How to BREATHE While Exercising | Concentric & Eccentric

hey guys today we'll be learning how to breathe properly during exercises just like with running you can breathe however you want while you run but learning the proper breathing techniques can really help take your running to the next level and help you run at your fullest potential the same idea applies to working out learning how to breathe properly during your exercises helps you to perform your exercises again at the fullest potential if you guys are ready to take your lifting to the next level and learn how to breathe correctly during your exercises to get the most out of your workouts give this video a thumbs up and let's get started [Music] for every weightlifting exercise there are two phases the concentric and eccentric the concentric phase is when you flex the muscle and the eccentric phase is when you relax the muscle the eccentric phase is also known as the negative for example when i contract my biceps to lift the dumbbells up here i am in the concentric phase when i lower the dumbbells back down i enter the eccentric phase aka the negative essentially when you are contracting the muscle you are targeting during an exercise you are in the concentric phase and when you relax the muscle after contracting it you enter the eccentric phase when it comes to breathing all you gotta do is exhale during the concentric and inhale during the eccentric yep it's as simple as that exhale as you flex the muscles you're working and inhale as you relax them there might be a few exceptions but this will typically apply for most exercises again when you're lifting weights we have the concentric and eccentric phase the concentric phase will generally be when you're flexing a muscle in the eccentric phase when you relax that same muscle to perform an exercise at its optimal potential you will typically want to exhale as you contract the muscle you're targeting during the concentric phase and then inhale as you return back to starting position aka the eccentric phase aka again the negative let's go through some examples to get a better feel for it as we were saying earlier with the dumbbell curls the muscle we're targeting here is our biceps as we flex our biceps to perform the curl we enter the concentric phase and exhale as we return the dumbbells back down to their starting position we enter the eccentric phase and inhale exhale as i flex my biceps to curl and inhale as i lower the dumbbells back down so simple right let's do another exercise for the leg press any variation of leg press the concentric phase will happen when you contract your leg muscles to push the weight away from you and the eccentric phase will be when you bend your knees to lower the weight back down towards you therefore you'll want to exhale as you push the weight away from you and inhale as you lower it back down again you are flexing your leg muscles in order to push the weight away from you putting you in the concentric phase as you bend your knees to lower the weight back down you're relaxing the muscles you just contracted and entering the eccentric phase exhale as you push your legs out and inhale as you bring the weight down towards you if at any time you have questions about how to use the machines in this video please refer to my how to use gym equipment playlist where i explain how to use a number of gym machines and equipment [Music] next let's talk about the hamstring curl machine this exercise will target your hamstrings as you contract your hamstrings to push the weights back you enter the concentric phase as you release your hamstrings to extend your feet back out you enter the eccentric phase therefore you want to exhale as you curl and inhale as you relax your hamstrings and return back to starting position inhale exhale inhale exhale [Music] getting the hang of it yet let's have you do the next one leg extension machine which targets your quads comment down below which part of the movement is a concentric phase and which is the eccentric phase when do you inhale and when do you exhale if you guess that contracting your quad to lift the weight up is a concentric phase and lowering the weight back down is the eccentric phase you guessed right you guys are too smart therefore you would want to exhale as you lift the weight up and inhale as you lower it back down [Music] next let's look at the lat pull-down machine which can be a little tricky this exercise will mainly target your back muscles and biceps can you guess when i'm in the content stroke and eccentric phases when i pull down i flex my back and biceps in order to do so making that the concentric phase when i release the weight back up my back and bicep muscles relax and lengthen again making that the concentric phase therefore i exhale as i pull down and inhale as i return back to starting position this will also be the same for any kind of back pulled on exercise like a single arm pull down or pull down with a different kind of attachment not as confusing as it seemed at first right let's keep on going to the next exercise shoulder press concentric phase will be when you're pushing up an eccentric phase will be when you're lowering the dumbbells back down excel as you push up and inhale as you return back to starting position this will also apply for any kind of shoulder press and overhead press we're still going to go through a few different exercises but feel free to drop a comment if you have questions about how to breathe for a specific exercise as awesome as it would be to include every exercise invented ever in this video it would also make this video never ending but as you're seeing already if you know how to breathe for one exercise you basically know how to breathe for all exercises let's go over breathing for our dumbbell overhead triceps extension next as the name of this exercise suggests this exercise targets your triceps so when you contract your triceps to lift the dumbbell up you enter the concentric phase and when you lower the dumbbell back down and relax your triceps you enter the eccentric phase exhale as you reflect your triceps to extend your arms up and inhale as you return back to starting position [Music] moving on let's get into exercises where breathing cues can be a little more difficult and confusing starting with the bench press if you have a guess on how to breathe during a bench press drop your guess in a comment down below [Music] the bench press will target mainly your chest muscles and triceps starting with the bar extended up above you your chest and tricep muscles are lengthened putting you in the eccentric phase and in order to push the weight back up you have to contract your chest and tricep muscles putting you in the concentric phase again as you lower the weight you're in the eccentric phase and as you push the weight up you're in the concentric phase therefore you'll want to inhale as you lower the barbell down and exhale as you contract your chest and tricep muscles to push the barbell up the same breathing will also apply for really any chest exercises like a dumbbell chest press machine chest press push-ups for all of them the pushing movement will be the concentric phase where you want to exhale and the hands return your back down to your chest part of the movement will be the eccentric phase where you want to inhale again push out exhale lower the weight towards your chest inhale a little confusing but not too bad right let's keep going and of course please make sure to sanitize your equipment and machines after using them let's talk about squats next squats are a compound movement meaning that they are an exercise that works your entire body however the main muscle group used for squats would be the muscles in your lower body like your quads and glutes so the eccentric phase will occur first as you are going down into the squat and the concentric phase will happen as you contract your glutes and leg muscles to push your hips forward and return back to your standing position for most other exercises you'll breathe throughout the movement however for squats many people will want to inhale right before they go down into the squash and hold that breath until the rep is done and then release the breath this will typically be the techniques used when lifting heavier with more advanced lifters to help keep full body tension in order to sustain the heavy weight however if you're more comfortable simply inhaling as you go down into the squats and exhaling as you go back up feel free to do that as well there's really so much that goes into squats check out my how to squat videos for more tutorials on how to squat correctly anyways again as you go down into the squat you enter the eccentric phase and as you go back up you enter the concentric phase inhale as you go down into the squat and exhale as you come back up as you begin to left heavier and progress in technique you may want to inhale right before the wrap and exhale after the rub [Music] let's move on to dad loves next specifically conventional or sumo another one that can be a bit confusing deadlocks are another compound movement meaning that they work your entire body but the major muscle groups have worked will be your leg and back muscles the concentric phase will occur as you flex your back muscles glutes and other leg muscles to pull the weight up and the eccentric phase will come after when you're lowering the barbell back down to the ground just like squats breathing can be slightly different for conventional and sumo deadlifts you'll want to inhale right before the rep and hold your breath until you reach the lockout where you exhale again inhale right before the rep pull the weight up to a lockout and then exhale when you reach lockout there's so much more that goes into deadlifts as well please refer to my how to deadlift video for more information on proper form [Music] thanks so much for watching this video today guys if you enjoyed it and found it helpful make sure to leave a thumbs up and share it with someone who might also find it helpful if you haven't already make sure to subscribe to my channel and turn that notification bell on so you don't miss out on other helpful videos just like this for daily fitness and workout tips like me on facebook and follow me on instagram if you have any other questions about exercises are working out make sure to also leave a comment down below thanks again for watching and have a great rest of your week [Music] you