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RKC School of Strength

Official blog of the RKC

breathing

HardStyle Breathing: On and Off

April 6, 2016 By Florian Kiendl 16 Comments

Florian Kiendl breathing

Breathing is an important key to performance. If you neglect it, you leave a big piece of the performance puzzle on the table.

If your mission (like mine) is to reach the apex of your physical potential—or get as close as possible—you should consciously use your breathing to reach your goals.

Why is breathing so important?

Our nervous system is divided in two parts: the autonomous nervous system and the cerebrospinal nervous system. These are complicated words for a fairly simple distinction. The autonomous nervous system (ANS) basically works on its own. Some of the tasks of the autonomous nervous system include your heartbeat, digestion, metabolism and the workings of your internal organs.

The other part of the nervous system, the cerebrospinal nervous system, is the part we are concerned with in our training. It enables us to consciously interact by:

  • Perceiving our surroundings with our senses
  • Reacting with the muscles in our bodies

If you ask a doctor, he probably will tell you that breathing is a function of autonomous nervous system that runs quite fine without conscious interaction on your part. While this is an objectively correct answer, it is not the whole picture. Unfortunately, many trainers leave it at this, and are ignoring the huge potential for performance enhancement.

The problem is, your autonomous nervous system does not know about your plans or your situation. The ANS reacts instinctively on perceived threats—if you encounter a dangerous situation, the ANS releases adrenaline to raise your heart rate, increase your breathing frequency, and to prime your muscles for the fight and flight response. This mechanism helped our ancestors survive to produce the next generation. However, the ANS reaction is not always the best option—especially not for athletic endeavors where energy management is often critical for success.

The RKC Snatch Test is one of those situations where breathing can easily fail you, if don’t take control. Anybody who has taken it knows that it is a staggering experience. Your energy consumption suddenly goes through the roof as a heavy iron kettlebell beats down on your body. If you are not accustomed to it, your nervous system will perceive the situation as an immediate threat, and trigger an adrenaline reaction. Initially, this will help you to use more of your strength. But if you do not take control, you will overexert yourself in the first three minutes, and probably fail in the end—or at least it will make it all much harder than necessary.

The benefits of taking control of your breathing:

  • It allows you to consciously manipulate certain functions of your autonomous nervous system (i.e. keep your heart rate down).
  • It ensures you do not prematurely overexert yourself.
  • It gives you extra power when you need it.
  • It helps you to relax.
  • It quickens your recovery.

How to do it correctly…

In the RKC, we have explicit instructions for breathing in each of our main exercises. The basic idea is to inhale during the negative phase of a movement, where the least power and stabilization is needed. The short and forceful exhalation should optimally be timed with the moment of highest demand in power and/or stability during the active phase. This principle creates a very distinct rhythm for each exercise. The two major categories to differentiate exercises are ballistics and grinds, but individual exercises also benefit if the breathing pattern matches the exact demands.

The Inhale:

There is a saying in the martial arts:
“When your opponent inhales through his mouth, victory is almost yours.”

I’ve made this observation in many sparring matches. Whenever I see my opponent’s mouth opening, I throw a few fast kicks and punches his way. Usually, the match will be over in seconds. My Taekwondo grandmaster, Son Jong Ho, even stated only the first and last breath should be through the mouth.

Practice nose breathing deeply into the abdomen to create pressure below your navel. When you use this technique in a kettlebell session, you will be able to keep your heart rate much lower, which will give you more endurance and power. When you begin to practice nose breathing, you will soon feel the urge to open your mouth, but try to resist it! The longer you practice, the better it will feel.

