proper breathing and pushups

[jblade]

hey gang, ive recently hit a problem with my pushups, first off ive been doing incline pushups not traditional push ups and since starting sl5x5 ive brought them up from 7 to 19 (last workout) and today i only managed to muster up 16.

the problem is after about 12 reps i feel a pressure building in the back of my head and after 15 reps i feel a full on headache and when i hit 19 push ups this last monday i had a headache that made me just have to lay down on the floor whincing from the "bionic brain freeze" like pain, it goes away after about 10 minutes.

i have a strong feeling that it is due to improper breathing so today i tried to really concentrate on my breathing but it still happened.

can anyone tell me inhale up and exhale down or vice versa?
thanks for your time.

[holvoetn]

I do inhale down, exhale up.
Usually you should exhale (or even keep your breath locked) with the hardest part of the movement.

[FilthyMcNasty]

i feel a full on headache

Where are you looking, straight down at the floor, or along the floor with your chin raised off the ground? Don't do the latter which will tense and constrict the muscles and blood-flow from the back of the neck to the head.
It would not considered good form to do a bench press with your chin parallel to your chest looking at the wall behind you so equally do not hold your chin parallel to your chest looking at the wall in front. Nose to the floor and back up. HTH.

[jblade]

oh yeah ive been looking at the mirror in front of me to make sure my form stays proper, and i tend to look at the mirror at about my 10nth rep. thank you filthy! as well as "H" for your input.

i again look forward to my push up session.

[jblade]

ok keeping my head down didnt work, i stil got my headache! im feeling pretty down about this, cause my breathing was perfect. im stuck, i know i could put a few more but this head pain is brutal.

[FilthyMcNasty]

Do you have any neck/shoulder muscle problems generally? Exactly where does the pain manifest itself. (to give an idea where the pain is triggered by, so pain up the back of the neck over the top of the head would be a neck muscle)

[Kaizen]

Depending on the exercise i breath different, but for pushups i breath in on the way down (slow and controlled breath and lowering) followed by an explosive push/blow out coming up in through nose, out through mouth.

Im no expect, just works for me, and keeps form strict by taking slow breath in while descending.

In Deadlifts for EG, i take a deep breath in before lifting and exhale at the top, taking that deep breath tightens the core protecting your spine, keeps you rigid (offtopic i know, just giving example:)

[jblade]

Do you have any neck/shoulder muscle problems generally? Exactly where does the pain manifest itself. (to give an idea where the pain is triggered by, so pain up the back of the neck over the top of the head would be a neck muscle)

nope no problems, the pain manifests itself in my brain! right in the back/top of my head on the left side.

[FilthyMcNasty]

Need to get yourself checked out then buddy, only answer I got left for ya, sorry....

[jblade]

Need to get yourself checked out then buddy, only answer I got left for ya, sorry....

thats the same conclusion i keep coming up with too, im going to give it a go one more time with traditional push ups and make good and clear that im breathing correctly and form is correct and see what happens with that.

thanks for your feadback.

[HunterR3]

Hi guys,

I went through exactly the same thing. Had me worried for months. Fortunately the answer is not so bad and easy to cure. Its down to ear wax my friend. You can buy the drops yourself or ask the Doc to get it out.

[jblade]

Hi guys,

I went through exactly the same thing. Had me worried for months. Fortunately the answer is not so bad and easy to cure. Its down to ear wax my friend. You can buy the drops yourself or ask the Doc to get it out.

as bizare as that sounds, its worth a try, we'll see!

[HunterR3]

Sorry for not introducing myself and diving straight into this section its just that when I was suffering there was no one else suffering with the same symptons, and if your like me then you have to be on deaths door before I even make an appointment with the docs.

I hope you get sorted soon and it is nothing to serious by the way the only time the headaches came was with press ups and pull ups for reasons I didnt find out. The ear drops seemed to have done the trick so I never looked into it any more.

All this was about six months ago or when I changed to full body workouts.

[jblade]

i dont mind the lack of intro, as a matter of fact the feedback is more that i can go to the doc with and suggest as a possible problem. thanks for your time.

[Dada]

I do a lot of pushups and have been doing them for many years. What I learned works best is to breath a lot more than normal, especially when you get closer to your max reps. Instead of breathing like we're all taught when lifting, for pushups I'll take sometimes take 3 or four breaths between reps when I really get going. I try to keep my muscles oxygenated by breathing a lot more than normal. , I'm sure I sound like a dog panting but it works. I also do the pushups as fast as possible, no slow reps.

Another trick I learned is to start out with somewhat of a close grip at the beginning of the set and gradually slide my hands out as I start to fatigue. Towards the last few reps I may go out to a wide grip pushup and squeeze a couple extra out. This was something I experimented with in the last year or so and it seems to work although you have to be strong enough in the pushups already to really take advantage of that one.

Anyway, as far as the breathing just breath a lot and don't worry so much about whether you should breath on the up or down. Pant like a dog and crank out the reps like crazy.