Bilateral breathing problems

Thanks for both posts. Although for me, the left side is my "comfort side," and I'm weaker on the right side, I always find the bilateral breathing a challenge. Sometimes I try swimming whole lengths just breathing on my weak side, but I'm always immensely relieved when I can go back to the comfort zone, so I'll try the suggestions also.

Donna- this is a subject that affects me as well. To me the key is that the breath to the left becomes an intellectual effort. If it is thus, it is doomed to fail. The key, I have found, is in completely exhaling(making a point of it), emptying the lungs as you rotate to the left. That creates a vacuum-effect in your lungs and presto! you take in a very efficient lungful of air upon your inhalation and you're off to the races. The unpleasant feelings that you had can all be ascribed to unexpelled carbon dioxide in your lungs. Eventually the breath to the left will become second nature.

I wasn't much of a bi-lateral breather until the last few years. I would force myself to swim an entire practice breathing to the left, then the next practice would do half and half to see how things compared, then the next practice all left again. During those "left only" practices, I found it easiest to try and mimic what I was doing on the right side with the left side. Donna, As for the not swimming in a straight line, I think you're overcompensating with your right arm when you're breathing. You're either bringing it too far in on the catch or not catching close enough to your body. Next time you try breathing to your left, watch carefully where your arms go when they come in and where they are when they pass under you. Then try to notice the same thing for when you breathe. There may be something there...

I am working on breathing to the left too. I find that I have to roll prpoerly and pull effciently with my left arm to get my bod to the correct position or else I have to lift my head. As I tire this get's a little less controlled, I was only trained to breath every 4 strokes on the right as a kid.

Donna, since a chiropractor is not available, a massage therapist might be able to at least loosen the muscles, so your movement is better on that side. If you can find a good one, they are very good at evaluating inbalance and helping correct them. I was lucky. Since I learned to swim at age 39, I knew from watching the kids that I needed to bilateral breathe so it comes a bit easier. I still favor the left side though.

Wow, I had no idea I was not alone in this problem. My main concern is I am starting to find that at the 4 mile mark while breathing only on the right side, my neck is getting a tad stiff and if I am to complete an 18 mile swim, I am concerned this could become a problem and cause me to abort the swim due to fatigued neck. I am not looking for problems, but just trying to cover as many bases as possible during this long training journey. There are no chiropractors here, barely one doctor, so I can't go that route but I appreciate the suggestion. When I breathe on the left people say it looks just as natural as on the right. But it sure doesn't feel very good. It seems I have to rotate close to 90 degrees from horizontal to get a good breath because my head seems so not flexible. But I guess I'll work on this problem for yet another year to see if I can get more comfortable with it. And I do think I am fully exhaling because I take a big breath, but will, starting tomorrow, take another look at it and how it feels to make sure I am doing on the left what I normally do on the right. And if anyone has any suggestions regardless of how unique they may sound, send them this way. I thought I would mention that I breathe every single stroke, always have on anything over a 400. If I can keep oxygen in my body, I just don't go into much body or limb failure at all. Ongoing intaking of oxygen is like gasoline in a car for me. Donna

If you think there are some alignment issues, maybe you should find a chiropractor that can look at you and see. I see one regularily, and when my hips get out of whack, the first place I feel it is in the water. I lose my balance.

Maybe you could google and find more about the neck muscles and what could help you. It is very concerning that you are getting dizzy, sick and seeing spots. That seems like some kind of nerve impingement that you never have discovered until now when you are forcing something new. I can also see why you have to solve this before trying this swim. Being able to switch sides seems important. For me, finding a knowledgable massage therapist and chiropractor have kept me pain free. But they do have to know what they are doing, and I certainly would not trust your island girls!:p I wish I could help more, my neck muscles are tight, and massage therapy helps a lot. The therapist tells me that at times they feel like they are made of cement. It always feels better when she loosens them. Helps headaches too, so that is why I think you could get help with this.

Jeff, I, as of tomorrow, will spend more time realizing what actually happens when I breathe on the left. I know my right arm, non-breathing arm, is probably traveling across my centerline so I will be more focused on it. I normally swim in a completely straight line, even in ocean current/tide, when breathing on my right side. I've just spent so much time on this, a year so far, but obviously not enough focused time. But I sure am starting to think that a lot of it is because my head won't turn left far enough yet. I know when I do breath control sets, I always make sure they are odd-numbered which forces me to left side breathe. I guess I have a lot more work to do on this problem; I want it fixed!!!!! The seeing spots and dizziness really needs to go away. Donna

Hi Dorothy, I sure wish that when I was 10 I had naturally learned to bilateral breathe. If I weren't going to try to do such a long swim, there would be no issue at all. The problem is I live on Roatan. Not only is there not a doctor who ever went to school, a massage therapist they have never heard of; this is Honduras island. Most of us fly to Tampa or Miami just to go to the dentist!!! I see black island girls saying they are massage therapists and all they do is slap on some oil and rub away on tourists; they have no clue!! So what do you think about me doing stretching exercises and including some neck turn (slightly only) to length those tightened muscles/tendons? Sadly, I will say that the doctor on the island is also the vet and he has never been to any school. This is very typical of islands outside of the continental USA especially Central America!! This is why I go home for one month each year to shop and see doctors/dentists!!! Any thoughts except to keep working on breathing on the left as much as I can?:dunno: