motions...and it makes all the difference in the world...

For bodybuilding I would think a normal consistent pattern since you are doing more reps would be better??

 

[Ox 51]

I've always heard to exhale during the lifting movement and inhale during the negative portion.

 

[WesleyInman]

I've always heard to exhale during the lifting movement and inhale during the negative portion.

Exactly I do this on all normal motions personally

But on heavy squats and deadlifts, say near Maxes I hold my breath

I think if you did this with reps you'd pass out or die though

 

[Ox 51]

I think a lot of people hold their breath without realizing it. I remember hearing about a running back, Shaun Alexander I think, who said that they realized that he was holding his breath during his runs. They taught him to breath better and it made a huge difference. As you could imagine, he was tiring out quickly after a few seconds of running because of holding his breath. So, with the better breathing he was hitting the holes a lot harder.

 

[Boomer]

When lifting super heavy the body holds its breath automatically, the full lungs support the body more and create an elastic recoil to try move the weight. . problem with this if your doing it to often you get dizzy spells because your mucles are using up all the oxygen in your blood and your not replacing it fast enough

 

[Zeus]

I've always heard to exhale during the lifting movement and inhale during the negative portion.

I have always done this. This is just a rule of thumb in my OP. I do hold my breath or grunt on my heaviest movements. It is proven that grunting generates up to 10% more power so why the fck not grunt? I honestly could care less if anyone doesn't like my grunting. I'm there for me and my goals not for there ass!!!! Being loud and getting intense is encouraged where I lift.

 

[big in vegas]

Like Wesley, I only really hold my breath when I'm doing something near a 1RM