Beth Skwarecki Beth Skwarecki Senior Health Editor Experience Beth Skwarecki is Lifehacker’s Senior Health Editor, and holds certifications as a personal trainer and weightlifting coach. She has been writing about health for over 10 years. Read Full Bio April 21, 2026 Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google Credit: Joshua Resnick - Shutterstock Table of Contents You can go through most of your life without worrying about whether and how you’re breathing, but as soon as somebody mentions that you’re supposed to breathe a certain way in the gym, it’s easy to get tripped up. Out when? In when? Oops, I held my breath instead—is that bad? As with anything else in the exercise world, there are different recommendations for different people doing different things . If you’ve heard conflicting advice, don’t worry, we’ll sort it out. First I'll address whether you should breathe during lifts, and then we'll talk about how to breathe.…