Breathing: Slow and Low that is the Tempo
For some tactile feedback, start by laying on the floor, on your back, with knees bent, and feet on the floor to find your natural posture. Relax one hand down to your side, and place the other gently on your stomach over your belly button. Just lay there and see what you notice about your breath. You are looking for an unrestricted diaphragm, which means there’s expansion and movement in the lower rib cage, not an elevation of the shoulders or upper chest.
Think of a soda can. Evenly pressurized with the top sealed, you can stand on it. Its walls are solid and you can load the top with more weight than that thin aluminum should be able to handle. Pop the top or push in the side, and it becomes easily crushable. Use this as a metaphor for yourself.
To practice a true diaphragm breath take a deep breath in and see if you can expand and press your lower back into the ground. As you exhale, your midsection contracts, and your low back pulls away from the ground. Practice for a few breaths, not forcing too much, just being mindful. (Good news is you’re laying down, you won’t pass out.) Now see if you can take a deep breath in, expand your back into the ground and your stomach into your hand. Taking a true diaphragm breath expands your midsection 360 degrees. Breathe out and everything contracts towards the center of your body. Stay in this position and practice expanding evenly on the inhale, and contracting on the exhale.
While you want to focus more on “breathing low” and letting the midsection expand, you don’t want to restrict the rest of the rib cage from expanding. This should feel like a more relaxed breath, not restricted, even if you have to concentrate on it at first. The upper ribs can (and will) expand with the lower, you just want to avoid excessive elevation of the shoulders. Don’t shrug as you breathe in.
If you had a belt tied around the middle of your waist, the belt would tighten evenly while breathing in. It would loosen on the breath out. Also, this is why and how a weightlifting belt is used. This is exactly the way you breathe when lifting. (now for the rest of your life). This inhale/diaphragm-descending/breath actually increases pressure in your abdomen. How? I thought you’d never ask. By taking a breath and letting the lungs fully expand, it pushes on the diaphragm, descending it. The lower torso / abdomen has nowhere else to go but out. This is called intra-abdominal pressure. But remember, we don’t just want the front of our belly to stick out (even though I sometimes call it a belly breath). We want even pressure 360 degrees around.
Fun fact: This diaphragm breath also eccentrically loads the spine. This means it takes your spine as you breathe in with that diaphragm breath, lengthens it, and holds it in that position. Your posture is held in a safe position and your spine won’t shoot out your back (probably).
Bracing: Still on the Ground
Now you need to learn to brace with this type of breath. Stay lying on your back but have a weight or something heavyish next to you. Take a big ole diaphragm breath in, expanding the torso evenly, then slowly force out the air with pressure. Pressure is the key word here. You don’t want to breathe out all at once, but make a small hole with your big ole mouth and pressure the breath out. You should hear it, like an air mattress that has a leak while your fat uncle is lying on top. To do this, you’ll need to flex your abdominals to help force the air out through the restricted opening. (Go easy at first, there’s levels to everything..) Now take a breath in, give a very short and strong pressure out and hold, just enough to flex your core around it. This intra-abdominal pressure combined with the flexing of all your core muscles creates the solid foundation for your arms and legs to press off of.
Pelvic Floor: The Bottom of the Can
As you practice the diaphragm breath in and out, you are now going to add the use of your pelvic floor. These muscles make up the bottom of our core, and help to strengthen the torso as we move weight. You want to be able to engage this musculature, or muscle system, just like any other. You can think of this as the bottom of the soda can, equally as important to hold pressure in just like the top (diaphragm) and sides (core muscles: obliques, transverse abdominis, and rectus abdominis).
After practicing lying on your back with the ground and hand as your feedback, move next to a seated position. Sit tall on a chair or bench, with your feet flat on the ground. You should be able to sit comfortably and maintain your posture.
Start by taking normal breaths but focusing on filling the lower lungs, and expanding and contracting 360 degrees, just as you did on the floor. Use your hands on your sides if you need a tactile cue to feel it. Once that feels more automatic, you’re going to focus on the bottom end. Your breath in should expand the pelvic floor down towards the bench. It might feel heavier or fuller down there. The breath out should contract and lift up and away from the seat. Picture it as it happens. This might take some practice to really get the mind-body connection, so be patient.
To engage these muscles, start on the breath out. On the next exhale, contract and squeeze your pelvic floor. Focus on a squeeze and a lift. Think of tightening (kegel) but add the lift up and away from the bench, like you’re using those muscles to pick up something. Remember there are levels to everything, and right now – you’re looking for engagement, not 100% tension as if you were under a max load.
Breathe in again and fill, breathe out, squeeze and lift. Take a few minutes to practice this. Close your eyes if it helps to connect to your body. After it gets a little more comfortable, practice it in the standing position. This is how you will start most lifts, so it’s a good idea to get comfortable without the floor or bench as feedback, but still be as effective connecting and engaging correctly. Add the bracing with the short pressure breaths out, keeping most of the air in. Blow just enough air out to forcefully contract your pelvic floor and abdominals. This is how we brace around that breath and intra-abdominal pressure.
Putting it together: Breathing and Bracing
You have your posture, your breath, and full core engagement on the bracing, now put it to work. Pick up a light barbell or weight in the front or back squat position. Posture. Breathe low, expanding 360*. Short pressure breaths out and brace the core, including the pelvic floor and abs and hold. Squat down. On the way up, the last ¼ of the squat, pressure exhale the rest of your air like you’re coming up out of the water. Now, back at the top, you’re at your starting position and ready to take another breath in, brace and move. This is how to cycle the breath during lifts. Try it with other movements, the idea is the same. The heavier the weight, the bigger the breath, and the harder you brace. This is when a weightlifting belt would come in handy. It will not hold your spine in place, but rather it is there to tighten around the smallest part of your waist, and give you something to breathe into and brace against. The restriction from the belt increases intra-abdominal pressure, making those heaviest of loads even safer and stronger.
After practicing lying on your back with the ground and hand as your feedback, move next to a seated position. Sit tall on a chair or bench, with your feet flat on the ground. You should be able to sit comfortably and maintain your posture.
Start by taking normal breaths but focusing on filling the lower lungs, and expanding and contracting 360 degrees, just as you did on the floor. Use your hands on your sides if you need a tactile cue to feel it. Once that feels more automatic, you’re going to focus on the bottom end. Your breath in should expand the pelvic floor down towards the bench. It might feel heavier or fuller down there. The breath out should contract and lift up and away from the seat. Picture it as it happens. This might take some practice to really get the mind-body connection, so be patient.
To engage these muscles, start on the breath out. On the next exhale, contract and squeeze your pelvic floor. Focus on a squeeze and a lift. Think of tightening (kegel) but add the lift up and away from the bench, like you’re using those muscles to pick up something. Remember there are levels to everything, and right now – you’re looking for engagement, not 100% tension as if you were under a max load.
Breathe in again and fill, breathe out, squeeze and lift. Take a few minutes to practice this. Close your eyes if it helps to connect to your body. After it gets a little more comfortable, practice it in the standing position. This is how you will start most lifts, so it’s a good idea to get comfortable without the floor or bench as feedback, but still be as effective connecting and engaging correctly. Add the bracing with the short pressure breaths out, keeping most of the air in. Blow just enough air out to forcefully contract your pelvic floor and abdominals. This is how we brace around that breath and intra-abdominal pressure.
To recap:
Posture
Breathe in low, expanding 360*
Pressure out and brace
Then move
Pressure out the full breath on the last ¼ of the movement
Repeat.
Go lift heavy shit.
Xo,
Coach Jenny
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