Wine Country CrossFit

Coach’s Tip: Remember To Breathe!

It’s so fundamental. We can’t live without it. But how often do we hold our breath when we should have that oxygen coursing through our veins?

I used to hold my breath in big rapids, and it made me even more scared and my paddling awkward and clumsy. Then I started singing in big rapids. When I sing I have to breath. Any song works, even nursery rhymes. My paddling improved. It became smooth and efficient and the breathing lessened the fear.

It’s hard to sing in a CrossFit workout. Down right impossible if you are working hard. But, if you remember to BREATHE you will go farther and faster.

We want you to test it. Jump up on the bar and do 10 kipping pull-ups holding your breath. Recover a bit, and then jump up there and focus on your breathing. Notice a difference? Test it everywhere and report back to your coaches.

Exception: We tell you to hold your breath when you are under the bar. When you are getting ready for a big deadlift or a heavy squat, you hold your breath while the bar is moving. At the top of the movement you take a big breath and hold everything tight. When the bar stops moving you breathe again. Your spine is more protected when that big abdominal cavity is full of air. You are also stronger and more controlled when you tighten all your muscles and cement them in place with a tight breath.

Don’t confuse this bracing of the spine with what we want you to do in the WOD: Remember to Breathe!