How do you breath? I assume everyone inhale the air by mouth. What about exhaling? By nose or mouth? I exhale by mouth because I think if i use nose to exhale I'll tend to use nose to inhale as well. I think I should never close my mouth so that I will never happen to breathe with my nose underwater. Those of you who exhale by nose, do you keep your mouth open nontheless?
Former Member
...Maybe this is my imagination, but I may even exhale simultaneously through the nose and mouth on some occasions.
It's not your imagination, many people do this.
After spending a week face-down in the Adriatic, I've found the biggest benefit of exhaling through the nose with the mouth shut - you can minimize the amount of salt you take into your mouth when you swim in seawater.
I definitely always inhale through my mouth and exhale through the nose. When I instruct others, I tell them to do the same thing. It saves your sinuses and makes it so you don't have to change your breathing pattern during flip-turns.
OK, so "Thorpe" exhales by nose :)
The reason I use only mouth for both exhale and inhale is that this way my mouth will always be open, so no chance of breathing in water from nose. If I have to change from exhaling by mouth to inhaling by nose I fear that sometimes I may either open my mouth too late or forget it so will get water into my nose. Wouldn't that be easier if you don't have to make changes between using nose and using mouth? But it looks like no one has had this issue?
it is way to easy to snort water if you're inhaling through your nose. bigger breath (in) is through the mouth. breathing out your nose is good for slow, controlled exhaling.
I saw a film on Schollander in the 60s where the narrator pointed out he exhaled through the mouth and nose.That is what I do except on flip turns.I do not exhale slowly the whole time,but rather exhale explosively just before inhalation. This increases my buoyancy and I seem to get a deeper breath.
Out of curiosity, I paid a small amount of attention to exhaling last time in the pool. I exhale through both mouth and nose, but differently at different times. It seems to be a self-regulating thing; the transitions between breathing styles are so subtle I rarely notice (except when they aren't subtle, of course).
Regards, VB
Definitely inhale through mouth. More oxygen. I am very pro-oxygen and find that I can't live without it.
Hi notsofast, did you mean *exhale*? I think everyone inhales through mouth.;)
