How to breathe when lifting weights?

People really have an obsession with breathing these days. We used to see it mainly in runners, boxers, or lifters wondering how they should breathe. Now we even see everyday people wondering how they should breathe in daily life, while sleeping, working, eating, etc..

It makes sense after all breathing is vital to us.

So I hear it a lot whether I’m personal training or coaching our small group training session people asking me how and when to breathe? They tell me they heard this or that online. One of my clients even told that one of his mate who’s a doctor said the way we’ve been breathing during training is dangerous.

So, in an attempt to clear the air of all the misinformation, here’s how we break it down depending on the circumstances.

First, let’s address the most common advice:

1. You should breathe in when lowering the weight and breathe out when pushing

2. You should hold your breath and let go of a tiny bit of air as you lift the weights

3. You should hold your breath and brace when lowering or lifting the weights

   
   

None of this advice is necessarily wrong, it’s just dependent on context. A lot of the time, it’s the weight or intensity level that dictates the breathing you use.

How to breathe when lifting weights?

Option 1 - Light weights / low effort activity

We recommend you breathe however you want here, really, it doesn’t matter. Don’t overthink it. You can breathe in when lowering and breathe out when lifting. Another approach is a bit more movement-based: Breathe in when the rib cage expands (with less lung pressure) and breathe out when the rib cage compresses.

Honestly, it doesn’t matter here. Whatever feels comfortable is good.

Option 2 - Medium weights / Medium effort activity

Here, breathing becomes a bit more important. You can start bracing or be more conscious about your breathing pattern (cycle), so that you minimise early onset of fatigue or dizziness. A good rule of thumb is to aim to get one inhale and one exhale per rep.

Option 3 - Heavy weights / Hard effort activity

At this level, you should aim to hold your breath and brace during the hardest part of the lift.

Also known as the Valsalva manoeuvre, by taking a deep breath and holding it in, you’re effectively trapping air inside and building up intra-abdominal pressure. This turns your torso into a rigid, stable structure that helps you lift more efficiently, but also more safely.

However, this temporarily spikes blood pressure and reduces blood flow back to the heart. That’s why it’s best used in short bursts, otherwise you might feel dizzy or even faint if you hold your breath for too long.

This practice is often criticised, but it’s extremely safe for most healthy individuals when used appropriately. Some people with certain heart or health conditions will be advised against it, in that case, follow your doctor’s guidelines. If you’re a healthy individual, you have nothing to worry about, the worse thing that could happen is if you faint if you hold your breath to extreme extend, which would happen anyway if you weren’t lifting weights.

The Valsalva manoeuvre actually happens naturally in a lot of daily activities such as sneezing, lifting something heavy, or even going to the bathroom. It’s just that when lifting weights, we can use it more consciously to help us lift safely and more efficiently.

One last thing

It’s not only the weight that dictates how you breathe, the intensity can affect how to breathe when lifting weights.

For example, you might use medium weights but push the set very hard. A set of 20 reps with medium weights might feel easy for the first 10 reps, where breathing isn’t much of a concern, but the last 10 reps will require you to breathe and brace differently to accommodate the increased difficulty.

Training with us

We’re a strength and conditioning gym in Hackney Wick, with a heavy focus on 1-1 personal training and small group training. We believe the fitness industry has put way too much focus on cookie cutters program, big group classes and massive commercial gyms where coaching quality suffers and it’s easy to be unseen.

We currently have a 21-days trial if you’d like to try out our small group training sessions.