My coach is telling me to "just take in a deeeep breath". do you guys just do that?? breathe deeply from your chest?? I breath like I run, from my chest. I heard/read or something about diaphragmatic breathing technique.
I realize that I'm new and all, but I get soooo frustrated getting winded. I can't help but think I'm doing something wrong. He tells me to just keep going and "work it out". I'm turning my head to side, getting deep breath, I'm not sure I"m exhaling as much or right as I should and I might be getting too much air in. After 3 or or 5 complete rotations of r and left (what is that called) strokes, I bob up and am so winded. That's so hard for me cause I can run 2 relatively easy miles on a treadmill at 7 mph.
Thanks,
Mark
Parents
Former Member
I seem to recall a few threads recently regarding breathing that I replied to; here is one of them:
forums.usms.org/showthread.php
You may find some of that info helpful, especially the bit on the Yogic breathing exercise.
When I have time I breathe deep. Backstroke provides the best opportunity for this (so I’m very thankful that it follows butterfly in the IM). Breaststroke is next. Front crawl can allow enough time to get a good deep breath, but it takes more practice and study.
The rewards for patience along with careful practice and study in swimming are fantastic. And front crawl usually gives best return in your training investment for feeling fast and powerful. If you feel fast then you probably are fast, and efficient too.
I’ve met several runners who thought they could just jump in the pool and swim away, only to be completely winded in one lap. You’ll likely progress faster because you already have better core conditioning (and probably better dietary habits as well) than someone who does no exercise. But I doubt that the average dedicated swimmer could put on a pair of running shoes and go run for 20-60 minutes on their first try.
It sounds to me too like you are trying to cram a years worth of experience into one month. I get the most benefit from my swim practice when I am able to relax and enjoy it. This does not mean that I do wimpy workouts. My strongest workouts are the ones that I can best relax into. This is when the 100’s of miles of practice pay off and everything becomes automatic. Those days are always the most superior swims.
I breathe when I need to. You can’t last very long without enough oxygen, especially when you are exerting yourself. I started out breathing on the same (right) arm recovery (or once very complete cycle). Eventually I learned alternate breathing (every 1.5 cycles). Now (since I tend to get winded easily) I breathe 2x on one side, then go the 1.5 cycles, breathe 2x on the other side, etc. Sometimes (especially when I tired and pushing it) I’ll revert to one cycle breathing near the end of a workout or set (or race).
A good way to learn alternate breathing is to start out breathing every cycle on one side (right) for one pool length, then on the return length only breathe on the opposite (left) side. Once you get the feel for breathing on each side it becomes much easier to experiment with the frequency of your breaths.
I seem to recall a few threads recently regarding breathing that I replied to; here is one of them:
forums.usms.org/showthread.php
You may find some of that info helpful, especially the bit on the Yogic breathing exercise.
When I have time I breathe deep. Backstroke provides the best opportunity for this (so I’m very thankful that it follows butterfly in the IM). Breaststroke is next. Front crawl can allow enough time to get a good deep breath, but it takes more practice and study.
The rewards for patience along with careful practice and study in swimming are fantastic. And front crawl usually gives best return in your training investment for feeling fast and powerful. If you feel fast then you probably are fast, and efficient too.
I’ve met several runners who thought they could just jump in the pool and swim away, only to be completely winded in one lap. You’ll likely progress faster because you already have better core conditioning (and probably better dietary habits as well) than someone who does no exercise. But I doubt that the average dedicated swimmer could put on a pair of running shoes and go run for 20-60 minutes on their first try.
It sounds to me too like you are trying to cram a years worth of experience into one month. I get the most benefit from my swim practice when I am able to relax and enjoy it. This does not mean that I do wimpy workouts. My strongest workouts are the ones that I can best relax into. This is when the 100’s of miles of practice pay off and everything becomes automatic. Those days are always the most superior swims.
I breathe when I need to. You can’t last very long without enough oxygen, especially when you are exerting yourself. I started out breathing on the same (right) arm recovery (or once very complete cycle). Eventually I learned alternate breathing (every 1.5 cycles). Now (since I tend to get winded easily) I breathe 2x on one side, then go the 1.5 cycles, breathe 2x on the other side, etc. Sometimes (especially when I tired and pushing it) I’ll revert to one cycle breathing near the end of a workout or set (or race).
A good way to learn alternate breathing is to start out breathing every cycle on one side (right) for one pool length, then on the return length only breathe on the opposite (left) side. Once you get the feel for breathing on each side it becomes much easier to experiment with the frequency of your breaths.
