Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Lifting Weights: The Valsalva Maneuver (Update)

UPDATE: Please read the comments below before reading The Art of Manliness article; the situations where you would want to use the Valsalva Maneuver are limited.

All through my PE classes, I was taught to breath in before doing a lift, and to breath out when actually performing the lift. But according to an article my eldest son sent me, this is all wrong. Instead, the author of "How to Breathe When Lifting Weights" at The Art of Manliness states that we should instead be holding our breath through the whole cycle in what is termed the Valsalva Maneuver.

First, he describes how to do it:
1. Take a big belly breath. When you take your big breath, you want your belly to expand, but you don’t want your chest to get big. Think “breathe into my belly.” You’re not really breathing air into your belly. That’s just a cue for you to get the deep breath we’re looking for.

2. Close your glottis and exhale against it. The glottis is what allows air to go in and out of your windpipe when you breathe. When you close your glottis and exhale against it, air can’t escape your lungs, which in turn elevates intra-abdominal and intra-thoracic pressure. This provides your “core” the stability it needs to perform a heavy lift. More on this below.

3. Perform the entire lift while continuing to exhale against your closed glottis. Do not let air out while going down or when you’re coming back up with the lift. Keep exhaling against your closed glottis for the entirety of the lift.

4. Let the air escape from your glottis after the exertion. After you complete the rep, you can release the air from your glottis.

5. Repeat the process for the next rep.
The benefits?
 The Valsalva maneuver creates a lot of internal pressure in your torso. This increase in abdominal pressure turns your normal day-to-day, sponge-like core into a stiff, telephone pole-like core. That rigidity is what protects your spine while you’re lifting heavy weight and it makes for a more efficient lift — rigid structures transfer force better than spongy structures.

2 comments:

  1. If a picture is worth a thousand words then the article written about moving weight is a fail. Look at the skeleton doing the squat. The head is in a neutral(anatomical position) at the end of the squat. This is totally wrong as cranial extension(head back) fires the entire sequence of spinal muscles from the head to tail therefore supporting the spinal column when squatting. Also, there are other "problems" with holding your breath related to breath control and training levels not addressed in the piece. You dont need heavy weight to get results....period! Heavy weightlifting is great for your ego but can be damaging to your body especially when done in poor form.
    Rooster

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, you encouraged me to delve deeper and I found an article at Bodybuilding.com that answers as you would expect: it depends. It states that: "It's worth emphasizing that the Valsalva maneuver is only for short-duration, high-exertion efforts. The same technique that provided a core of strength for your PR back squat can become a serious headache—literally—when you apply it to a run-of-the-mill bench press."(https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/know-when-to-hold-it-how-to-breathe-while-lifting.html)
      So, thank you very much for your comment and I will warn my son against trying the Valsalva maneuver for his normal lifting. I appreciate your reaching out.

      Delete

Paul Joseph Watson: The Truth About The Baltimore Bridge Collapse

In this video, Paul Joseph Watson points out why some of the conspiracy theories concerning the collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge in ...