Breathing

Anniel88

Hi everyone,

I’m fairly new to stronglifts and have been a long-time lurker (great job everyone!) I had done NROLFW in the past, but had to cancel my gym membership so I'm now back to square one. Now that I’m back in the gym and lifting weights, I’m working on my form and loving the simplicity of the program vs. new rules.

I’ve been reading the starting strength book and watching many videos, but one thing that just seems awkward to me is breathing. Rippetoe makes it quite clear to not breathe while doing the actual lift to keep your core tight. How do you do this? Do you take a breath between reps or do you do the whole set and then let it out? It seems so counterintuitive to me when I also do yoga which is all about movement with the breath. Who knew breathing could be so complicated??

Thanks for the help! (I'm also going to start jumping into the work-out check in thread so I'll see you all there!)

MissHolidayGolightly

I usually inhale and tighten core, do rep, exhale, inhale at top. Sometimes I exhale a bit finishing a rep, particularly if the movement is taxing (usually for heavy squat, bench, and deadlift). Sometimes I do two reps before taking another breath.

It's difficult to get out of the vinyasa yoga mindset. In yoga we're taught to breathe while holding the core and neck firmly using the bandas. The same doesn't necessarily apply to heavy lifting because you need to focus everything on holding the weight up while protecting yourself.

xcalygrl

I take a breath before each rep. You don't want to hold it through the whole set as that can make you lightheaded or faint. I breathe in, squat down/bench press/row/deadlift/OHP, breathe out at the top, repeat.