I’m sure you keep reading or hearing the recommendation that you should breath normally during and in preparation for execution of a skill. Also, that you should never hold your breath during execution of an exercise or sports skill.
If you have been reading my blogs for any length of time, you’ll know that I disagree strongly with these recommendations. In reality, it is just the opposite from what is being recommended: you must hold your breath during execution of an exercise or skill.
The reasons for this are many and they are not based on opinion but on research. It has been proven that athletes hold their breath on the exertion phase of an exercise and for good reasons.
In execution of a sports skill, athletes inhale prior to beginning the skill (preparatory phase) and hold their breath throughout the execution (power phase). Exhalation takes place in the follow-through. Sometimes exhalation is forceful while at other times it is at a normal rate.
Breath holding is natural and the body will automatically do this if you do not superimpose a different breathing pattern. Simply watch someone getting ready to lift a heavy object. They will take a relatively deep breath and then hold it as they execute the lift.
The breath holding allows you to create greater force, helps to stabilize the trunk and as a result, creates greater accuracy in the execution. Not holding your breath decreases stability, decreases accuracy and the amount of force that you can generate.
With this in mind, why do we continually hear that you should exhale on the exertion? Do these people like to maintain this myth, or do they remain ignorant of the science behind it?