Best Way To Breathe During Weight Training
Most experts advise avoiding the Valsalva maneuver (holding your breath and straining) during weight training because it causes dramatic increases in blood pressure. Scientists have measured systolic blood pressures as high as 400 mm of mercury in athletes using the Valsalva maneuver during heavy squats (120 mm Hg is normal at rest). Some lifters argue that the Valsalva maneuver helps stabilize the trunk, which can dramatically increase strength.
Elizabeth Ikeda and colleagues from the School of Physical Therapy at the University of Montana found few differences in force output during movements of the knee, shoulder and elbow on an isokinetic device when people breathed normally; breathed in during the active phase of the lift; breathed out forcefully during the active phase of the lift; or used the Valsalva maneuver. Researchers concluded that forced expiration during the active phase of the lift is the most effective and safest way to breathe during weight training. These results may not apply to experience strengthtrained athletes lifting free weights. (Journal Strength Conditioning Research, 23: 127-132, 2009)