A little experiment: Lie on your stomach with your forehead resting on your hands. Inhale deeply through your mouth. You will feel your chest expanding during each breath. Now switch to breathing through the nose. You will immediately feel your belly pressing into the floor and your chest will stop heaving. The difference is that while breathing through the nose, your diaphragm will pull your lungs down into your abdomen, increasing the pressure in your lower abdomen. If your core muscles are engaged—as they should be whenever you touch a kettlebell, this will lead to much more core stability and therefore safety. On the other hand, an inhalation through the mouth mainly engages the chest and shoulders. If those muscles are tensed during a kettlebell swing, your breathing will be severely constricted. If you need more oxygen while breathing through the mouth, you will need to inhale more often, reducing the time oxygen will be processed in your lungs. Eventually, this will lead to hyperventilation and a breakdown of your performance.

Pressurized Exhalations

Breathing is a very versatile tool. When used correctly, it can benefit you in many different situations. For our purposes, we need it to enhance stability and power during our kettlebell workouts.

We use short, pressurized exhales like hisses or shouts to increase tension and avoid losing too much air. If you fully exhale, your abdomen is completely emptied and your core muscles have nothing to hold against. Imagine a car tire. When it is filled with the correct pressure, it is hard and sturdy, but the stability goes away when it starts losing air. Stability is completely lost when it is empty.

When exhaling during kettlebell drills, do it with your lips almost closed and the tongue pressed against the roof of your mouth behind your teeth. If this makes a hissing sound, you are doing it right.

Breathing Patterns for the RKC Kettlebell Exercises

As each exercise demands a different pattern of stability and power, the optimal breathing pattern for each exercise will also be different.

Breathing for Swings

The most basic ballistic kettlebell exercise is obviously the swing. This exercise gives the kettlebell its unmatched effectiveness and safety.

The passive phase of the swing, when the kettlebell drops freely from the apex of the swing, requires almost no effort until it is caught in a deep hip hinge. Therefore, this is the time for a deep inhale to the lower abdomen, the area where we need the most internal pressure. This also provides the necessary stability during the catch. For the optimal intra-abdominal pressure, you will need to inhale through the nose. When you start practicing this, you might get the impression that you are not getting enough oxygen, so take your time and adjust the intensity of your training. With practice, you will find that you can inhale much more deeply and get much more oxygen.

When catching the kettlebell from the drop, hold your breath for maximum intra-abdominal pressure. The exhalation should be as short and forceful as you can make it and timed exactly for the moment when your hips lock out at the top of the swing. In the kettlebell swing, the time between the hip snap and the moment when the kettlebell reaches its apex is almost identical. It will be more explosive if you focus on synchronizing the exhale with your hip snap.

Breathing for Cleans and Snatches

The basic movement pattern of the clean and snatch should be identical to the swing. The inhalation and exhalation also follows the exact same principle. Be aware that with the snatch (especially) there is significant time between the hip snap and the arrival of the kettlebell in the overhead lock out. The right timing will make an even bigger difference than in the swing.

But, there is also another difference between the swing, and the clean and snatch that we need to consider for the optimal breathing pattern. This difference is the built-in pause at the top position of both exercises. While the swing is a closed-chain exercise (meaning that every rep is immediately followed by the next without a discernible pause), the clean and snatch are not. After the initial rep, which starts on the floor, each clean or snatch starts and ends at the top. How you handle breathing with this pause will depend on the context of your workout and the exercise.

If you do short sets of snatches for instance, you can simply hold the air and wait for the drop. In a situation where you are doing many snatches in a short time (i.e. Snatch Test) you might need to use this pause to exhale more, thus enabling you to refill with more fresh oxygen. You could even decide to prolong the pause for additional breathing cycles to combat oxygen debt.

If you clean for reps, then you can use the same strategies as in the snatch. If you clean for squats or presses, you should hold your breath in the top position to conserve the tension from the clean.

Breathing for the Get-Up

The get-up is an exercise category in itself, and it needs it very own strategy for breathing. The first challenge is that the get-up (including get down) takes at least 30 seconds (though 60 seconds is recommended). Either way, you will obviously need to breathe several times during one single rep. The second challenge is not to lose tension within the entire rep. To accommodate both demands, you need to shallow breathe while keeping your abs tight at all times (breathing behind the shield). The hardest parts of the get-up are the transitions from one position to the next. To give you the necessary strength, time small but pressurized exhalations with each transition. Refill (inhale) through the nose when you are in a static holding position.

