Breathing, pull-ups, and deadlifts

[adam]

Hello,

I remember in Warrior Wellness or maybe in one of the Zdorovye tapes, that when compressing the body one should Exhale and naturally let the breath back into the lungs on expansion. Would one want to use this same method when dead lifting? Should you let the breath passively fill your lungs when pulling the weight up, and exhale as you set the weight down?

Also I was hoping someone could pass along pointers on proper breathing while performing pull-ups and chins, I have tried both exhaling and inhaling while pulling the body up and have not noticed which method yields better results. Any insight or advice on this?

Adam Oostema

[Dan Chomycia]

Adam,


Would one want to use this same method when dead lifting? Should you let the breath passively fill your lungs when pulling the weight up, and exhale as you set the weight down?

Yes, this may seem difficult at first, but is safer in the long run.


Also I was hoping someone could pass along pointers on proper breathing while performing pull-ups and chins, I have tried both exhaling and inhaling while pulling the body up and have not noticed which method yields better results. Any insight or advice on this?

This depends on what type of pull-up you do, most people end up leading with their chin and arching their back. In this case I would suggest that the thorax will be opening to take in air. This means inhalation on the up phase and an exhalation on the down phase. This is a very general comment. The key is to look for what you are asking your body to do movement wise not effort wise.

The movement breathes the body.

Talk to you soon!

[adam]

Coach Chomycia,

I had noticed that my body wanted to breath as it was pulled up to the top of the bar, intuition was directing me towards having movement breathing the body, although conditioning was telling me otherwise.

Thank you for clearing this up.

Adam Oostema

[Doug Szolek]

Adam, when you initially learn to apply Performance Breathing to Dead Lifts, drop down a bit with the weight (I know I can't believe I typed that either :P ).

Conventional Power Breathing is most often utilized for Deads and the like, and it will allow you to lift more pounds because your using your pressurized lungs to create a (false) support for your core. This is a natural reflex to help us in survival situations, but it's this knuckledraggers opinion that it's dangerous to train this reflex regularly. Realize that to apply Performance Breathing to Deads and such, you're going to have to re-learn proper core activation so that your musculature will be the system holding your skeleton in line to support the weight of the Barbell. This will result in a greater overall training effect in spite of the use of slightly lighter weight.

Let me know if this all makes sense, In faith,

[adam]

Coach Szolek,

It makes perfect sense, thank you. I was planning on dropping the deads for a while and performing a six week cycle of Be Breathed to reawaken core activation. Also, I was hoping to recondition my thoracic breathing patterns to reflexive, and to relinquish some lingering tension that that likes to hang around in the left side of my body.

If I am performing Be Breathed daily should I be watchful of over training? Would it be wiser to practice be breathed in a split M,W,F or M,T,TH,F?

________________

Adam Oostema

[Doug Szolek]

If I am performing Be Breathed™ daily should I be watchful of over training? Would it be wiser to practice Be Breathed™ in a split M,W,F or M,T,TH,F?

Depends on the volume, inensity, complexity, density, etc. What is exactly involved with your Be Breathed workout?

[adam]

Coach Szolek,

For the last couple days I have focused on learning the mechanics of the exercises in Be Breathed, although I have not yet begun a formal conditioning program. I can perform all the exercises proficiently with the exception of the shin box switch. Besides Be Breathed I have worked with the breathing exercises from Zdorovye over the last couple months, but without much consistency.

I have the performance goal of reconditioning my breathing patterns, so that I can further relax and remove tension from my body. For the last 4 months I have continued daily practice of Warrior Wellness and progressed to the advanced exercises, along with adding various drills from Fisticuffs and Leg Fencing to the mix. This has resulted in a progressive removal of tension and arousal from my nervous system, although it appears that my conditioned breathing patterns accumulate arousal and tension throughout rest of my day.

I know this takes the question you had initially asked in a different direction, along with the direction of the thread, but reflexive respiration and relaxation I want to achieve. Should I move this question over to the CST Program Design Help Desk?

Adam Oostema

[adam]

Yesterday while driving and practicing breathing exercises my respiration shifted over to reflexive breathing! :P
Adam Oostema