Starting Strength on breathing

[JonRyan]

I am not very far in this book, but I just got done reading the squat portion on breathing and I have a question about this(this discussion ends on pg 53). Like a lot of people I have gone with the belief of "inhaling on the way down and exhaling on the way up" is the way to go. This book says to hold your breath during heavy loads. It doesn't mention when to breathe so I would assume to breathe at the top of the lift? Or would you hold your breath during the whole set? He talks about how doing this stabalizes your core which makes a lot of sense, but I have never thought to do it before so it just sounds really intense to hold my breath because with exhaling it still makes lifting the weight intense. Thoughts?

[Barry06GT]

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Mark Rippetoe explains this in his book "Strong Enough?"

His analogy was something like this:

If your car died in an intersection and you wanted to push it, how would breath to push it?

You would take a big breath, hold it, put your shoulder to the door frame, and push as hard as you could, without breathing in or out during the big push.

I have never pushed a car, so I have no personal reference.

OTOH, We are all free to breath anyway we like when working out.
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[muddy]

It doesn't mention when to breathe so I would assume to breathe at the top of the lift?

Yes, top of the lift. Do not breathe while the lift is in motion, as this is when you need the stability the most to keep your spine rigid. And perhaps counter-intuitively, if you breathe during OHP, do so when the bar is extended overhead. It's not required, but you may find it easier to continue the set this way than if you pause at the bottom for a breath. Think of it somewhat like the bench press in that respect.

[JonRyan]

So is this a blanket system for all lifts? Because I would think one needs to stabalize their core in all lifts. Correct?

[Barry06GT]

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There is already enough to think about when lifting, I use the same breathing for all movements.

Deadlift: Center feet under bar, bend over bar, big breath in, block, big chest, curl toes up, lift, lock out, re-breath big breath, put that heavy sucker back on the floor, exhale, big breath for next rep.

Overhead Press: Rack bar same height as for squat, un-rack bar, big breath, push it over head, lock out, exhale, re-breath big breath, bar comes down and then right back up over head, another big breath ready for next rep.

Squat: Unrack bar, walk out, big breath, squat into hole and back up again, exhale, another big breath for next rep.

Bench: Feet under me, whole body very tight, training partner lifts off for me, re-breath big breath, down with the bar, light touch on the chest, back up to lockout, exhale, big breath ready for next rep.
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I take big quiet breaths, my training partner sounds like a bellows at a black smith shop.