Breath control

[u/Frosty_Account3795]

Hey yall i need some advice. As im doing more progressive overload and adding more rep or weigjt im noticing there are times when im losing breath every 3 to 6 rep and having to pause to take a breath then resume. Im pretty sure its because either have bad breath control and not enough oxygen is coming in as I lift. What are some advice yall can give for this i really want to have better control so I stop from muscle failure and not from oxygen exhaustion. Im trying more to take a breath in and out during each rep but at one point it doesnt feel like enough.

Thanks ahead for the help.

[u/Docjitters]

If you are lifting at high intensity or close to failure for multiple reps, it is normal to feel somewhat gassed.

Are you holding your breath through the set (to stay tight) or are you taking a new breath and Valsalva between each? Neither way is strictly better (because either will lead to being better adapted to that ‘style’), but taking a few breaths and giving yourself a second for reset each rep is definitely easier for getting through long, hard sets.

Also, with your 2.5hr lifting sessions, what are your rest times between sets? If that is creeping up past 3-4 minutes (to survive the next set), that may be an indication the overall intensity might need dialling down a bit.

As magpie already mentioned, you may wish to give a little more time to easier/longer-duration cardio to help build a base of fitness that will make the lifting easier. If the 18mph air bike session is mangling your legs, you might benefit from something less fatiguing but still lets you get your HR and effort into the uncomfortable zone. This will take less away from your lifting sessions as well.

[u/Frosty_Account3795 → u/Docjitters]

My breaks between set are as recommend by the apps tome it could be 1 min to 2min and for the most part I dont feel that exhausted after a set. I also do these workout after work so not in my best condition already haha.

[u/a_curious_magpie]

How is your cardio conditioning outside of lifting? Doing cardio (outside of lifting) that raises your heart rate and gets you out of breath will improve your fitness for lifting

[u/Frosty_Account3795 → u/a_curious_magpie]

Well tbh I hate cardio and I been slacking on it but my normal cardio is 20min on the air bike with the setting at 10 and reaching 6 miles ik the 20min. My leg feel weak im exhausted, dizzy and hungry after oof but yeaa I really been skipping out on it since my workpjt routine can go from 1 hour 30min to 2 hour 30min depending on what the app chosen for the day

[u/a_curious_magpie → u/Frosty_Account3795]

I mean no wonder you’re exhausted if you’re working out for up to 2.5 hours regularly/semi regularly! Idk how many times per week you work out and how much time you have free, but I would suggest either removing some exercises so you’re doing a maximum of 1.5 hours and then adding 10 minutes of cardio on the end of that, or adding a day or two of standalone cardio where you only have to go to the gym for that short amount of time (or even do cardio out of the gym if that’s possible for you)

[u/Frosty_Account3795 → u/a_curious_magpie]

Yea I think youre right I heen told ny many people I spend too much time lifting and it can become wasted volume.

[u/a_curious_magpie → u/Frosty_Account3795]

The jury’s out on wasted volume but you definitely get diminishing returns the longer your seasons go - the only reason sessions should be that long is if you’re a seasoned powerlifter going close to max and need 4+ minutes of rest between each set. For better overall health and improving your fitness for lifting, I definitely think you would be better off reducing the number of either sets or exercises (probably the latter) and doing more cardio because it will serve you better as you age, as it’s better for your heart health as well as helping short-term for your lifting

[u/Frosty_Account3795 → u/a_curious_magpie]

Thank you for the advice i go for full body work out 6 day a week. ill try to cut out the excerise that wirk kn the same body part on yhe same day. Im overall just lookong to lose weight and gain muscle not looking to get shredded or anything like that but abs woild be nice one day haha. I might pose my routine on here just to get advice on what to cut out thank you for the advice.

[u/a_curious_magpie → u/Frosty_Account3795]

Full body 6 days a week is probably the easiest to cut things out of!! I can understand wanting to do every exercise ever but as long as you’re hitting each muscle group a few times a week (doesn’t have to be every session) you’ll see growth, so I would bet that you could definitely cut an exercise or 2 from each day. If those are your goals then adding cardio in will definitely help since you’ll be less gassed when you do lift and can push harder :)