- BREATHING OUT ON THE CONCENTRIC PHASE OF THE MOVEMENT.
Think back to PART 1 of this series. Stability through this movement is paramount especially if the spine is loaded. The spine (in particular the lumbar spine), is mainly what you’re stabilising and therefore protecting.
As you descend into your squat, we’ve already established the necessity for you to incorporate the Valsalva Manoeuvre. The breathing technique to encourage the core muscles to activate and therefore provide the needed stability around the lumbar spine.
If you were to breathe out as you move through the concentric phase of the squat, you automatically eliminate ALL stability and in doing so you lose the engagement of those muscle needed to help you move through the hardest part of the squat as efficiently as possible.
Our bodies are designed to keep us protected. If it notices a weak link in the chain, it will ensure that it does everything necessary to get you through to the other side without dying and most of the time it’s at the cost of your technique. We all know what happens when this happens long term.
My biggest piece of advice to you would be to HOLD that breath from the start of the movement and continue to hold it until you’ve completed your repetition. Once you are set to do another repetition, you should begin by taking in another breath and repeating the Valsalva Manoeuvre once again to ensure lumbar spine stability before descending.
Yours in Health,
Coach Anthony Kassis
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