Breathing vs holding the breath during exercise and bracing the core
When to breathe? When to hold?
Breathing is a process of exchange between oxygen and carbon dioxide at the level of the alveoli in the lungs. Oxygen is carried through the arteries throughout the body for essential functions. Exercise helps to facilitate this and keeps the cardiovascular system conditioned. It’s recommended that we get 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity activity to help ward off cardiovascular disease. Breathing is a natural process and occurs without us thinking about it. During most exercise activity, our body will automatically adjust our breathing intensity and pattern as our demands for oxygen change. There’s no need for us to regulate our breath.
During exercise, should we breathe a certain way? If you tend to breathe high up in the chest and neck, I would encourage you to look at rib cage mobility, and tension in the belly. Breathing is a rhythmic metronome during exercise and movement activity. It can help us regulate our individual pattern of movement if we try to focus on moving with the breath. Typically, if you are strength training and get to a sticking point, I would recommend trying to exhale to get through the sticking point.
Holding your breath, or Valsalva maneuver, during exercise can increase blood pressure and can increase intra-abdominal pressure. It is not recommended to hold your breath during regular exercise. It has not been shown to improve VO2 max(maximum oxygen utilization during exercise), speed or performance. Creating the stiffness in the trunk by holding the breath can help transfer the load you are trying to lift, so it may help you break through plateaus in weight training for improved strength gains if your goal is to be able to lift and move heavier loads. That type of breath pattern is utilized during heavier weight lifting such as 1-5 rep max lifting and Olympic weightlifting.
Typically, with bracing the core, the deeper abdominals, transverse abdominal and internal obliques, are engaged to assist with improved spinal stability during activity. The muscles are engaged as you exhale during the harder, lifting activity to increase muscle force generated during the exercise rep. When engaging the core, I would invite you to notice the quality of muscle engagement. Bearing down into the pelvic floor or pushing the belly outward will not help you create the stability in the trunk. Keeping these muscles engaged continuously is not recommended and can encourage dysfunction for these muscles. Keeping these muscles engaged continuously will inhibit your ability to receive a deep breath.
To wrap up, allow your breath to be natural and rhythmic as your exercise demands change. Avoid holding the breath except during heavier load lifting. Exhale with the effort of lifting to help get through the sticking point of a rep. Avoid bearing down into the pelvic floor as you lift. Engaging the deeper core muscles which tend to be especially active on the exhale can help stabilize the spine during weightlifting activity.
Take good care,
Sharon