Florian Kiendl split press

Breathing for Presses

Military presses are high tension drills. The more tension you generate, the stronger your press. As already mentioned in the section on the clean, it is essential to conserve the tension generated from a good clean for your press. Make sure not to exhale while you catch the kettlebell in the rack position. Depending on the cardiovascular effort, you may wish to refill your lungs by inhaling again before you actually start the press.

For the press itself, the breathing pattern will depends on your objective:

  • If you press a light to medium kettlebell for high reps, exhale on the way up, and inhale on the way down.
  • If you are working with a heavy weight, exhale on the way up, inhale while the bell rests in the lock out, then exhale again while you are actively pulling the kettlebell down. Obviously, you will need to inhale again before you start the next rep.

The inhalation for the press should be through the nose to the lower abdomen as already explained for the other exercises.

The exhalation will last longer than in the ballistic exercises, but will require even more pressure. Make sure not to lose too much pressure!

Breathing for Squats

For a fairly simple exercise like the squat, it is funny that the breathing pattern is (in my opinion) the most complicated for all RKC drills!

First, let’s analyze the squat:

  • Usually you start with a clean. Do not lose air while catching the kettlebell.
  • Lower yourself into the squat.
  • Hold the lowest position until the downward momentum dissipates.
  • Press yourself back up to the standing position.

The moment you start to rise from the deep squat position (like in the deadlift) is when you need to get the dead weight moving again. It is also when you need to be strongest. To give you some extra tension, initiate the ascent with a forceful grunt followed by a short pressured exhale on the way up.

The purpose of the grunt becomes obvious when you squat heavy, but practice it even with light weights, so you build a habit for when it counts.

During the descent, you will need the least strength. But to best prepare yourself for the ascent, your abdomen should already be pressurized, and you need to get as tight possible. It is easier to fill your abdomen while it is not under strain, so inhale deeply while still standing then hold your breath during the descent.

Breathing During Rests

In the last section, I wrote about breathing while performing kettlebell exercises. If you did not control your breathing during your kettlebell work until now, using the above information will improve your performance considerably. However, there may still be a missing link to your overall performance: breathing patterns for rest periods or in between sets.

The better your breathing pattern fits the demands of your chosen exercise, the more power you can produce and the more continuous reps can you do.

When you set the kettlebell down and release the tension, your body will immediately try to reduce the oxygen debt. For reasons unknown to me, the preferred method to increase the oxygen intake is to suck in air through the mouth. The higher your oxygen debt is, the faster your breath will come. The problem with this method is that it leaves you winded until your oxygen has leveled out. For a martial artist, this would be a good way to lose an encounter. In kettlebell training, it leads to longer recovery periods and a reduced overall work capacity.

Whenever a candidate decides to set the kettlebell down during the RKC Snatch Test, breath control is the crucial factor for the outcome of the test. Almost all candidates who give in to the reflex of sucking air in through the mouth will fail their test because it will take them longer to start snatching again.

Between Sets

Immediately after you set the kettlebell down, the need to suck in air is the strongest. You may even have a sensation of choking! If you open your mouth and start sucking in air, the feeling subsides almost immediately, but it becomes very difficult to return to controlled breathing once you let that happen.

My suggestion is to leave your mouth shut and inhale deeply from the nose down into your groin. If you can stand it, also exhale through the nose. If not, let the air out from your mouth, but close it again before the next inhalation.

With this strategy you can start your next set much faster and keep your heart rate considerably lower.

After Your Training Session or Long Rest

If you opt for longer rest times or have finished today’s workout, the goal is not to start your next set sooner, but to get the most out of your recovery time and release the tension you accumulated. When your oxygen level is back to normal, keep breathing deeply, inhale into the groin and try to exhale slowly while letting loose all tension. You can even close your eyes and focus completely on the airflow through your nose. This will speed up your recovery.

