Will try to keep short....
53 year old geezer in good physical shape. currently completed one of two (stroke lessons) as I've not had a swim lesson in 40plus years.
I've been in the pool working out for about 6 weeks now....here's where I am:
- have recently treaded water for 30 mins,
- can do 2 mins hands above water tread,
- swam a mile continuous (little wall push) earlier this week via ***/side/free/back stroke sets (each 50 yards) for 1750 yards. super casual pace and felt good at end - not completely fatigued.
- today's swim: 250yds *** 7 mins, rest 2 mins, 250yds side 6 mins, rest 2 mins, 205 yards free 5 mins.
I'm not getting muscle fatigue in the 250 free...but finish winded - other strokes I could have gone farther. I continually exhale when face down, but am only good breathing (inhale) on right side...I tried to bilateral breath today - crazy difficult for me. and I'm trying to continuously exhale whenever face down.
My goal is to be able to swim continuously for a mile or so (freestyle stroke) without stopping....I think my biggest problem is breathing rhythm(??) Any thoughts/exercises to try? When I practice breathing to left I can't barely do a 50!
Thanks
Re bilateral breathing... I'm in my 60s--started masters swimming 10 years ago. Have good endurance, no speed but can swim for a long time (5+ mile open water swim in Aug. for instance).
A few years before starting masters swimming, I decided to try an open water mile swim--I was an injured runner, swimming while rehabbing, so I gradually developed more endurance and gradually replaced my very slow breaststroke with less slow freestyle so I could finish the race before the officials took up the finish line and went home. :) That went okay--I didn't even finish last (second to last, but not last).
After a few years of letting swimming slide, I joined a masters' group out of curiosity. The coach kept pushing me to learn to bilateral breathe--it was VERY hard for quite a while. I typically breathed to the left side, and attempts to breathe to the right resulted in a lot of sputtering and choking. But now it's such second-nature to bilateral breathe that I don't even think about it.
While viewpoints differ on the value of bilateral breathing, I'm glad I do it easily now b/c it helps in open water--it allows me to get a view on both sides and recover quickly if a wave smacks me while I'm breathing to one side or another. But that's me--YMMV.
Good luck and enjoy!
Re bilateral breathing... I'm in my 60s--started masters swimming 10 years ago. Have good endurance, no speed but can swim for a long time (5+ mile open water swim in Aug. for instance).
A few years before starting masters swimming, I decided to try an open water mile swim--I was an injured runner, swimming while rehabbing, so I gradually developed more endurance and gradually replaced my very slow breaststroke with less slow freestyle so I could finish the race before the officials took up the finish line and went home. :) That went okay--I didn't even finish last (second to last, but not last).
After a few years of letting swimming slide, I joined a masters' group out of curiosity. The coach kept pushing me to learn to bilateral breathe--it was VERY hard for quite a while. I typically breathed to the left side, and attempts to breathe to the right resulted in a lot of sputtering and choking. But now it's such second-nature to bilateral breathe that I don't even think about it.
While viewpoints differ on the value of bilateral breathing, I'm glad I do it easily now b/c it helps in open water--it allows me to get a view on both sides and recover quickly if a wave smacks me while I'm breathing to one side or another. But that's me--YMMV.
Good luck and enjoy!
