How to breathe while lifting: breathe out on the lift, or hold a braced breath

Two patterns cover almost every set. On lighter sets, breathe in as the weight comes down and out as it goes up. A 2025 bench press study calls that the most commonly recommended breathing pattern in resistance training.¹ On heavy sets, you take a breath before the rep, tighten your midsection around it, and hold it through the hardest part of the lift. That's bracing, and a 2021 study of the one-rep max bench press notes that athletes use a held breath like this in practice.²

This page covers the mechanics: which pattern goes with which set, how to brace, and what studies measured. Where the cues come from practice rather than a study, it says so.

The two patterns

What bracing does

Bracing is a breath held in your midsection while the muscles around it tighten, so your trunk stays stiff under the load. What studies can measure is the pressure inside the abdomen, and how it changes with the way you breathe.

• A held breath raised the pressure most. In a 2004 study, 11 healthy adults lifted weights in two postures and with two loads, breathing four ways: naturally, in and hold, out and hold, and in then out. A sensor passed through the nose into the stomach measured the pressure. Breathing in and holding produced a higher peak pressure than all three others, which didn't differ from each other. A heavier load raised the pressure too; posture didn't change it.³
• More pressure didn't mean more force in one test. In a 2006 study of 13 men and 20 women, average age about 26, each person made a maximal effort to straighten the trunk against a resistance that didn't move, knees bent, breathing three ways. The way they breathed changed the pressure in the abdomen, measured in 11 of them, but not the force they produced, and the two were only loosely related.⁴

So the held breath does what it's meant to: it raises the pressure in the midsection. Whether that lets you lift more was not shown in that test. The bench press studies measured the lift itself.

What the bench press studies measured

• Breathing in while pressing cost sets. In a 2025 study, 12 healthy men with at least two years of training did bench press sets with a four-rep-max weight three ways, one per session: breathing out as they pressed, breathing in as they pressed, and holding the breath as they pressed. Breathing in meant fewer sets completed and less total weight lifted. Breathing out and holding didn't differ from each other. The authors call the findings preliminary: it's a small group and one exercise.¹
• Breathing in on the way up lowered the one-rep max. In a 2021 study, 24 healthy men tested a one-rep max bench press with four techniques. Breathing in on the way up and out on the way down lowered the weight lifted. A Valsalva maneuver, with as much air taken in as they could on the way down, made the press up quicker than the other techniques. A plain held breath didn't lower the weight much but made the lift longer and slower through its hardest point, so the authors saw no benefit in it, and they advise against breathing in on the way up for a one-rep max.²

The two studies agree on one thing: don't breathe in while you push. Both tested only men and only the bench press.

How to brace, step by step

These are practical cues, not findings.

1. Set up first. Feet, grip and bar position before the breath, so you aren't holding it while you shuffle.
2. Breathe in low. Fill your belly and the sides of your waist rather than lifting your chest and shoulders.
3. Tighten around it. Tense your midsection as if you were about to be poked in the stomach. That's the cue on the squat setup.
4. Hold it through the hard part. Keep the air in on the way down and through the first part of the way up.
5. Breathe out near the top, then take a fresh breath and brace again before the next rep.

Breathing on each lift

These are practical cues, the same as each lift's own setup steps.

• Squat and front squat: breathe in and brace at the top, before every rep.
• Deadlift: a big breath held in your midsection before the bar leaves the floor, and a new one with each rep.
• Bench press: take a breath once the bar is over your shoulders, before the first rep. On a heavy set, hold it on the way down and up; on a lighter set, breathe out as you press (practical).
• Overhead press: a breath and a tight midsection with your glutes squeezed, so you press without leaning back.
• Lighter work such as push-ups, the leg press, the lat pulldown and curls: breathe out as you lift and in as you lower, rep by rep (practical).

Bracing with a belt

A lifting belt gives the brace something to push against. In a small 1992 study of five people squatting for eight reps, the pressure in the abdomen was 25 to 40% higher with a belt than without.⁵ You still breathe and brace the same way. What the belt studies measured, and how to wear one: the lifting belt.

Common mistakes

• Breathing in as you push. The one pattern both bench press studies found cost weight or sets.^1,2
• A chest breath. The shoulders rise and the midsection stays soft (practical).
• Letting the air out at the bottom. The brace goes just when the lift is hardest (practical).
• Holding through a long, light set. On a set of 15 at a light weight, breathe with each rep instead (practical).
• Lifting through pain. If you have pain, an injury or a medical condition, stop and ask a doctor or a physical therapist.

Common questions

Do you breathe in or out when lifting?

Out as you lift, in as you lower, on most sets.¹ On heavy sets, breathe in before the rep and hold it, braced, through the hard part.

Breathe out or hold the breath on a heavy set?

In the 2025 study of 12 trained men, breathing out and holding the breath as they pressed came out the same for sets completed and total weight.¹ Holding gives the highest pressure in the midsection, as the 2004 study measured.³ Keep the hold for your heaviest sets (practical).

How do you breathe when lifting dumbbells?

The same as with a bar. For most dumbbell sets, breathe out as you lift. On a heavy set of goblet squats or dumbbell presses, brace and hold the way you would with a barbell (practical).

Do you take a breath on every rep?

On heavy squats and deadlifts, yes: a fresh breath and a fresh brace at the top of each rep (practical).

If you'd rather have it built for you

Breathing is one cue. Which sets are heavy enough to brace for, how much weight goes on the bar this week, and what to change when the lifts slow down are the parts a page can't settle. Coaching is the version where your workouts live in Trainerize, built around the days you actually have, and a weekly call goes over the week you just had and sets the next one. Coaching for strength explains how that works, and apply is where you tell me about your week.