CrossFit Oakland

Nice article, Nicole. That gibes with what I've observed and played around with on myself. I once messed around with "sucking in" the abs when performing some medium-load deadlifts and could feel my back caving in. Not good.

The Valsalva technique is the way to go, plus it keeps thing simple in heavy lifts. All you need to do is suck in the breath and hold it for the duration of the lift (concentric and eccentric phase).

Anyone who tells you to suck the belly button while lifting has never had the need to lift something heavy while remaining uninjured, in my opinion.

Great article, thanks for posting that. Having done a lot of yoga I have heard a lot of instructors telling people to suck in their belly button and elongate the spine and activate the perineum and all that. Might work in static yoga postures but I agree that it doesn't make sense while lifting dynamically. I agree with Mike - the Valsalva maneuver is a simple, natural, and effective way to protect the spine while keeping the necessary arch in the low back.

The Valsalva maneuver is one of the most well recognized and accurate orthopedic tests for bulging or herniated discs. If you feel pain/tingling/numbness down your arm or leg when you do it, you probably have one. The increase in intraabdominal pressure causes a bulging or herniated disc to bulge even more, pressing on the spinal nerve, causing symptoms in the arm or leg.

It seems to me you don't need to hold your breath to keep the abs contracted - is it better to exhale as you press (or pull) the weight up if you can maintain the abdominal contraction while exhaling? Or is it better to hold the breath? I seem to remember being taught that holding your breath while lifting is not good.

Is too much intraabdominal pressure counterproductive?