I have always breathed to the right only, but recently have started to try to learn how to breathe to my left. I am finding it much more difficult than I had anticipated. The main reason:
I am out of breath the whole time.
I feel like I am not getting the same quality of breath as I do when I breathe to the right. My breathing feels short and choppy. I also feel like I am lifting my head to breathe instead of breathing with my body roll.
Worse still, I am now dropping my right elbow and I am so out of breath the whole time, I can hardly concentrate on trying to keep it up.
On the positive side, my left elbow position has improved considerably (which is why I started down this road in the first place) and my kick is being forced to improve. (I have always had a crossover kick and for some reason or other when I breathe to my left, I don't do it).
Two weeks into the change now and it is definitely feeling more natural, however, I was hoping others who have tried this could give me some advice on what to watch out for and maybe give me some tips on how to make it feel more natural.
As a bilateral breather all I can tell you is that it just takes lots and lots of just doing it. Dan
Thanks. That's what I thought. Lots and lots of practice. it's probably going to be months before it starts feeling as natural as breathing to the right for me. I guess I was just hoping that someone had a 'magic bullet'.
It is definitely getting easier. Today, for at least one 50m, out of a set of 20, it felt really good. However, when I get tired, I think I am lifting my head because my hips are sinking and I am getting water in my mouth. That never happens when I breathe to the right.
For the time being, I am also slower breathing to the left. On average, I am about 1-2 seconds slower per 50m than I am when I breathe to the right. But I expect that to improve and my ultimate aim is to be equally quick breathing to either side. But most importantly, I hope it is going to help me with my dropped left elbow and my crossover kick. It is definitely helping with keeping the left elbow up, but as I mentioned previously, I now have to watch out that I don't drop my right elbow. It is also helping with the crossover kick. It has been eliminated altogether as I find I have to employ a six beat kick to keep my hips up. It is exhausting me and this no doubt will have an unexpected but most welcome aerobic benefit.
I remember my friend's father explaining the rod running through the head analogy on the way home from practice one evening. It helped a lot and was a lot more than any of my coaches told me. Lol.
As a bilateral breather all I can tell you is that it just takes lots and lots of just doing it. Dan
Thanks. That's what I thought. Lots and lots of practice. it's probably going to be months before it starts feeling as natural as breathing to the right for me. I guess I was just hoping that someone had a 'magic bullet'.
It is definitely getting easier. Today, for at least one 50m, out of a set of 20, it felt really good. However, when I get tired, I think I am lifting my head because my hips are sinking and I am getting water in my mouth. That never happens when I breathe to the right.
For the time being, I am also slower breathing to the left. On average, I am about 1-2 seconds slower per 50m than I am when I breathe to the right. But I expect that to improve and my ultimate aim is to be equally quick breathing to either side. But most importantly, I hope it is going to help me with my dropped left elbow and my crossover kick. It is definitely helping with keeping the left elbow up, but as I mentioned previously, I now have to watch out that I don't drop my right elbow. It is also helping with the crossover kick. It has been eliminated altogether as I find I have to employ a six beat kick to keep my hips up. It is exhausting me and this no doubt will have an unexpected but most welcome aerobic benefit.
I remember my friend's father explaining the rod running through the head analogy on the way home from practice one evening. It helped a lot and was a lot more than any of my coaches told me. Lol.
