Power Breathing

I learned power breathing specifically for lifting heavy weights. At the time, I was using 35lb dummbells, and at the time, a 35lb dumbbell was very heavy for me to pick up. I wasn't sure how to get the weights off the floor without hurting myself. I studied the concept of deadlifting, which involves arching your lower back, pushing your chest out, and shoulders back, and standing up naturally with perfect posture. When you deadlift, you don't use your arms for strength, you use your lower back and hamstrings (back of leg). Using a deadlift to pick up the 35lb dumbbells made me exert less strength and energy to pick them up and be ready for my exercise. But I needed something more - power breathing.

I liken power breathing to Superman blowing a gust of wind that can send people tumbling backwards. One thing that probably helped me immensely in power breathing is that before I adapted the technique, I was the opposite. I didn't breathe at all during working out, or I'd breathe very little. I did so because I felt I didn't need to breathe so hard, and I felt embarassed to breathe so loudly in front of other people. But I've grown beyond that ignorance and shame.

I noticed a few months into my push-ups that best pecs (chest muscles) became very inflated after doing my push-ups. And a few hours after the push-ups, my pecs would deflate quite noticeably. This happened every workout. I get huge and inflated, then afterwards I deflate and no longer look as impressive. Looking in the mirror, I could tell that when I breathed in with a long breath, my chest would fill with air, and when I exhale, my chest deflates. At the time, I was taking photographs of myself after every workout for future comparison and analyzation. I noticed that when I posed for the photographs, if I held my breathe, my muscles inflated and looked bigger. At first I was only taking these large breaths to inflate my chest, but soon after, I noticed I was using this same breathing technique when I did a bicep (arm) pose. Inhaling was inflating my muscles. I read an article on breathing that explained to me that you don't have to breathe air through your chest, you can breathe through your back. And it sounded bizarre to me because I didn't think I had ever breathed through my back. Some stretching positions, especially on the floor, cause you to breathe through your back. I also noticed that when I posed for a back photo, that my back would inflat when I breathed into it. My traps (upper back) would swell and look every impressive.

While I was in the midst (months) of doing push-ups, and no other exercises, I read everything I could find that was related to push-ups (I still do this today), and I realized that I was breathing at the wrong part of the push-up. I thought, how could this be? i do so many push-ups, how could I be doing them wrong? But I was. You should always inhale on the easy part of the exercise (the negative), and exhale on the hard part. So for push-ups you inhale as you lower yourself downward and exhale as you push yourself up to locked position. When I adapted my breathing to this style, it felt great, and more natural. I was breathing incorrectly for so long (month) that I was so overjoyed to breathe correctly, that I was loudly and forefully breating in and out. When I'm in the low position for push-ups, I exhale, breathing outwards as if my breathe alone is making me rise to the locked out arm position.

Afraid of hurting my back, whenever I went to lift anything over a pound, I would (and still do) exhale as I lift the object. Over time with using this technique and getting stronger from my workouts in general, it became easy to lift the 35lb dumbbells. And now at the gym I can lift 60lb dumbbells the same way, with no effort. I just exhale and in one swift movement, I yank it off the ground, and exhale as I yank the other off the ground. No injury, no wasted strength or energy.

Pull-Ups is another exercise that I learned I was breathing incorrectly in. The correct way is to exhale when you pull yourself up, and inhale when you lower yourself to a dead hang. Using the correct breathing method, I was able to be more explosivein power and strength. I never understood why people working out grunt or why Karate guys yell after throwing every punch, but it makes sense now. There's more power in their movements. It's the same thing when you watch a boxing match or MMA, you here quick, short exhlaes with every strike they throw.

So I did this exagerrated powerful breathing for maybe 5 months now, and I've noticed that I don't breathe nearly as loud as I used to, and I attribute this to myself using power breathing without breathing so hard in and out. Often time you can use a mental cue to remember something. For example, if I'm trying to remember the number 27, and I just keep chanting 27 in my head, I might forget the number, but if think in my head that 27 is 30-3, then the 27 number becomes much easier to remember because I can just recall, 30-3 = 27. In the same sense, breathing hard in and out cues my muscles to tense and be prepared, and after using the technique for so long, I'm gradually not needing to breathe so hard to enjoy the same benefit.

To conclude my ventures with power breathing, I'll end with the technique I've developed that I believe causes massive muscle growth. I've noticed through all of my workouts in the past year, that sometimes when I do push-ups, everything just feels right. I don't feel weak in any areas, the exercise is easy for me, and I can feel my muscles using all of their strength. I didn't attain that perfection every workout though, and I never knew what put me in that ideal place. I think I know what the trick is now. It applies for any exercise you're doing. I observed a bodybuilder in my gym who was the biggest guy in the entire gym. His best attribute being his traps. I watched him around the gym here and there for the past 2 months, and I was trying to figure out exactly which exercise he was dong to build his traps, which are bigger than any other humans. I believe the exercise that did it was flys. He sits down and does the flys with very lightweigh dumbbells (maybe 15lb) and the motion his body followed was very fluid and he literally looked like a fish swimming in the sea. He was getting maximum contractions (muscle shortening) to maximum muscle lengthening. It's the full stretch that a muscle can reach both ways.

