Breathing is part of the lift: power breathing and the breath match
Updated: Oct 23
Most people think of breathing as something that just happens while they lift. In StrongFirst, how you breathe is part of the technique, and it's tested. The biomechanical breathing match is a tested standard in the swing, the press, and the snatch. If you breathe wrong, the rep doesn't pass.
Here's how I think about breathing, and how I coach it for each lift.
Two kinds of breathing
StrongFirst uses two related ideas.
The biomechanical breathing match. Inhale on the way down and exhale on the way up. The manual's phrase is "Lead the movement with your breath." Your breath sets the rhythm and your body follows.
Power breathing. This is how you create pressure and tension for heavy, slow work. It's what the manual calls a "virtual belt" around your midsection.
The two work together. The breathing match gives you timing, and power breathing gives you pressure.
Power breathing, step by step
This comes from the SFG manual:
1. Take a diaphragmatic breath, into your belly, to about 75% of capacity. Not a max breath.
2. Contract your pelvic floor.
3. Put your tongue behind your teeth.
4. Hiss "TSSSSSSS!"
Keep the tension in your stomach, not your head or neck. If your face turns red and your neck veins pop, the pressure is in the wrong place.
Pause between reps so you don't get lightheaded.
Why it matters
StrongFirst's view: "Safety is viewed as a part of, not the opposite of, performance." Bracing your glutes and abs with power breathing protects your lower back. The same brace that keeps you safe makes you stronger. They aren't a trade-off.
There's also a principle from the SFB, the bodyweight certification: the abs, glutes, and grip are the most powerful "neural generators." Squeeze them hard and the rest of your body gets stronger with them. Power breathing is how you turn on the abs.
Breathing for the swing
The swing is a ballistic, so the breath is sharp and fast. Brett Jones describes "a sharp inhale at the bottom/loaded position and a sharp exhale at the top."
The manual cue: snort in through your nose as the bell is about to hit the bottom, then explosively hiss "TSSA!" as your hips finish. That hiss lines up with the moment your glutes and abs lock. It's the "tense" in "tense-loose-tense."
The SFG I swing standard lists the breathing match by name. Swings with silent, held breaths don't pass.
Breathing for the press
The press is a grind, so the breath behaves differently. On the active negative, when you pull the bell down into the rack, the manual says to "inhale low into your abdomen through your nose." Then power breathe as you press, and picture sending compressed air "through your armpit into your fist."
That image works for me. It ties the breath to the lat, and the lat to the press.
Breathing for the goblet and front squat
Inhale into your stomach at the pace of the descent, so the breath fills you as you go down. Start the ascent "with a grunt." The manual calls that pressurization. The front squat standard lists "ascending with a grunt" as a requirement.
Breathing for the deadlift
From Deadlift Dynamite: breathe into your belly through pursed lips and stop before you fill your chest. A chest breath raises your shoulders and loosens the position you just built. Keep the air low.
Tension and relaxation
The manual puts it this way: "Tension is strength and power. Relaxation is speed, endurance, and flexibility." The two go together. Grinds like the press and squat use dynamic tension the whole way. Ballistics like the swing run "tense-loose-tense."
Breathing helps you switch between the two. The hiss turns tension on. Exhaling and shaking out turns it off. The manual pairs heavy work with "fast & loose" drills for that reason: you build tension, then let it go on purpose.
Breathing between sets: the breathing ladder
One of my favorite tools from the StrongFirst program design notes is Rob Lawrence's breathing ladder. You do a set, then take a set number of breaths before the next set. A 2:1 rep-to-breath ratio is reasonable: 10 swings, then 5 breaths, or 20 swings, then 10 breaths. The key is to slow your breath down.
It turns rest into something you practice. Instead of watching a clock, you pay attention to calming your breath. When your breathing settles, you go again.
The video for this one
The video below is my beginner tutorial on the single-arm swing. Watch it with the breathing in mind: snort at the bottom, hiss at the top, and the hips doing the work.
Cue list
Lead the movement with your breath
Inhale down, exhale up
Power breath: belly to about 75%, pelvic floor tight, tongue behind teeth, "TSSSS!"
Tension in the stomach, not the head or neck
Swing: snort at the bottom, "TSSA!" at the top
Press: inhale low on the negative, air "through your armpit into your fist"
Squat: inhale down, grunt up
Deadlift: belly breath through pursed lips, stop before the chest fills
Pause between heavy reps
Try this today
Pick one lift. Do a few easy sets and pay attention to your breath and nothing else. Does it lead the movement or trail behind it? Then try one round of a breathing ladder: 10 swings, 5 slow breaths, repeat. Notice how different "rest" feels when you're actually practicing it.
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