Strange things in the gym...

[b fold the truth]

Well...as many of you know, I'm working as a trainer in the athletics facility at Murray State and you just wouldn't believe some of the things that I've seen...

I saw the basketball trainer telling the girls to inhale when taking the bar down and exhale all the way up...don't hold your breath.


I also sat there and watched this girl who was about 6'1" and 150-170 pounds doing incline bench and every time she got up she spent about 30 seconds holding her shoulder and trying to massage it.

Within 5 minutes I had her doing inclines without pain and holding her air in...

Strange...this guy has a degree and experience...

B True

 

[gymtime]

I saw the basketball trainer telling the girls to inhale when taking the bar down and exhale all the way up...don't hold your breath.

Why is this wrong?

 

[kingc_79]

some people like to pretend they know what their talking about...makes them feel better about themselves

 

[phatman42]

Apparently one of the instructors at my gym told a lad i know there that he needs to wear a belt when he benches.

I'm still trying ot find out who it is so i can "discuss" the reasoning behind this advice.

Now the kid uses wrist wraps and a belt when benching.... and he's still not even near BW bench...

Bah!!! some instructors........

 

[JOKER47]

Re: Re: Strange things in the gym...

Why is this wrong?

Pushing out your diaphragm increases your internal pressure, which assists greatly during heavy lifting. Powerlifting teaches that.

Exhaling during the positive portion of the lift could cause you to lose strength and fail when you shouldn't have.


Maybe someone else can explain that a little better than that.


Joker

 

[b fold the truth]

Re: Re: Strange things in the gym...

Why is this wrong?

Your body is stronger when it is 70% or greater full of air. You are also a heck of a lot tighter when full of air...

It is also near impossible to maintain a tight arch with the shoulders and shoulder blades tucked back when exhaling on the way up. I see people try to exhale on the way up and it automatically causes their shoulders to come fwd...

B True

 

[b fold the truth]

Apparently one of the instructors at my gym told a lad i know there that he needs to wear a belt when he benches.

One of the throwers that I'm working with always wears a belt... I was watching him bench press and saw his butt come about 8" off the bench when benching too. We were trying to get him out of this habit and today we discovered the remedy...BOARD PRESSES!!!! If his butt comes off the bench...the boards fall towards his face and hit him in the mouth. Talk about correcting his form QUICKLY!!! lol. He got a good laugh out of it too...lol...thank goodness.

B True

 

[revexrevex]

Bfold, what about high reps.. do you exhale when you finish each rep?

I also heard that you should slowly let air out when u reach your sticking point

 

[b fold the truth]

Bfold, what about high reps.. do you exhale when you finish each rep?

I also heard that you should slowly let air out when u reach your sticking point

Hmm...I'm not a guru about weight lifting or anything...but these are just my thoughts...

High reps...holding the breath isn't as important. I do the best that I can. When I rest at the top...I'll exhale and inhale again.

If you listen to a lot of my clips...I am totally silent till I either finish or I am darn near finished with a rep...unless we are talking about events...lol. Events are just so painful and take so much longer that I can't keep full of oxygen...

Does that make any sense?

B True

 

[revexrevex]

Definetely makes sense. Also I think its easy to screw up the breathing on bench, but deadlift is totally different, its almost impossible to breath while you are lifting the bar, so the only option is to hold it in

 

[b fold the truth]

I was trying to convince the throwers to hold their breath when going heavy and they didn't understand..so I said...

When you throw...do you inhale before you start? They said yes...

Do you exhale through the entire motion? They said no...they don't exhale till it is gone from their hands and the throw is fully complete... They then said...'wait, ohhh...I get it now.'

I talked to the tall basketball girl and told her that her feet were also moving around on the bench press, causing her to be weaker. One had her feet up on the bench and the other, whenever she would get stuck, would move her feet around off the floor.

I asked her something.
What position do you play?
Foreward...power fwd.
When you are playing defense...where does your strength come from?
My feet and my legs being on the ground firmly. (as her eyes lit up)
Ok...so could you play defense on one leg?
No.
Ok..so when you bench press, can you be strong without your legs?
Well, I don't guess so.
Ok, then on your next set, keep your feet planted and think about how they would be when you are playing defense against someone who outweighs you by 20 pounds and is 2" taller...

Somehow...that clicked with them...

B True

 

[thebrute]

that's not strange...that's almost fearful!! but its like that sometimes...there are people out there who know more than those with degrees, who don't know shit!! fuckin politics!! tb

 

[gymtime]

Re: Re: Re: Strange things in the gym...

