# Grunting while doing work **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 16, 2011, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grunting-while-doing-work/592856 "2011-08-16T02:15:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CheeseDonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@CheeseDonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheeseDonkey)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grunting-while-doing-work/592856/1 "2011-08-16T02:15:38Z")
Why do people grunt or groan or make some sort of vocalization when doing heavy lifting or very strenuous work? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grunting-while-doing-work/592856/2 "2011-08-16T02:18:12Z")
One of two things can happen if you hold your breath. You blow out your abdominal wall and wind up with a hernia or you pass out. Fun times. ---
**Author:** ![Uber\_the\_Goober](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/58956e/32.png) [@Uber\_the\_Goober](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uber_the_Goober)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grunting-while-doing-work/592856/3 "2011-08-16T02:33:27Z")
It’s a macho thing. Kinda like, hear me roar as I do this hard thing! I generally don’t make noise, but just breathe through my nose as though I were working out. It’s funny to see me, 6ft tall and 150lbs on one end of a heavy object, and a 5ft10" 300lb buy on the other end and he’s the one making all sorts of grunty sounds. I guess people think it helps them if they strain everything…get all red faced, grunt, blow their assholes out. You know, yell at the heavy object to overcompensate for their anticipated difficulty in moving it. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grunting-while-doing-work/592856/4 "2011-08-16T07:52:44Z")
This is the reason I can’t watch tennis anymore. That fucking cunt Stephie Graph started that shit and now they’re all doing it. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grunting-while-doing-work/592856/5 "2011-08-16T14:41:08Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > This is the reason I can’t watch tennis anymore. That fucking cunt Stephie Graph started that shit and now they’re all doing it. [Moderator Note] **Peanuthead** , General Questions is for factual responses. This is not responsive to the question asked in the OP. If you want to curse out Stephie Graph, or anyone else, please take it to the Pit. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grunting-while-doing-work/592856/6 "2011-08-16T14:46:14Z")
If I might suggest another option. The more forcefully you push out the air from your lungs, the more you open them up for the next breath to get more oxygen in the next time. I have asthma and was told this is why when having an attack I exhale forcefully (which I do, but without grunting). ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grunting-while-doing-work/592856/7 "2011-08-16T14:54:17Z")
The breathing issue aside, which is the most important aspect, grunting/screaming can improve performance in some aspects. Of course, I have my own anecdotal evidence with shot put and power lifting and such, but there have been studies done. There was that one show, Sports Science I think, where they would test various sports related myths and they showed a statistically significant improvement with things like punching and breaking boards and such with a grunt/scream. IIRC, it helps to trigger the flight or flight response. That said, I still think it’s generally obnoxious except when it’s actually necessary and people who do it while simply carrying something or on every single rep of a set at the gym are probably just posturing. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grunting-while-doing-work/592856/8 "2011-08-16T15:17:09Z")
Grunting gives me strength to lift heavy objects, or push or pull them. The opposite of grunting i.e. whimpering doesn’t help at all. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grunting-while-doing-work/592856/9 "2011-08-16T16:24:55Z")
I can’t stop thinking McMurphy trying to lift the shower fixture in Cuckoo’s Nest. (Movie) ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grunting-while-doing-work/592856/10 "2011-08-16T17:07:19Z")
I’ve always understood that there is some evidence that vocalizing improves performance slightly (and it’s part of the sport for many tennis players and powerlifters), but I think people who do this IRL are creepy and annoying. It’s mostly men who do it, and I think it’s because they want everyone to know how hard they’re working, but I think it makes them seem kind of pathetic. I am a very small adult but strong, and I can lift heavy things for my size with relative ease. Never do I grunt or groan while doing so, I would feel like an ass. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grunting-while-doing-work/592856/11 "2011-08-16T18:14:51Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > This is the reason I can’t watch tennis anymore. That fucking cunt Stephie Graph started that shit and now they’re all doing it. Steffi Graf. And wasn’t it Monica Seles who was mostly famous for her grunting? ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grunting-while-doing-work/592856/12 "2011-08-16T18:59:43Z")
I seem to remember that holding your breath helps the diaphram support the abdominal muscles and adds rigidity to the abdomen. If this is true, then grunting seems like a good balance between stiffening the abdomen and breathing. ---
**Author:** ![Uber\_the\_Goober](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/58956e/32.png) [@Uber\_the\_Goober](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uber_the_Goober)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grunting-while-doing-work/592856/13 "2011-08-16T22:24:40Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Grunting gives me strength to lift heavy objects, or push or pull them. The opposite of grunting i.e. whimpering doesn’t help at all. “Gives me strength” Whaa? Maybe it distract you from the difficulty of the work at hand…but it is not strengthening you…this being a place for factual answers and all…it would be like saying that whistling Dixie gives me the intelligence to take the bar exam. ---
**Author:** ![FasterThanMeerkats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/278dde/32.png) [@FasterThanMeerkats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FasterThanMeerkats)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grunting-while-doing-work/592856/14 "2011-08-17T13:08:43Z")
> [@echo6160](#): > > “Gives me strength” > > Whaa? > > Maybe it distract you from the difficulty of the work at hand…but it is not strengthening you…this being a place for factual answers and all…it would be like saying that whistling Dixie gives me the intelligence to take the bar exam. To be fair, there is some research to this effect. [Cite](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2883611/) “To summarize, the results demonstrate that voluntary breathing imposes a significant impact on isometric muscle strength. Both forced exhalation and the Valsalva maneuver increase maximal forces during elbow extension, shoulder adduction, and knee extension to a similar extent.” With the caveat that I am not a scientist and have not done extensive goggling on this. Nor do I fully understand all the stats in the cite provided. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grunting-while-doing-work/592856/15 "2011-08-17T15:45:17Z")
I dunno; I just like to make sound effects sometimes.