3 Effective Cues For Bracing During Heavy Lifts

By Coach Elise Perez

If you do any type of strength training, then you most likely know how to prioritize recovery, progressive overload, and proper technique. But one thing that can not be overlooked is the essential skill of bracing. If you’re committed to perfecting your lifts, you have got to know how to brace and how to brace correctly. 

What is bracing? 

Simply, bracing is the ability to keep tension throughout your entire trunk so your body does not fold under loads. This prevents unwanted movement at and around the spine to keep you safe as you move weight. 

This rigidity of the trunk also increases force transfer from the legs and hips to the barbell. Without proper bracing, the tension you try to generate at the set up will be lost; your core will leak crucial amounts of tension and energy and your lift will inevitably suffer. 

Bracing cues

Cues are powerful. When you hear one that instantly clicks for you, it has the ability to change your lifts forever. Here are three bracing cues you’ll need to internalize in order to create a solid brace. 

“Act as if you’re about to get punched in the stomach”

Consider this cue as an introduction to bracing. When you tighten your stomach to take a punch, you will most likely recruit a lot more than just the superficial muscles of the core. You want your entire core to be solid and ready to protect itself. 

Cues are all about connecting your body to your mind; the stronger the image, the better your body is likely to respond. 

“Breathe into your stomach”

In and out of the gym, we often make the mistake of breathing mostly through our chest. It’s worth noting that heavy chest breathing increases with stress and anxiety and primarily using the muscles of the chest, traps and neck can result in postural deficiency and pain. 

Beyond pulling tension into your stomach as if you’re about to be punched, think about expanding your core with your breath. This will give you the solid breath you need to stabilize and power your lift and it will start to engage the entirety of your core musculature. 

“Expand your sides”

Many people visualize breathing into their stomachs as having only one direction; out and therefore expanding the belly forward. And that’s part of bracing, but you also need to recruit all the muscles of the pelvic floor. You can achieve this by imagining your breath expanding your sides. 

You can feel this in practice by placing your hands right above your hip bones and going through these cues. When you are expanding through your sides properly, your hands should move laterally, away from your body. 

All three of these cues should be happening right after the other. But practicing them slowly and individually, moving onto the next after you feel you’ve mastered one, will be most helpful. 

Eventually these cues will become second nature and you’ll have a solid brace under any load.