Health Tip: Don’t Forget to Breathe

Holding your breath while lifting objects may carry some risk. Your blood pressure elevates dramatically if you hold your breath during the lifting motion (the valsalva maneuver). In clinical tests where people have been instructed to hold their breath while lifting weights, blood pressures of 480/350 have been recorded (a blood pressure of 140/90 is considered borderline high). To avoid such readings and possible health hazards, one should exhale during the actual lifting phase of any object – especially heavy items.