Comments on: Proper breathing during exercise and weight lifting

By: tony

tony — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:37:40 +0000

I am 17 years old, and have been weight lifting for 6 months. Does heavy weight lifting(250+ pounds for squat and deadlift) have any affect on my eyesight, such as increase in floaters, poorer vision, and glaucoma.

By: Akash

Akash — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 11:57:35 +0000

Hi, do you use valsalva only for super-heavy workouts, or for every workout (e.g. chin ups, dips)?

Also when do u hold your breath (valsalva) for workouts like bench press,leg press, lat pull downs?

I get confused with the pulling vs pushing workouts…..thnk u

By: Thomas

Thomas — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 00:06:18 +0000

Hi Peter:

Thanks for letting us know about one of the often-overlooked dangers of weight training. I wish the prognosis was better. Good luck and here’s hoping your recovery exceeds your expectations.

By: peter smith

peter smith — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 19:38:48 +0000

I am 51 years old and have been weight training for 25 years. During a hard set of military press my right ear suddenly ‘popped’. I instantly became virtually deaf in that ear with severe tinitus. Since then it has recovered slightly, however the ENT specialist has told me the damage is permanant. I now train with light weights for keeping in shape. I would never exchange my hearing for large muscles!

By: Thomas

Thomas — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 03:17:36 +0000

I don’t think holding the breath is dangerous — per se — but obviously there are some facts any weight lifter should be aware of when they start lifting very heavy weights.

Lots of people recommend the technique you describe. But it only works with sub-maximum weights. When the weights are very heavy, it’s almost impossible to breathe (because of the spinal-stabilization issues I mentioned). However, most people have no reason to use extremely heavy weights unless they are training for a weight lifting competition.

By: Dale

Dale — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 19:37:37 +0000

Is it dangerous if the breath holding is only momentary, followed by a slow expulsion of air as the weight moves concentrically?

By: Thomas

Thomas — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 17:30:21 +0000

I’m not aware of hearing damage related to weight lifting. But it stands to reason that pushing air during a lift can hurt the ears. This, after all, is the Valsalva maneuver which was originally created to manipulate the inner ear.

I heard about someone who apparently blew out an eardrum while blowing up a balloon. Heavy weight lifting can be as intense as blowing up a balloon, in my opinion, so draw your own conclusions.

Thanks for the comment and the food for thought.

By: George

George — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 07:20:54 +0000

Can weight lifng damage your hearig if correct breathing is not followed any know cases .

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 21:13:04 +0000

Great piece!

Nice to see someone finally cover this subject. Breathing while lifting weights is often a severely under-discussed topic, but can mean the difference between safe lifting and serious accidents!

By: Thomas

Thomas — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 17:03:38 +0000

It's virtually impossible to breathe during a heavy overhead press because you need to take a breath and hold it to make your core and spinal stabilization muscles as rigid as possible. I'd suggest this: take a good breath, hold it, then press and lock out the bar. It's best, in my opinion, to breathe only when the bar is in the starting position (that is: cleaned at the level of your collar bones). If you find it possible to breathe during overhead pressing, you are lifting light weights. There's nothing wrong with that, but unless you're lifting at six reps or below, you'll have a hard time gaining any size or strength.

By: Simon

Simon — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 04:01:08 +0000

Whati is the proper breathing when you are doing the overhead press?

Thanks!