When grandma is bench pressing more iron than you at the gym Next time you're lifting, curling and pressing, look in the mirror -- you shouldn't be tight-lipped and red-faced. You don't have to grunt like a Williams sister at Wimbeldon, but you should be making somewhat audible inhales and exhales with every rep in your set to deliver sufficient oxygen to your muscle groups.
To keep your blood pressure down and make your moves more effective, exhale during the exertion portion of the move and inhale on the return for more oomph. For example, with a bicep curl, breathe out on the "up" phase (concentric contraction) and breath out on the "down" phase (essentric contraction). As hard as it may be, never hold your breath -- this keeps blood from returning to your heart and raises your blood pressure.
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