The Deadlift Perfect Every Time and "perfect valsalva"

[SPSP]

Hi Coaches!
I went through "The Deadlift: Perfect Every Time" -steps and somehow I got confused when to valsalva.

I've been taking a big breath BEFORE step 3 but now I realize that the SS 3rd ed says to take a big breath after step 4.

How do you coach this?


The Deadlift: Perfect Every Time
1. Take your stance, feet a little closer than you think it needs to be and with your toes out more than you like. Your shins should be about one inch from the bar, no more. This places the bar over the mid-foot – the whole foot, not the mid-instep.

2. Take your grip on the bar, leaving your hips up. DO NOT MOVE THE BAR.

3. Drop your knees forward and out until your shins touch the bar. DO NOT MOVE THE BAR.

4. Hard part: squeeze your chest up as hard as you can. DO NOT MOVE THE BAR. This establishes a "wave" of extension that goes all the way down to the lumbar, and sets the back angle from the top down. DO NOT LOWER YOUR HIPS – LIFT THE CHEST TO SET THE BACK ANGLE.

5. Squeeze the bar off the floor and drag it up your legs in contact with your skin/sweats until it locks out at the top. If you have done the above sequence precisely as described, the bar will come off the ground in a perfectly vertical path. All the slack will have come out of the arms and hamstrings in step 4, the bar will not jerk off the ground, and your back will be in good extension. You will perceive that your hips are too high, but if you have completed step 4 correctly, the scapulas, bar, and mid-foot will be in vertical alignment and the pull will be perfect. The pull will seem "shorter" this way.

[Michael Wolf]

I like people to take their big breath in after step #3 and before step #4. But this isn't graven in stone. As a recent thread on Rip's Q&A discussed, some people can't get a good breath at the bottom and need to take their breath while still standing up. There are several ways to skin this cat. The important parts are:
1. Have a hard valsalva while the body is under a load
2. Squeeze chest up hard so the entire back, lumbar and thoracic, is in hard extension, before pulling

[Jonathon Sullivan]

Step 4 is the appropriate place to take the breath. Earlier is, well, too early, and I find that taking the breath as one raises (and expands) the chest helps the athlete squeeze into the pulling position. Some (like me), seem to do better taking a deep breath as they raise the chest (concommitant with step 4) while others seem to get a final bit of squeezage ("SQUOZE" is the technical term, as I've recently learned) by taking the breath just after step 4.

The most important thing is to breathe at the bottom of the rep. Many trainees insist on letting out their wind at the top, which dissipates spinal support. These people often have to be beaten.

[Nick Klemetson]

Many trainees insist on letting out their wind at the top, which dissipates spinal support.

AKA me. Working really hard to break that habit. I DL'ed today, and by the third or fourth rep it feels like I'm going to pass out. Would it be better to take 2-3 breaths at the bottom as opposed to an exhale-inhale?

[Jonathon Sullivan]

Does doing so make you feel like you're not going to pass out? If so, then I would do it. I don't think it's any great sin to take an extra breath at the bottom.

[jillingworth]

I've found that I sometimes have to take extra breaths as the set progresses when it's heavy enough. Additionally, with some trainees who like to rush and hurry, I make them take three breathes before each pull in order to force them to slow down and set themselves correctly.

[hammock23]

I usually have to take 2-3 breaths on my rep.

[SPSP]

Thanks Coaches!
This clarifies things. I'll try these different patterns.

I guess that to be coached by Sully would be most pleasant and painful educational experience.