How do you breathe?

RE: How do you breathe?

mcnair — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 12:48:58 GMT

I don't do this often, but find when I think about and try to do Ujjayi (Yoga) breathing in a nice EZ swim it does two things: it really warms me up even as it relaxes me; and it does help with breath control on long aerobic sets (not so much gasping and gulping). The problem is you can't maintain that kind of breathing in anaerobic sets, events, because you're breathing too fast. Well, I shouldn't speak for everyone, but I certainly haven't figured out how to get that much breath control while doing the faster stuff... sometimes, if I'm racing someone in practice I'll say "oh, screw it, I'll breathe when I get to the wall... but I'm not going to break form now!".

RE: How do you breathe?

mlabresh — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 12:18:18 GMT

I just gasp and gulp :D Me too. But seriously, as far as breathing goes, I focus more on making sure I adequately exhale so that I can maximize my inhale. That said, I'm naturally a more diaphragmatic breather due to all my years in choir and band. So that's my default especially when I'm working hard.

RE: How do you breathe?

__steve__ — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 08:03:23 GMT

Prioritize breathing and I naturally break streamline. I focus on short events so I need to keep streamlined breathing in check, specifically with drills. In certain workout conditions where more air is needed I will breathe up to 2 per cycle, but still prioritize form over inhale duration with small quantities of air each breath. The only time breathing becomes the priority, where all else goes out the window, would be finishing an event following a requested split within that event (ah, those can hurt). In my response to your question (other than being in a completely air deprived condition), no, there is never a case for me where a diaphragmatic breath can mechanically help my body position. There are cases of the exact opposite where breathing seems to have no negative effect on streamline and speed - Sun Yang. But he is almost 7' tall, being a huge aquatic vessle a slight bend to inhale through a convienient trough

RE: How do you breathe?

Former Member — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 07:57:52 GMT

Regarding which side to breathe on - my main focus is on breathing on the top side, where the air is.

RE: How do you breathe?

jaadams1 — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 06:18:34 GMT

Freestyle - Right, Right, Right, Right, Right, Right, Right, Left. The last two are my final two strokes into the wall. Backstroke - whenever, usually each stroke cycle Breaststroke - head up...breathe Butterfly - try for 2 up, 1 down pattern in the 200, 100 is random, but leans more toward 2 down, 1 up, then 2 up, 1 down at the end.

RE: How do you breathe?

tigerchik — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 09:16:36 GMT

I just gasp and gulp :D