Breathing....

What's up fellas!?! I know that this has come up before, but I couldn't find the old thread where it was at. Anyways, I know that small breaths when holding your static positions is what you shoot for, and this works great for positions that I already have nailed. For instance, I can hold a full lay BL for >15s and breathe quite nicely when doing it. But, I am finding that holding my breath on certain positions that I have been struggling with really helps me to nail that position. The tuck PL and the Fl particularly.

Yesterday I experimented with one leg extended FL. After a few seconds I started to drop a bit so I sucked in air real hard tightening the core even more and got more hold time. Also when lowering from a hang I tried it both ways and when I took a deep breath in and held it right as I reached parallel I could hold it, but when I let it out I dropped a bit. When I didn't take the breath I could barely stop my body from going straight to a hang. This also happens with my tuck PL. Hips are high and everything is tight and then when I let my air out it immidiately drops a bit. When I am fresh I can catch it and keep the hips fairly level but not after a few sets. I have seen alot of videos where it looks like people are holding their breath when in the planche.

Question: Should I hold my breath when trying to learn a new progression and increase strength? Therefore treating the breathing as something to "practice/implement" when I am strong enough too?

The holding your breath to help you remain more rigid in static positions is referred to as the valsalva maneuver. I would minimize using this as much as possible. Valsalva will be imperative when doing extremely high tension (close to 1 RM) holds, however, as with most FSPs, we aim to hold them for time. Thus, prior to all straddle level progressions, you should really focus on breathing in a relaxed manner (I'm not so sure about the small breaths).

Straddle and above progressions are a lot more intense, and the usual requirement goes from 60s to 15s. In that case, you may rely on the Valsalva maneuver far more heavily in the beginning and for longer times. But you should still be aiming to get your body to use the least amount of muscles to maintain that position, become comfortable in that possible and build work capacity in that position.

Look up Valsalva on the web and you'll learn some great stuff. It's your body's natural way to protect you when you do something difficult. It'll help a lot in the beginning, but your goal should be to aim away from that direction when possible.

RandomHavoc said:

The holding your breath to help you remain more rigid in static positions is referred to as the valsalva maneuver.

I was under the impression that the valsalva maneuver also included the "pulling UP and IN with the anus" part.

Pavel calls this whole thing "inter-abdominal pressure" and recommends it, but also recommends letting your breath hiss out

There are a lot of things you can do to increase the effects of the valsalva maneuver or decrease it. For example, elite level bench pressers will always perform reps with one breath. I've heard some do as many as 10-12. I don't remember Pavel taking about the hiss. I don't see it helping its effectiveness, unless its purpose is to minimize its "dangers".

RandomHavoc said:

I don't remember Pavel taking about the hiss. I don't see it helping its effectiveness, unless its purpose is to minimize its "dangers".

I thought it was in Bulletproof Abs.... I'll have to recheck

Valsalva is produced by exerting pressure against a closed glottis (or a glottis trying to close). This stimulates the vagal nerve slowing the heart rate down by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system (the rest and relax response). This is why I use it at work to rectify people's fast dysrhythmias such as SVT.

Anyway not sure if that was actual useful or not :? haha

Well, I guess I learnt that it slows down your heart. So it was useful in that sense!

Thanks for the replies fellas! I guess I will try hard to avoid it unless I am trying to break through to a new position (new max).

Why bother? If it helps you get things done and you're actively trying to avoid it then something is backwards. Better not eat any protein, or I might have an easy time recovering! The only issue with the valsalva for this type of training is that it isn't sustainable for a long strength series. Breathe in L sit...

Animal, that's exactly the point. You can't maintain the valsalva for longer holds which is the basic premise of the SSC. In this type of training, relying too much on the valsalva maneuver will simply not allow you to become comfortable in those positions, and it will probably ingrain those habits via CNS for future training.

I think your argument is a bit naive. It's like saying why bother retracting and depressing my scapula in a bunch of movements and positions when its clearly easier not to. You do it because you make preparations for future more difficult work.

Personally, my general rule of thumb is if it seems like the work you'll be doing is over 85% of max intensity, then I won't care if I'm relying on Valsalva. SSC is based on 50% intensity, so I definitely don't see it being used effectively.