Learning to breathe on both sides

As a bilateral breather all I can tell you is that it just takes lots and lots of just doing it. I've been bi-lat breathing for years...decades...and I can't say that there is any one thing you can do that just suddenly makes it happen and feel natural. Just time. And then after a long long while you might find yourself wondering, unable to recall, which was your natural side before you became a bi-lateral breather. And I honestly can't remember. Sometimes when I'm swimming I try to detect little clues...slight comforts or reflexes...that might give me some indication. The only thing I remember about being taught and learning to breathe properly...but not necessarily bi-laterally...was to imaging a rod at water level running through my head, through my body and to my toes, and to rotate around that. So when you go to breath on your un-natural side concentrate on that and it may help you with the coordination. Dan

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. So technically, in my opinion, this practice isn’t really bi-lateral breathing. Yes, you are breathing on both sides, but only in different intervals/repeats/separate times. To me, bi-lateral breathing is breathing on both sides as you swim – i.e. rotate to the right, inhale, rotate back into the water(center), exhale, next stroke rotate to the left, inhale…etc. Bi-lateral breathing, as I described, can be really useful…especially for open water swimmers…but I also find it useful in the pool too. I think that learning it the way I described would probably be a more efficient process than being a right-sided breather, then learning to breathe left-sided independently, then working to combine it. The reason I say that is that instead of breathing every stroke (all left, or all right), you’re now breathing ever-other stroke. Consequently, there’s more time…a second or two…between inhalations. Not much but it can be noticeable depending on your intensity. Combining left and right together will also get you accustomed to that increased time between inhalations at the same time. Going all right, then all left…when you try to combine it you then have to deal with the increase time between inhalations. Try it the way I described. It may come easier. Dan

Hi Syd, it's great to hear that you're slowly but surely beginning to master bilateral breathing! As you noticed, it does take time to perfect, particularly after years of breathing only to one side. However, as you also observed, it is worth the effort for many reasons. In swimming, the primary goal is to be as efficient as possible so that we can maximize speed for the amount of energy we are putting in. Among other things, bilateral breathing improves your symmetry and balance in the water. Most of us have a dominant side of the body, and by breathing only to one side, we tend to put all of the emphasis on that dominant side. Bilateral breathing helps develop strength on both sides instead. Bilateral breathing is also helpful in open water, when we need to see all around us or when we may need to breathe to the other side to avoid the sun or keep an eye on landmarks during the swim. One of the elements that we focus on during our Swimspire stroke technique clinics is teaching drills that will help reinforce bilateral breathing, among many other aspects. Here is an article I wrote for Ironman that describes some of those drills. Hope it is of help to you! www.ironman.com/triathlon/news/articles/2014/11/5-essential-swimming-drills.aspx

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.

Glad you enjoyed it! One of the benefits you can get from the single arm drill is increasing your comfort with bilateral breathing, so I would recommend practicing that drill without the snorkel. You'll increase the strength of your core and your rotational ability in the process, which is an added bonus. Also, you don't necessarily have to practice left-side breathing at all times during your workouts....you just need to try to establish one or more breathing patterns that incorporate both sides in order to maintain consistency in bilateral breathing. Good luck!

So technically, in my opinion, this practice isn’t really bi-lateral breathing. Dan Yes, I thought I would breathe exclusively to the left until it felt comfortable. I thought it would help speed up the process and 'shock' me into having to do something about it quickly. A bit like putting a patch over the good eye to force the lazy eye to work. That's the way my thinking went, but I am open to other suggestions. I shall try your suggestion tomorrow at practice. To be honest, even though I told myself no more breathing to the right until the left has improved considerably (initially I was thinking about a period of three months) I haven't been able to maintain it all the time. While I breathe to the left 95% of the time, there has been the odd occasion in the past two weeks when I have been so exhausted I have sneaked a breath to the right or done a bilateral length. I get what you are saying about the extended time between breaths during bilateral breathing. Perhaps that extra time will help me to get into a better position before I take a breath. Breathing every stroke to the right doesn't present a problem to me. It feels smooth and natural, but breathing every stroke to the left feels a little rushed and I suspect this is contributing to me feeling uncomfortable. Julia, thanks for you input. I checked out your link. I do the one arm drill with a snorkel quite regularly and I am quite excited to try the side kick drill, the hyper kick drill and the side to side drill. :)

One of the benefits you can get from the single arm drill is increasing your comfort with bilateral breathing, so I would recommend practicing that drill without the snorkel. I tried it without the snorkel and, you are right: preferable not to use the snorkel for that drill. I also tried your other drills and found the side kick drill and the hyper kick drill very demanding on the legs. I could barely keep the hyper kick drill up for more than 10 meters and my head was never fully out of the water. Had a breakthough with my breathing today and thought I would report on it as it might be of benefit to others who are trying the same thing. Today was a dream practice. Just about everything went right. Breathing to the left just clicked. It was smooth, almost effortless and I didn't feel out of breath at all. At the first push off on my warm up, I took two breaths to the right and told myself that I all I had to do was to transfer that same rhythm to the other side and it would all be okay. So I did and it was. Perhaps thinking about it in terms of rhythm helped because rhythym is intricately tied to timing and it was my timing that was out. So what did I do differently? I waited until my arm was almost at full extenstion before I took a breath. Previously, I had been breathing too early. Probably only a fraction of a second but it was enough to put my rhythm out, make me lift my head and drop my hips and cause to be breathless in the space of 50 meters. I can't stress how big a difference it made. Not only did it feel effortless, but I was making the same intervals only two days ago I was missing by a second and a half. And I felt strong: like I was getting a good purchase on the water. My legs weren't crossing over and I felt like I was getting propulsion from them and they felt like they were acting as a counterweight to my upper body, rather than just trailing behind aimlessly and crossing over one another every now and then. I remember reading somewhere on this forum that you 'should reach to breathe' and that stuck with me and it was what I kept thinking about today. For some reason or other, I attribute that comment to Knelson, but I may be wrong. Anyway, it turns out that by breathing slightly later, my body was 'longer' in the water and was more on its side, thus making it easier to just rotate my head ever so slightly to breathe. Very excited to get back into the water tomorrow morning.

I always have to think about really exhaling on my other side when learning to do bi breathing.

I always have to think about really exhaling on my other side when learning to do bi breathing. Yes, that is part of the problem: forgetting to exhale, or not exhaling sufficiently because you are concentrating so hard on learning a new habit.

What I've used with my swimmers (both age group and masters) to get them to transition from single side breathing to bilateral breathing is a 3-2 breathing pattern. Really gets you thinking about the rotation to both sides, and can help with any lingering issues you might have about not getting enough air by solely breathing to the left side.