Doing a heavy deadlift or swinging a heavy mace require different manners of breathing and bracing.

At my old gym, the Cave, we did a lot of heavy lifts.

We utilized the Valsalva method of breathing: take a big breath, brace with full body tension, and hold it throughout

the lift. Repeat this for each repetition.

It worked well and our athletes lifted progressively heavier loads.

When you do a heavy farmer’s walk, obviously the Valsalva breathing won’t work since you are covering a specific distance

Now with mace swinging you do not hold your breath.

You breath rhythmically and you brace differently.

Activate your transverse abdominus, which is the only core muscle that runs horizontally.

It’s the deepest abdominal muscle and acts like a built-in weight belt.

The good thing is you can still breathe easily.

Your spine is well-supported too.

So tailor your breathing & bracing to the type of training you are going to do.

Just a few quick thoughts for today.

Coach D