HardStyle Breathing

The techniques I described in this article are by no means the ultimate solution or the only right way to breathe. As mentioned above, breathing is an incredibly versatile tool. There are many breathing techniques out there that do wonders if executed properly for the right purpose. The techniques I’ve described are explicitly aimed to make your kettlebell training safer and more effective.

Please share your experiences down in the comment section below.

Train safe, stay healthy – Florian.

***

RKC Team Leader Florian Kiendl is a second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and runs a Martial Arts Gym in a small town close to Munich (Germany). He made it his mission to help his students to improve their movement and overall health. In his search for ways to overcome the movement restrictions of his students (and his own) he found the RKC and now works together with Master RKC Robert Rimoczi and others to help as many people as possible to gain back their Strength and Agility. He writes a regular Blog at blog.kettlebellgermany.de and offers workshops all over Germany teaching the RKC kettlebell exercises: KettlebellGermany.de. If you have questions or comments on the article feel free to email him at florian@kettlebellgermany.de. 

Filed Under: Kettlebell Training Tagged With: breathing, Florian Kiendl, HardStyle Breathing, kettlebell breathing, kettlebell technique, kettlebells, RKC HardStyle

Why We Grunt

February 25, 2015 By Felix Sempf 6 Comments

RKC Instructor Felix Sempf

When entering a room where RKC kettlebell training is in progress, one quickly notices the characteristic way people breathe while performing the exercises. Although this “grunting” may sound unfamiliar and disconcerting at first, breathing in sharply through the nose and breathing out slowly while gritting the teeth should become a part of everyone’s training routine.

In order to understand why we use the “biomechanical breathing” method for improved performance and safety, we first need to talk about the anatomy of the trunk and core. Today, most researchers agree that the lumbar region is an area that relies heavily on stability and where excessive range of motion should be avoided (Battie et al, 1990; Biering-Sorenson, 1984; Cuoto, 1995; Saal & Saal, 1989; McGill, 2010). In the original sense, the widely-used term “core stability” describes “the ability of the lumbopelvic hip complex to prevent buckling and to return to equilibrium after perturbation” (Wilson et al., 2005). In other words, core stability is the ability to produce and maintain a neutral lumbar spine (Gottlob, 2001). According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, keeping a neutral spine is recommended when lifting something heavy off the ground or being under load…

Several muscles, such as the latissimus dorsi, erector spinae, quadratus lumborum, multifidii, and obliques—but also the glutes and adductors contribute to the stability of the core (Filey, 2007). More importantly, most of these muscles are connected via the thoracolumbar fascia, thereby forming a natural weightlifting belt around the lumbar spine. In conjunction with the diaphragm and the muscles of the pelvic floor, they help to maintain or build core stability by forming a shell around the lumbar region. Contracting the core and hip muscles leads to muscular stiffness and therefore the flexibility of the shell decreases and becomes more rigid. Filling the rigid shell with air by sharply inhaling through the nose will increase the so-called intra-abdominal pressure, leading to greater compression of the spine and consequently higher intervertebral stiffness (increased lumbar spine stability).

diagram of human breathing

A sharp inhalation has the advantage of automatically contracting the core muscles, which does not happen during slow breathing. The same effect is observed when exhaling while gritting one’s teeth—sufficient intra-abdominal pressure is maintained because more air will remain in the respiratory pathways while air flow is constricted. Continuous breathing allows continuous spine stability and is therefore preferable to the “valsalva maneuver”, when performing a task for more than one repetition. In support of this theory, Stuart McGill (2007) reported that using this breathing technique—known as “kime” in martial arts—when performing swings lead to a significantly greater contraction of the obliques. Thus, safety and performance can be enhanced by just breathing the right way.

