Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Breathing As Easy as 1-2

I like the advice in this video a lot! It's a nice little tutorial on how to manage breathing to help with a heavy squat.

When I'm lifting heavy, especially on stuff like back squat which makes me kinda nervous, I can sometimes freak myself out by standing under the bar too long and thinking through all the possible cues and reminders. By the time I'm ready to move, I've thought myself right into paralysis.

My excellent coaches at CrossFit Austin and Whole9 have reminded me to NOT think quite so much when addressing the bar. Just focus on ONE cue, tops. Right now, my favorite is "Tight, tight, tight." (for just about everything!), but I've also gotten good mileage out of "Chest first." (deadlift) and "Fast elbows." (clean)

Next time I do a squat workout, I'll focus on one cue, and take this good breathing advice: one breath to get the bar, one breath to do the squat.

3 comments:

  1. Love this. Someone once used the analogy to explain breathing to me that the body is like an aluminum can. Cans are much easier to crush when they are empty, almost impossible when they are full. It's a good reminder to me when I'm squatting to fill myself up with air on the way down, so I don't crumble ;)

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  2. That bar needs to be alot lower on his back, and he needs to go down much lower. The breathing is on cue.

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