Until recently I could not keep swimming more than 50 m in the freestyle. Exhaling and inhaling in a short moment when my face was above the surface had been my long time habit of breathing. Two weeks ago, I just thought of exhaling underwater and tried keeping exhaling while my face was in the water. And voila! I found myself keep swimming more than 500 m. Now I realize that the amount of air in one breath is not essential, but continuous air flow at the surface of alveoli is the key for not suffocating. I have never taken systematic lessons of swimming, but is this a common knowledge?
I also would like to know how you exhale underwater; through mouth, thorough nose, or both? Any reason for that? I currently exhale through only mouth.
exhale through your mouth and nose
breathing as you swim something you learn how to do
then you won't think about it much once you have it down
when you have more air in your lungs you float slightly better
I'll have to pay attention to my breathing to see what I do
ande
Originally posted by Kenta
Until recently I could not keep swimming more than 50 m in the freestyle. Exhaling and inhaling in a short moment when my face was above the surface had been my long time habit of breathing. Two weeks ago, I just thought of exhaling underwater and tried keeping exhaling while my face was in the water. And voila! I found myself keep swimming more than 500 m. Now I realize that the amount of air in one breath is not essential, but continuous air flow at the surface of alveoli is the key for not suffocating. I have never taken systematic lessons of swimming, but is this a common knowledge?
I also would like to know how you exhale underwater; through mouth, thorough nose, or both? Any reason for that? I currently exhale through only mouth.
... and the feeling of needing to take a breath is actually backwards. Your body sends a signal to your brain that you need to take a breath based on the amount of carbon dioxide in your lungs, not the lack of oxygen. In fact, your lungs have no mechanism at all for detecting oxygen. :)
Knowing this... exhale slowly when you feel you need to inhale. It will buy you a moment more time (because you're expelling CO2) without feeling like you need a breath.
