關於進行硬舉時，應該如何呼吸呢？常見的建議：「在把重量舉起前，先吸口氣、縮緊核心，把重量舉起的過程同時進行吐氣，最後把槓放下來同時吸氣。」什麼時候吸氣吐氣，這是一個普遍的問題，為什麼要【吸氣】呢？目的是增加腹內壓以提供脊椎的支撐穩定。
以下有一段硬舉的呼吸介紹：
影片網址：https://youtu.be/pERsd9s9W7c
而暢銷書Starting Strength作者Mark Rippetoe則有不同的看法，下方影片6分05秒開始。他建議的方式是先在動作進行前深吸一口氣，直到您完成一次動作後才進行吐氣，也就是槓接觸到地板才吐氣，動作全程是閉氣的。
影片網址：https://youtu.be/4AObAU-EcYE
而「深吸口氣」要吸飽嗎？在BodyBuilding文章”Know When To Hold It: How To Breathe While Lifting”有提到一項研究結果：
To maximize intra-abdominal pressure during strength training, you should breathe deeply—approximately 75 percent of maximum—into your belly and hold that breath if possible throughout a repetition, exhaling only when you complete the rep. This provides optimal support for the spine, and it makes you stronger structurally.
譯：為了在肌力訓練的過程中最大化腹內壓，應該進行深層的吸氣－「約75%（非吸飽）」－把空氣吸至腹部，可能的話，在一次動作反覆過程中閉氣，當您完成一次動作反覆後才吐氣。對於脊椎來說，這提供最理想的支撐，同時讓您的身體結構更為強壯。
而研究下背疼痛的權威專家 Stuart McGill則建議動作過程中持續地進行自然呼吸，這有助於身體在任何情況下維持持續的腹部肌肉啟動及確保脊椎穩定，在”Enhancing Low Back Health through stabilization exercise”有說明：
Some people recommend that during training, one should exhale upon exertion (when weight training for example, exhaling upon the lifting phase and inhaling on the lowering). In terms of grooving stabilizing motor patterns for all tasks, this is a mistake.
In other words, breathing in and out should occur continuously, and not be trained to a specific exertion effort – this helps to maintain constant abdominal muscle activation and ensure spine stability during all possible situations (of course the opposite is true for maximal effort competitive lifting where a valsalva manoeuvre”努責效應” with the breathe held is necessary – but performance training is not the emphasis here).
Further, specific muscle activation patterns are essential to avoid injury but have also been documented to become perturbed following injury. Pain is a powerful instigator in the deprogramming of normal/healthy motor patterns into perturbed patterns. The exercises and programs described here are based on the latest scientific knowledge of how the spine works, and becomes injured. In addition, they have been quantified for spine load, resultant spine stability, and muscle oxygenation, to name a few. These are only a few examples to begin a program.
The goals are to enhance spine stability through grooving motion and muscle activation patterns to prepare for all types of challenges. Of course, other exercises may be required subsequently to enhance daily functioning, but once again, these will depend upon the characteristics and objectives of the individual.
另外一種建議是：「施力時吐氣，而在力量需求較低的過程進行吸氣。」
我想沒有所謂標準的呼吸方式，也沒有所謂一種呼吸方式適合所有族群與需求（初學、中階、進階者、輕負荷、高負荷等），可以適自己的狀況來選擇；關鍵還是在於確保脊椎獲得良好的支撐穩定。