Breath control question

RE: Breath control question

Former Member — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 17:23:26 GMT

Originally posted by sparx35 I USED TO HAVE SAME PROB...WHAT I LEARNED WAS TO COMPLETELY EXHALE BEFORE RE..INHALING..SOUNDS SIMPLE,but to give out that last gasp of air before re ..inhaling is frightening at times..it takes a lot of personal FAITH, if you like, to do this.I still get the same prob from time to time.. faith, and damn good sense of timing. I have faith, but manage to goof up my timing about half the times.

RE: Breath control question

Former Member — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 13:24:11 GMT

I once read something that made me realize how important getting all the air out was. Take a deep breath and breathe out 3/4 of it; now without exhaling the 1/4 that is left in your lungs, take another deep breath just like the first. Kinda uncomfortable isn't it? Who can swim with that uncomfortable feeling in their chest?

RE: Breath control question

Former Member — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 10:12:00 GMT

Where I goof myself up is holding my abs tight and trying to belly breathe at the same time. I can do one or the other really well, both is going to take practice practice practice. Speaking of practice, I think I'm slowly startin to get the hang of the breaststroke kick. Still not a lot fo propulsion, but at least I can do a few laps of kick without trying to revert to the wide kick, and every now and then I hit a good one, where I move forward with klittle mroeforce... comparatively speaking. Few more years, and I'll get the hang of it ;)

RE: Breath control question

Former Member — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 07:54:12 GMT

Gareth is right again. I never swim or caoch about the inhale, other than coaching a belly breath. In the water I focus the swimmers on the exhale, the inhale is always a sneaky fast breath. It is important that swimmers (esp. asthmatics) learn to belly breathe. It needs to be taught out of the water. To fully fill the lungs, the ribs can be expanded only so far, but the abdomen can be expanded much more by breathing deep and watching the belly expand. For asthmatics, that is the secret to getting enough air.:D Now where is Tom for a good belly laugh:confused:

RE: Breath control question

mattson — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 04:38:16 GMT

Originally posted by breastroker It is important that swimmers (esp. asthmatics) learn to belly breathe. I was flipping through a Tai Chi book, and they emphasize the point about belly breathing. "If you do not breathe correctly, you cannot move correctly. Breathe." - Chun, Remo Williams

RE: Breath control question

Former Member — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 17:40:46 GMT

Thanks for the responses. I think I'm having trouble keeping aerobic. My breathing never seems to satisfy my need for air. Did an experiment today. During the *** stroke I exhaled one stroke longer than usual. This forced my lungs to be very empty when I inhaled. I felt like I got more meaningful air. Am I on the right track?

RE: Breath control question

Former Member — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 16:35:29 GMT

lol--I had it all wrong.

RE: Breath control question

knelson — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 12:40:31 GMT

I've always thought coaches put too much emphasis on breath control. Does breathing really slow down your stroke that much? Maybe it does, but I've never seen any empirical evidence. I'd like to see an experiment where several swimmers swam all out 50s, one taking their normal number of breaths (maybe 3 or 4 for the 50), and one breathing every stroke (i.e., breathe every stroke on the right or the left). I wonder how much different the times would be? Obviously for a 50 even a tiny difference in speed could be critical, though. I could see how breathing too often in a 50 or 100 might slow your turnover, and I think this may be the primary factor for holding your breath in sprints. However, for longer races I think holding your breath is crazy. My gut feeling is that any gain in speed is offset by your muscles getting less oxygen. As for breathing into turns, coaches are constantly harping on "no breathing in and out of turns." I'm not convinced this is really good advice. I do see people take a last breath when both arms are already at their sides immediately before flipping. There's no question this is poor form, but I can't see what's wrong with breathing on your final "real" stroke into the wall. If some one can prove me wrong go for it :)

RE: Breath control question

Former Member — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 12:02:17 GMT

to my knowledge, repeat 50s mean swimming 50 metres (or yards), on the same interval; I beleive that she is stating that she can do so on a single breath. It is not uncommon druing practice to work on swimming on a determined number of breaths... I can do it once (meaning, swimming under water on a single breath, or doing free on a single breath), but during the rest of the set I'm struggling...

RE: Breath control question

Former Member — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 08:53:50 GMT

Originally posted by the texillectual Often when I make the approach for a flip turn I'm out of breath and take a last gasp before the turn. I blow bubbles as I rotate and during push off. After this short amount of time and blowing bubbles, I'm desperate for air and can't glide very far from the wall before taking a breath. How does one learn breath control? I USED TO HAVE SAME PROB...WHAT I LEARNED WAS TO COMPLETELY EXHALE BEFORE RE..INHALING..SOUNDS SIMPLE,but to give out that last gasp of air before re ..inhaling is frightening at times..it takes a lot of personal FAITH, if you like, to do this.I still get the same prob from time to time..

RE: Breath control question

Former Member — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 07:49:38 GMT

Can you please tell me what repeat 50s are? Is it swimming in a 50 yard pool without taking any breaths? If so I can do those in a 25 yard pool. Sometimes when I am swimming i usually only take 2-3 breaths (depending how tired I am). Can someone explain the repeat 50s and why is it that you swim faster when you dont take as many breaths (or no breaths at all?) Thanks for the response.

RE: Breath control question

Former Member — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 06:39:59 GMT

I'd really appreciate it if you could post some of these drills. Thanks, needing air

RE: Breath control question

Former Member — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 06:38:15 GMT

Kirk, the other reason that I know of for not breathing every stroke on a 50 or 100 is; every time you turn your head to the side you put more surface area to the water....by keeping your head straight there is less resistance, which means more speed.

RE: Breath control question

Former Member — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 06:26:00 GMT

Yes you are on the right track ! Most people concentrate on the Breathing in when they should concentrate on the exhale. Breathe out as completely as you can and your inhale will be take in more air. I like to do explosive breathing. There is a 36 yr old swimmer that i coach who was never breathing out under the water. He would wait until his mouth cleared the water and would exhale and inhale in that 1 second or so. He was also the fastest master swimmer that i coach. This is why it took me so long to notice this. I could not believe that he could swim fast repeats with such a poor breathing pattern. It was a series of breathing drills that i gave him that showed up the problem. He had been breathing that way all his swimming life !!

RE: Breath control question

scolopax — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 08:42:32 GMT

You just have to learn to control the panic that results from the feeling of needing a breath. Your body can wait the second and a half that it would take you to take a stroke or two. Not that this is easy. I would start out keeping whatever breathing pattern you use thru the turn-- if you breathe threes take your breath every third whether it comes just before a turn, just after, or two strokes after. Unless your turn is really slow you are not losing any more air than you would blowing out during your three strokes. I am the only one on my team who can repeat no breath 50's (the only time I get to lead a lane) and my only secret is that I don't panic and my body has finaly convinced my mind that I can do it.

RE: Breath control question

Former Member — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 07:07:27 GMT

wow...no breath 50s! Quite impressive. I had been having the same problems...taking a last breath right before the turn....I could almost invision my coach from back in the day hunting me down for it....(i've just started back after too many years away from the pool). although I dont profess to have a "correct" answer, I started working on that this weekend, and I focused on a solid push-off and focused on the next lap, and found myself taking fewer of those last breaths.....and getting further before my first breath on the new lap...

RE: Breath control question

mattson — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 06:55:39 GMT

Originally posted by the texillectual After this short amount of time and blowing bubbles, I'm desperate for air and can't glide very far from the wall before taking a breath. Are you having trouble staying aerobic during the swim, which is making you desperate for air? Or are you expelling most of your air during the turn? If the later, you can experiment on how much (how little) to "bubble out" to keep water out of your nose.