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What they told you about breathing and exercise is wrong...

According to common wisdom, you should exhale (breath out) during the most strenuous phase of an exercise, and inhale (breathe in) during the easier phase.

We hear, for example, that when performing the bench press, one should exhale upon the exertion. During the abdominal curl, most people are told to breathe out as they contract their abdominals (as the upper body leaves the floor). Then, you're supposed to breathe in as you return to the starting position.

This advice is rarely questioned. But is it correct? Does a "right" or "wrong" way to breathe really exist? And what evidence is it based on?

Breathing

Breathing is much more than a way to take in oxygen and get rid of carbon dioxide. It forms the foundation for correct exercise technique. Unfortunately, much of the common wisdom about breathing and exercise is misguided.

John Kenneth Galbraith — the famous Canadian economist — was well known for his regular puncturing of established orthodox economic wisdom. According to Galbraith, common wisdom is generally neither common nor wise.

And so it is with breathing and exercise.

Promoting a fixed pattern of breathing during certain exercises (such as breathing out on the effort) is supposed to...

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