Does anyone have an advice or inpit for building up your lungs? I am trying to hold my breath for longer periods after reading an article about it but it seems like I should be doing more. I want to get better before I actually join the group in my area.
Parents
Former Member
I don't know the science of it, but it makes sense to me that the technique of inhaling is underappreciated. This may seem ridiculous, but I think there are a lot of things you can do wrong.
At the most basic level, if you breathe in more air you will do better. Of course, what separates swimmers from other pursuits is that we have to inhale in a very short time. There are at least four details I can think of off the top of my head that can maximize the inhaled volume while swimming freestyle, and I'm sure there are many more. Here's my list:
1) exhaling fully before the breath
2)shaping your mouth so you get clearance with lesser rotation
3) relaxing your upper airway to reduce resistance to the incoming air (I've been guilty of not doing this while swimming backstroke)
4) breathing not just from your diaphragm but from your chest as well.
I don't know the science of it, but it makes sense to me that the technique of inhaling is underappreciated. This may seem ridiculous, but I think there are a lot of things you can do wrong.
At the most basic level, if you breathe in more air you will do better. Of course, what separates swimmers from other pursuits is that we have to inhale in a very short time. There are at least four details I can think of off the top of my head that can maximize the inhaled volume while swimming freestyle, and I'm sure there are many more. Here's my list:
1) exhaling fully before the breath
2)shaping your mouth so you get clearance with lesser rotation
3) relaxing your upper airway to reduce resistance to the incoming air (I've been guilty of not doing this while swimming backstroke)
4) breathing not just from your diaphragm but from your chest as well.
