After swimming around 4 years, primarily breathing to my right side I thought I'd attempt to mix in some bi-lateral breathing to my practices to help develop a more symmetrical stroke.
I'm struggling hard-core. Each time I try to breathe to my left I lose a lot of momentum and rhythm to my stroke. I breathe too late, I lift my head too much, which drops my legs, I scissor kick to maintain balance and generally become a mess. I have improved slightly but still struggle bad.
Right now I'm attempting my entire workouts with a 3 breath pattern but I'm thinking of switching it to 3 breaths on warm-ups/pull-sets/cool-downs and than breathing comfortably on main-sets/sprint sets.
Has anyone tried bi-lateral breathing after being a one sided breather for a while and if so what are some good tips to becoming more efficient at it?
Keep practicing. I think bilateral breathing is better for your neck, better for your brain (kinda like using your nondominant hand for occasional tasks), and better for your breathing. You can try kicking on your awkward side to get your body used to being in that position. Also try doing side stroke on that side.
It depends upon what your goals are. If you are looking to swim fast, take a cue from the Olympians and do not bilateral breath. If you want to swim symmetrical, do it.
I'm trying to swim faster and trying to break myself of a ~40 year habit of bilateral breathing so that I only breathe to my left. I am struggling in the same way you are struggling but with the opposite problem. Good luck.
I tend to have a loping stroke, and it doesn't work well with bilateral breathing. I have to really really think about it when I do attempt it though, usually only in my age group practices where the coach has us breathing every 3 or 5 or so. I usually start out like that, but I can get any real rythem to my stroke, and my speed suffers as well. I've swum breathing right side only for so long, and that's the way it's gonna be.
I tend to have a loping stroke
You're in good company (e.g., Ledecky, Phelps, Lochte, etc., etc., etc.)
Former Member
According to this article from swimsmooth you need to stick at it for at least two weeks before it starts getting easier. I suspect it might take longer, though.
They also say that one of the biggest reasons that people struggle with bilateral breathing is because they don't exhale continuously under water. Presumably this messes up your rhythm when you try to exhale and breathe on turning your head. You certainly don't want to be lifting your head, though. Breathe in the bow wave just as you would when you breathe to the right.
I think it is also a flexibility issue, though and through years of breathing to the one side only your have become asymmetrically flexible.
It is something I have decided I would like to try as well for the same reasons as you.
Former Member
I've always had major issues with bilateral breathing. For some reason, I've always breathed to my left side, and instead of breathing every three I developed the habit of breathing every four because of it.
At one point, I decided enough was enough and started doing the bilateral breathing. It was tough at first, but at some point it just sort of started working.
I think it helped me to slow it down and figure out when it was that I was turning my head that allowed me to breath to the left. When I got that timing figured out, it was only a matter of training my other side to do the same thing. I'm also found that counting 1,2,3, breathe helped to even things out a bit
I'd say it took about a month or so, but now I can do it without thinking. Just stick with it since it definitely gives you more versatility in the water.
It depends upon what your goals are. If you are looking to swim fast, take a cue from the Olympians and do not bilateral breath. If you want to swim symmetrical, do it.
It would be interesting to find out if they never did bilateral breathing, or made the switch at some point. I feel like the majority of USA-S kids learn bilateral breathing, as I did. I don't think it's simply a matter of looking symmetrical, so much as developing your balance. Now I breathe 2/2, but I will often alternate which side I breathe on every 50 or 100. I will rarely swim an entire race only breathing to the left or right.
You're in good company (e.g., Ledecky, Phelps, Lochte, etc., etc., etc.)
The thing is, I did it first before them, so I credit myself for THEIR successes! :bolt:
one of the biggest reasons that people struggle with bilateral breathing is because they don't exhale continuously under water
This is my problem with bilateral breathing, too. I can inhale perfectly fine on my left, but first, I spend a bunch of time exhaling before I can even think about intake. I think it's because I'm used to starting the exhale phase while I'm rotating to my right, leading up to the breath.
I also have this problem with butterfly :(
I tend to have a loping stroke, and it doesn't work well with bilateral breathing
Also this. But isn't part of the reason we have loping strokes because of the single-side breathing? Anyway, learning bilateral breathing is hard. There's a lot more to it than just turning your head to the left instead of the right. Seems like one of those things where if you can't do it well, you may as well not do it at all. As long as you can swim in a straight line and remain relatively injury-free, anyway.