Push-Ups especially, you're pumping blood throughout your body. You can actually pump up your muscles. That's exactly what that big bodybuilder was doing. It's literally like having sex - in-out, in-out. It's like slamming your dick into pussy. Pull out, push in, pull out push in. Think of it like a washing machine. Repeatitive movement from point A to point B, point A to point B. Fall into the rhythm of it. Clear your mind, and let your body perform. Each rep should be done at the same consistent speed. No fast rep, slow rep. Instead, every rep should be the same speed. A good analogy of this technique is a fish swimming. If you think about a bird flying in the air, they flap a few times and ride the currents. We don't want that. We want to be the fish, slapping your tail side to side, forcing your body to pump forward through the water. I've used this technique in push-ups and pull-ups, and I know it can be used with any exercise once you nail the technique down. The key to building muscle is to put your mind on autopilot, fall into rhythms, and simply perform. Don't think about your day so far, don't think about the rest of your day, don't think about money, friends - nothing. The only thing in your head should be the numbers for that set you're doing. Don't even worry about the next set or whatever exercise you're doing next. Be in the moment, and let your body respond and let your body make any corrections you may need to make in the exercise. Everything should feel right. If your left elbow or right shoulder is hurting, your technique is probably off. You shouldn't feel anything but your muscles burning.

1-Arm Push-Up

I took some tips from Pavel Tsatsouline on the 1-arm push-up. He describes the process of working your way up to it. I think there's a mental barrier to break as well. It's a lot of weight on one arm. I try to keep my shoulder, pec, elbow, and wrist all vertically in sync.

I spent a week and a half attempting it before succeeding. I found elevated surfaces and gradually put my hand lower, even used a ladder to graduate one rung lower as I adapted to the weight, and became confident in the strength to perform it. I'm currently able to do 5 reps on each hand twice a workout. I'm increasing the amount by 1 rep per workout.

Inverted Shrugs, Vulture Flys, and 270lb Calf Raises

Log Update 20110325

362 push-ups
_____304 1-leg push-ups
_____12 1-arm push-ups
_____50 divebomber push-ups
127 pull-ups
_____34 chin-ups
_____41 wide chin-ups
_____19 pull-ups
_____29 parallel chin-ups
_____4 hand assisted 1-arm chin-ups
9x50lb dbs flys, push press, hammer curls, zottman curls, shrugs
18x50lb tricep extensions

Day prior:

100x45lb hamstring leg ball curls w/fitness ball
40x200lb leg press
10x35lb leg extensions (1 set)
32x265lb calf raises (barbell)
30 inverted shrugs (1 set)

Log Update 110227

Tomorrow: Upper Body Routine
232 1-leg push-ups
32 divebomber push-ups
82 pull-ups
11x45lb dbs flys, push presses, hammer curls, zottman curls, shrugs
15 dips

Tuesday: Lower Body Routine
120x45lb hamstring leg ball curls
55 second ab hold
44x200lb leg press
10x70lb machine leg extensions
12x35lb leg extensions (1 set)
36x230lb calf raises (barbell)
45 inverted shrugs

Valentine's Day Eve Update

I joined a gym for heavier dumbbells. Tomorrow's routine is:

204 push-ups (112 1-leg, 72 Wide 1-leg, 20 Divebombers)
75 pull-ups (19 chin, 19 Super W pull-ups, 12 pull, 13 W chin, 12 parallel)
16x45lb dbs flys, push presses, hammer curls, zottman curls, shrugs
30 dips
20 inverted shrugs

I'm finding it easy to channel intensity at the gym. New supplements I'm taking are Glycergrow, Kre-Alkalyn, Fish Oil, Greens Supplement (veg and fruit), and Monster Mass.

Tuesday, my leg routine is as follows:

85x45lb hammy leg ball curls
75 second ab, quad hold on dip bars
60x170lb leg press
30x50lb machine leg extentions
12x35lb db leg extention (1 set)
55x205lb calf raises
25 inverted shrugs

Log Update 110107

214 push-ups (one-leg, decline one-leg, wide one-leg, triangle, divebomber)
100 pull-ups (167lb bw)
1x185lb bench press
25 skullcrushers (25lb dbs)
25 flys, push presses, hammer curls, zottman curls, shrugs (35lb dbs)
15 wrist rolls (10lb)