“Oumph,” my friend Randel LaBrum groaned as he moved from the back to the front of his chair. “I’ve sunk so low in this chair it’s hard to get up.”
Like many of us, letting out a groan, sigh or grunt seems to help us get moving. It’s like ringing the starting bell in a prize fight: Let’s get it on!
“Like many other people, I have a playlist of activity-specific grunts and gasps,” Jancee Dunn said. “When I’m heaving myself out of a chair, I sound like Rafael Nadal returning a volley; when I’m reaching for something, I release a wheezy ‘Ooof.’”
Experts say that letting out a grunt can help tennis players exert more energy. But for most of us, the ordinary grunts, groans and sighs we use may have more psychological benefits than physical advantages.
For instance, grunting and groaning can be cathartic, providing a physical outlet for an internal state. It’s almost like saying, “Do I have to do this?” and then convincing yourself that, yes, you do have to get out of bed, out of a chair or off the toilet. You must move, take action or exert effort.
A livestock expert says that grunts, groans and guffaws are well understood by cattle in a herd and an important way that cowboys communicate.
One cattle wrangler made these observations: “The groan’s simplicity is its beauty. It cuts across language boundaries so handlers may tell livestock and other cowboys their state of mind.” This common awareness guarantees an effective environment for people and animals, the writer said.
My grandpa never knew that. He just used a few “Idaho adjectives” to keep his cows in line instead of grunts or groans.
Psychological benefits aside, the actual physical benefits may be limited. For instance, while many people at a gym may let out a loud grunt when exerting effort — such as lifting weights — experts say this doesn’t really help them lift more.
“Grunting doesn’t help you in lifting weights,” powerlifting champion Raghu Hondadakeri said. “You need to master the technique of breathing — inhaling and exhaling — and when you can’t exhale properly, you grunt. This is not going to help you. When you are grunting, you are never in control.”
If grunting doesn’t help in weightlifting, it probably doesn’t help in standing up, either. More often than not, we do it because we are used to doing it and convince ourselves this habit is involuntary and necessary as a prelude to taking action.
While such inarticulate sounds and noises may, at times, help with breath control and thereby help with physical exertion, it’s also frequently the case that we’ve done it for so long, it has become second nature to us, some experts say.
Groaning, grunting, and muttering are often emotional responses to needing to do something — deliberate protest to taking action or meeting a need, or against the exertion of bending or twisting, standing or reaching.
There is some research that suggests the more difficult we consider a task (getting up from a chair, turning over in bed or reaching for an object), the more likely a person is to grunt — especially if fatigued. It is almost like telling everyone within earshot: “Something is about to happen here, so be forewarned.”
As we age, some things actually do become more difficult: bending, twisting, flexing, stretching, rotating and the like. It’s natural to anticipate that some tasks might not be the same as they used to be. We may even grunt or exhale loudly simply out of exasperation that we must do some foreboding task.
This happens all of the time with my wife turning over in bed. She’s a light sleeper and frequently lets out an “Aarrrgggh” when she needs to change positions, turning from one side to another to get comfortable. When I’ve asked her about it, she says it’s simply her way of expressing frustration.
“I want to stay asleep. But if I turn over, it’s going to make it more difficult for me to get back to sleep,” she tells me. “It’s my way of saying to myself ‘Really? You’ve got to turn over? It’s going to take some time now for you to fall back asleep.’”
Of course, letting out a grunt or a groan may be a reflexive response to joint pain, discomfort or stiffness. If someone has been sitting for a while, leg or hip muscles may be resistant either to sudden or planned movement.
As we age, the simple physics of movement change, turning once-effortless actions into conscious negotiations. The “hidden whys” behind the grunts and sighs often stem from anticipated discomfort.
Ultimately, we express this “do I have to?” sentiment through such vocal means as:
- The Exasperated Exhale: A loud sigh before tackling a foreboding task.
- The Reflexive Grunt: A sudden sound triggered by shifting weight or standing up.
- Muttered Commentary: Verbalizing the internal struggle to stay comfortable versus taking action:
There is nothing wrong with expressing ourselves in these ways. Grunts, groans, sighs and loud exhales are all normal and natural. It is almost like the body wants us to weigh our options and be certain we have read all of the fine print before hitting the “proceed” button.
Like clearing our throats or conducting a sound check at a concert, it’s just one way of saying, “Look out, world, here I come.”