***

Felix Sempf M.A. Sportscience, RKC, FMS, PM trains and instructs at the FIZ in Göttingen, Germany. He can be contacted by email at: felix.sempf@sport.uni-goettingen.de and his website: http://www.kettlebellperformance.de

Filed Under: Kettlebell Training Tagged With: breathing, breathing technique, core stability, effective breathing, Felix Sempf, intra-abdominal pressure, kettlebell technique, RKC kettlebell training

The Usual Suspects

June 26, 2013 By Thomas Phillips Leave a Comment

When I sat with my colleague, good friend and level 4 Z-health trainer / RKC Steve Pucciarelli to create a viable kid’s program to compliment the UTC (www.TheUltimateTransformationChallenge.com), we agreed that kids should be able to identify simple ways to improve performance.  We narrowed a long list to ‘5 usual suspects.’  Having successfully completed that task, we agreed that the information should be presented to EVERYONE, not just kids.

This article demonstrates how proper use of kettlebells can address the FIRST ‘usual suspect;’  however, I will be presenting this material in a ½ day seminar along with RKC / Z- health expert Steve Pucciarelli and RKC Team Leader Matt Maher.  In fact, on July 14th we will address ALL 5 ‘usual suspects.’

Suspect #1:  The “Chest / Reverse breather”

Tphillips_Usual_Suspects

How to address the “chest breather” with kettlebells:

Practice diaphragm breathing

1)    Perform a set of 10 dead swings.  Count each rep out loud at the top of the swing with conviction.  This will assure you have some air in your lungs at the bottom and letting it release up top.  Many people mistakenly breathe in at the top of the swing instead of “spitting the air out.”  Therefore, think about “spitting the air out” at the top of EACH swing along with the rep number you are currently performing.

2)    In between the next set of 10 dead swings, lay on your belly with your elbows under your chest and think about breathing into the floor with your belly.  Allow your belly to naturally push into the floor as you visualize sending your breath deep past your belly button and toward your groin.  Do this for a minute, then perform another set of 10 dead swings.

3)    In between the next set of 10 dead swings lay on your back and allow the back of your head to touch the floor while keeping the neck NEUTRAL.  (Note: If your chin is up then you may need a thin pad to put behind your head).  Once in place, think about keeping the back of your neck long.  Block one nostril with your finger and put the other hand on top of your belly.  Finally, breathe deeply into the belly (as described in #2) while maintaining that long neck and neutral cervical spine.  Do this for one minute, and then perform another set of 10 dead swings.

4)    Once you become comfortable with the 2 breathing techniques described above, try continuing both of those strategies while closing your eyes and consciously attempting to slow your breathing / heart rate.  This should result in relaxation of residual tension in your muscles. Do this for one minute, and then perform another set of 10 dead swings.

Practice Hard style breathing

5)    Rack a pair of kettlebells and get ready for front squats.  Breathe into the diaphragm while standing with the bells racked.  Think about making the belly big, then hold your breath and drop into your front squat.  Initiate the ascent with a loud and abrupt “up” from the belly.  You will only be letting about 10% of your air out when you initiate this sound.

If the sound is initiated incorrectly (from the throat) you will not feel as strong and “connected” on your ascent; however, if the sound is initiated correctly (from the diaphragm) you will hear a better quality of sound and feel a better quality of connection as you ascend.

Understand the difference between the “qualities of sound” in this way:

From the throat think “Bob Dylan”  (INCORRECT)

From the diaphragm think “Pavarotti”  (CORRECT)

Check out high-level powerlifters or strong men as they squat or deadlift heavy weights.  Notice the big breath in, the intensity on their faces and their ability to grind through a heavy rep without panicking.  This is an example of mastery of this technique.  Take a look at powerlifting legend Ed Coan:

Now, try a heavy set of kettlebell front squats.  Perform 5 sets of 5 reps focusing on these principles.  At the top of each rep, take another breath and perform the next repetition.

Practice breathing behind the shield.

6)    Hold 2 heavy, heavy kettlebells in each hand in front of you while standing with your feet spread slightly wider than usual.  Try to create as much tension as possible in your body by doing the following:

a)    Lock your knees and tighten your quads
b)    Squeeze your glutes as hard as possible
c)    Grip the bells with your hands as tight as possible
d)    Tighten your triceps
e)    Tighten your lats
f)    Keep holding… tighter… tighter… tighter!!!

