Subject: Why breathing BACKWARDS is essential for back training [weird tip]...
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From Nick Nilsson
And once you read it, it'll make PERFECT sense... In general, the proper way to breathe during a set is to inhale during the negative (lowering) phase and exhale during the positive (lifting) phase, right? But is this the best way to breathe in all exercises? As a matter of fact, it isn't. I'm going to show you exactly how and why you should breathe BACKWARDS during many if not most back exercises. I'll use the lat pulldown exercise to demonstrate this powerful technique.
The pulldown movement is more effective when done with an arched lower back and puffed-up (expanded) chest.
This body position more fully activates the latissimus dorsi muscles. In fact, if your lower back isn't arched, it is extremely difficult for your lats to contract. Expanding your chest helps to accentuate this arched-back position, making it more effective for activating the lats. The straight-back position, however, tends to throw more tension on the biceps and upper back muscles. And this is the position many people find themselves in when attempting to train their back...consequently, it's the reason many people have a hard time feeling their back work when they're trying to train it!
Exhalation (breathing out) makes your chest contract. Inhalation (breathing in) makes your chest expand. You can demonstrate this very easily right where you're sitting ;)
The typical breathing pattern of the pulldown consists of breathing out as you're pulling the weight down and breathing in as you're letting it back up. What this means to you is that the typical breathing pattern is caving the chest in when you SHOULD be puffing the chest out! Take a deep breath in and notice what happens to your chest. It puffs out and expands. THIS is the optimal position for your torso during the pulldown exercise. Now carry this logic over to the pulldown movement. As you pull the weight down, take a deep breath in (which is backwards to what is normally recommended for breathing). Your chest will puff up to meet the bar automatically and your lats will engage strongly. Note the difference between the two positions in the pulldown. When you exhale as you pull down, your chest will become concave and your torso will be more upright. This places more tension on the biceps. When you inhale as you pull down, your chest expands and your lower back arches, placing the majority of the tension on the lats. If you've ever had a hard time feeling your lats working when you do back exercises, use this technique and you will feel an immediate difference. This amazingly simple technique can be applied to almost any back exercise from pulldowns to chin-ups to seated cable rows. Try this technique the next time you work your back and you'll see just how powerful breathing backwards can be! Nick P.S. If you haven't picked it up yet, my partners at Prograde Nutrition have put out an excellent free report on the truth about diet pills. It's eye-opening info and worth having a look at, especially if you have questions about diet pills. Click here to get the Prograde diet pill report...
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