Your body is stronger when it is 70% or greater full of air. You are also a heck of a lot tighter when full of air...

It is also near impossible to maintain a tight arch with the shoulders and shoulder blades tucked back when exhaling on the way up. I see people try to exhale on the way up and it automatically causes their shoulders to come fwd...

B True

Interesting.

This might explain why I've strained my back on the upward motion on deadlifts in the past. I will usually exhale about halfway through the movement, simply out of habit.

 

[coolcolj]

Hey Bfold - you getting paid for this?

If so - nice!

 

[WalkingBeast]

Re: Re: Re: Strange things in the gym...

Your body is stronger when it is 70% or greater full of air. You are also a heck of a lot tighter when full of air...

It is also near impossible to maintain a tight arch with the shoulders and shoulder blades tucked back when exhaling on the way up. I see people try to exhale on the way up and it automatically causes their shoulders to come fwd...

B True

Didnt realize the B-fold. Should I take a deep breath and hold it before unracking the bar? Sounds like Id pass out hehe ThanX!

 

[WalkingBeast]

One of the throwers that I'm working with always wears a belt... I was watching him bench press and saw his butt come about 8" off the bench when benching too. We were trying to get him out of this habit and today we discovered the remedy...BOARD PRESSES!!!! If his butt comes off the bench...the boards fall towards his face and hit him in the mouth. Talk about correcting his form QUICKLY!!! lol. He got a good laugh out of it too...lol...thank goodness.

B True

Thats exactly how my training partner lifts! As opposed to my flat backed approach. Maybe thats why he lifts alot more at the same body weight. Hes also shorter. He jerks his hips, bounces it off his chest, but still gets 400lbs unassisted. Also puts the belt as tight as humanly possible. This same technique does nothing for me. Wonder why?

 

[WalkingBeast]

Definetely makes sense. Also I think its easy to screw up the breathing on bench, but deadlift is totally different, its almost impossible to breath while you are lifting the bar, so the only option is to hold it in

haha Rev. You do that too? I thought it was just my shitty form. I exhale before I deadlift and hold my breath.

 

[b fold the truth]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Strange things in the gym...

Didnt realize the B-fold. Should I take a deep breath and hold it before unracking the bar? Sounds like Id pass out hehe ThanX!

When I bench...I do the following.

Inhale, hold it, unrack the bar into place. Exhale slightly, inhale again and hold it...complete the rep then exhale when completed.

Squats: Inhale, hold it, unrack the bar and walk back. Exhale slightly, inhale fully, hold it till squat is completed.

That is just me though...

B True

 

[bigguns15]

Glad you were able to make those things click in their heads. Sometimes it's amazing what trainers are telling people to do.

 

[casualbb]

Holding one's breath in and pushing the abs into the belt build intra-abdominal pressure... this is greatly responsible for stabilizing the core. Since the core is the base of most movement, you can see where that would be helpful.

 

[erowana]

So I have been wrong all this while? Since I ever remebered, all I've ever been told is to inhale on the negative and exhale on the positive. Even in the army. Its become a habit now.

 

[b fold the truth]

So I have been wrong all this while? Since I ever remebered, all I've ever been told is to inhale on the negative and exhale on the positive. Even in the army. Its become a habit now.

Yeah...

Like I said...I rarely do many reps and if I do more than 3 I take a breath in between. Have you ever seen a pic of a powerlifter doing a heavy lift when their face didn't look like it was going to explode?

B True

 

[WalkingBeast]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Strange things in the gym...

When I bench...I do the following.

Inhale, hold it, unrack the bar into place. Exhale slightly, inhale again and hold it...complete the rep then exhale when completed.

Squats: Inhale, hold it, unrack the bar and walk back. Exhale slightly, inhale fully, hold it till squat is completed.

That is just me though...

B True

Cool. ThanX Clint! My technique is pretty similiar. I inhale before I unrack the bar, then exhale fully, take the bar off the rack and then inhale on tbe descent, sometimes hold it and dont exhale on the positive.

 

[b fold the truth]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Strange things in the gym...

Cool. ThanX Clint! My technique is pretty similiar. I inhale before I unrack the bar, then exhale fully, take the bar off the rack and then inhale on tbe descent, sometimes hold it and dont exhale on the positive.

It helps to have someone remind you of everything that you are supposed to do. I have a checklist of things to tell Cheese...and he has one to tell me. Really helps.

B True

 

[d3track]

b fold-
whish you woulda worked at my school
it woulda been nice to have someone helpful around, not someone to point out the obvious

 

[RottenWillow]

You know its obviously a human instinct to hold your breath during heavy lifting otherwise we wouldnt all do it until an expert told us not to. A person apparently already innately understands how to maximize performance without being told.