7)    You will notice that if you breathe too deeply and hold your breath as described earlier in the front squat, you will not be able to sustain this amount of intra-abdominal pressure very long.  Therefore, a different approach is required.

8)    Try this:  Get into a front plank position (like a push-up but on your elbows), then close your eyes and imagine someone is about to kick you rapidly in the stomach 10 times in a row.  This should force you to do each of the following:

1)    Tuck your pelvis
2)    Brace your abdominals
3)    Breathe more shallow

This should also STOP you from doing each of the following:

1)    Sagging your belly
2)    Relaxing your mid-section
3)    Putting your lower-back into extension

From this position, try to create as much tension as possible by focusing on squeezing your glutes as hard as you can.  This will help maintain a tucked pelvis and braced abdominals while also giving the opportunity to breathe shallow into the belly.

Here is an example of me utilizing these principles in a plank:

Here is an example of me utilizing these principles in a push-up:

This ability to comfortably breathe shallow “behind” braced abdominals is what we mean by “breathing behind the shield.”

Use this technique for exercises that require isometric holds.  Gymnasts must use this technique on the rings, the parallel bars, etc; however, notice how RELAXED their faces are as they utilize this breathing strategy.  This is an example of mastery of this technique.  However, you can also use this technique during sub-maximal lifting where the goal is to lift a relatively heavy weight for as many reps as you can over a period of time.  Here is an example of me lifting 265 lbs for 30 reps in less than 90 seconds at 165 lbs bodyweight.  After my AAU meet, I elected to try the “feats of strength competition” in Las Vegas last summer.  This was the result using the principles of “breathing behind the shield”:

Practice anatomic breathing:

Suppose the goal is to do as many reps as possible over a longer period of time (perhaps 30 seconds or as long as 5 minutes or more).

Take a light to moderate kettlbell and put it in the rack.  Use your legs to help you push press the weight as fast as possible while maintaining good form.  For me, a 16 kg bell for 30 reps in 30 seconds does the trick.  Take a look:

For this technique I’m using my body as a “spring” and “catching” the bell with my WHOLE BODY.  As the bell descends and hits my body I breathe out to “absorb” the force of the bell, then, immediately redirect the bell upward as I breathe in again.  You can see this type of speed would be impossible if I were to use Hard-Style, / High Tension / Intra-Abdominal breathing described earlier in the front squat.  Instead, I breathe out while moving WITH the force by absorbing this force into the WHOLE BODY, then I “take it somewhere else…” in the example of the push press I absorb and redirect the bell straight back up into the air.

As you can see, breath mastery is critical to performance.  Practice the appropriate techniques depending on the task at hand; however, there is NEVER a reason to be a “chest breather.”

To register for the ½ day seminar on July 14th, contact Master RKC Thomas Phillips at fitforlifemarlboro@yahoo.com sign-ups are limited because this seminar is part of a larger seminar series.

***

tphillips

About Thomas Phillips, Master RKC: Being a good student, teacher and athlete has always been a priority. This is why I choose to remain the student and the teacher in all aspects of life. Other than being a teacher of math and philosophy for the past 13 years, I am also a writer, gym owner, as well as a proud father and husband. I continue to challenge myself physically by competing in… Read more here.

www.fflmarlboro.com
www.TheUltimateTransformationChallenge.com
www.TotalAchievementProgram.com

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: breath, breathe, breathing, chest, diaphragm, exercise, fitness, kettlebells, phillips, suspects, the, thomas, usual, z-health

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Dragon Door Publications / The author(s) and publisher of this material are not responsible in any manner whatsoever for any injury that may occur through following the instructions or opinions contained in this material. The activities, physical and otherwise, described herein for informational purposes only, may be too strenuous or dangerous for some people, and the reader(s) should consult a physician before engaging in them.