My breathing is just horrible - I could swim all day long as my arms and legs don't get that tired (I have been a distance swimmer all my life), but my breathing prevents me from doing more.
I have to take a breath just before my turn and just after and I'm stuck on breathing every other stroke (after about two to three hundered yards I can't even hold my breath long enough for bilateral breathing). Shoot, I can barely complete 25 yards under water without practically passing out. It's not that I am out of shape as I swim five days a week (oh, and I am a non-smoker too).
Is there something I can do either in the water or out that will improve my capacity for holding me breath? I know this is a strange question, but I don't feel that the rest of my body is getting the best workout if my lungs are giving out so early.
Thank you.
Parents
Former Member
You ask about improving your capacity for holding your breath - maybe that's the problem. You should inhale when your face is turned out of the water then while your face is in the water you should exhale. I breathe bilaterally and the last two strokes of the three (before I turn and inhale again) I am breathing out slowly into the water. Then, I can get a good deep breath in.
Think of it this way - would you hold your breath when you are running? No, you would get a good breathing rhythm going. Same for swimming.
You ask about improving your capacity for holding your breath - maybe that's the problem. You should inhale when your face is turned out of the water then while your face is in the water you should exhale. I breathe bilaterally and the last two strokes of the three (before I turn and inhale again) I am breathing out slowly into the water. Then, I can get a good deep breath in.
Think of it this way - would you hold your breath when you are running? No, you would get a good breathing rhythm going. Same for swimming.