I tried that exhale on the concentric end of the movement exactly once.

 

[cheesecake]

A degree does not always equal an education.

Glad that you can help them out. I'm sure they will thank you later.
...chad...

 

[Citruscide]

Clint, you could make 50-65$ a session up here training. And I would gather you know about 70% more about training than I do... with or without your lungs being full of air.

I'm going over to the World's Gym here this week... apparently they don't really have trainers there... and you only have to give them a $8 rental fee for training clients there... so if you charge $55 per session, then you get to keep $47 -- that's some nice bonus...

Anyway... I do tell people to breathe when they are doing their higher rep workouts (like the girls who are doing 15+ reps) -- However, I think I'm going to start training them (especially with Squats) to start holding their breath when they are struggling toward the end... it might help a few of my clients from leaning forward on their squats...

C-ditty

 

[Griz1]

Hey BF.

Coming from someone in a family with alot of teachers, YOU should be a teacher of something. I think you'd be good at it. You also don't seem to be afraid to say "I don't know".

Maybe you are already. It wouldn't surprise me.

 

[Citruscide]

I think Clint would be great at alot of things... I have said prayers for him to help him be a professional strongman... and to be as sucessful as he can be at it... I consider BF a brother, one of the few off of EF who I can just call up and talk the shit with.

Come to think of it, my best friend is on this very board to...

C-ditty

 

[Becoming]

B Fold-

So how is that thrower trainging going more generally? (ie, how are the athletes performance wise, what are their weaknesses etc) Getting more familiar with the throwing life? Hope your having fun... Looking forward to hearing more on this...

B

 

[WalkingBeast]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Strange things in the gym...

It helps to have someone remind you of everything that you are supposed to do. I have a checklist of things to tell Cheese...and he has one to tell me. Really helps.

B True

Cool thanX Clint!

 

[Tiervexx]

This is the most useful thread I have seen for a while Bfold. After reading this I whent back and rewatched several Powerlifting videos and I realized that you're right, THEY ALL HOLD THEIR BREATHS! They might let out a little grunt but most of their air stays with them. I never would have noticed that if it where not for you, thanks.

 

[WalkingBeast]

Awesome! Clint is the man!!!!!

 

[magman1]

A degree does not always equal an education.

Glad that you can help them out. I'm sure they will thank you later.
...chad...

i was doing hammer strenght tricep/dip pushdowns...and i asked this trainer which grip would mainly target what heads of my triceps...and he told me to do all three grips, two to three sets each...thanx dickface!

 

[b fold the truth]

This is the most useful thread I have seen for a while Bfold. After reading this I whent back and rewatched several Powerlifting videos and I realized that you're right, THEY ALL HOLD THEIR BREATHS! They might let out a little grunt but most of their air stays with them. I never would have noticed that if it where not for you, thanks.

Honestly...I owe a lot of my success and knowledge to Hannibal. He spent endless hours chatting with me, talking to me, emailing me, etc...just because it MIGHT help me with my training.

Thanks for the karma man...

B True

 

[d3track]

b fold

i feel better now. at times i thought i was doing things wrong when i held my breath, but it couldn't help it

nice to find out i was doing right all along

 

[cheesecake]

I've started incorporating holding my breath this week.

It really helps.

Thanks for this thread.
...chad...

 

[Nonerz]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Strange things in the gym...

My technique is pretty similiar. I inhale before I unrack the bar, then exhale fully, take the bar off the rack and then inhale on tbe descent, sometimes hold it and dont exhale on the positive.

This sounds like what I do too...inhaling on the way down kinda creates more tension in my body...I'll have to experiment with holding my breath on the way down AND up.

B, I thinkperhaps many people (trainers, etc.) train that way because a lot of newbies do it the opposite--breathe out on the negative and breathe in on the positive. I suppose their way is better than that, but not optimal by any means.

 

[crew9]

This is the most useful thread I have seen for a while Bfold. After reading this I whent back and rewatched several Powerlifting videos and I realized that you're right, THEY ALL HOLD THEIR BREATHS! They might let out a little grunt but most of their air stays with them. I never would have noticed that if it where not for you, thanks.

They are also doing 1-rep max lifts. Try that with higher rep sets and you'll fatigue really quickly.

 

[Tiervexx]

They are also doing 1-rep max lifts. Try that with higher rep sets and you'll fatigue really quickly.

That is obvious but for 1-3 reps you seem to be much better off holding your breath.