when to breath free style

RE: when to breath free style

Former Member — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:08:35 GMT

Keep in mind that the relaxed exhaling during the stroke is only that, it has no influence in your performance, but might make you distressed by the stronger urge to breathe once you have exhaled completely. Once you have exhaled completely, your strong urge to breathe will hit you fast. I speak not as a swimmer, but as a gas passer....billy(passing gas professionally and sometimes on his own)fanstone I agree that you should not completely exhale all of the air while your face is still in-water. In my opinion, you should be controlling the rate of your exhale so you have enough air to continue a controlled exhale as you are rotating to breath. P.S. That is absolutely the best line that I have heard, "passing gas professionally and sometimes on his own"...excellent!

RE: when to breath free style

Former Member — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:18:43 GMT

it sort of forces me to take a big-mouthed breath, which does nothing for me. Which might actually make you intake water as well...

RE: when to breath free style

Former Member — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:45:46 GMT

That's my thought exactly. My personal opinion is that if you're huffing and puffing trying to force all this air out just before taking a breath, it's going to put you out of breath. I'm sure it doesn't have that affect on some people, but that's what it does to me. I don't inhale very much when I swim, and I have a hard time transitioning from a forceful exhale to a gentle inhale--it sort of forces me to take a big-mouthed breath, which does nothing for me.

RE: when to breath free style

Former Member — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:43:11 GMT

Personally, I have tried holding it in until right before I am ready to inhale. When I do that, I feel like I'm not getting enough air in my lungs, which may be because I'm either not exhaling all the way, or I'm spending too much time exhaling when I should be inhaling (mouth out of the water, obviously). When I exhale continuously--even when breathing every 3 or 4 strokes, which I do very infrequently--I find that my breathing is more natural. When I'm walking around, I don't take a breath and hold it, then exhale quickly and inhale again. Michael, this was exactly my point in a couple of posts. Your breathing during swimming should not be any different than when you are walking, etc. If you are swimming a regular set you should be breathing as if you were walking. If you are swimming a medium paced set you should be breathing as if you were jogging, and if you are swimming a sprint set you should be breathing as a sprinter would....all relaxed and as normal as possible! Again, only my opinion, but it is turning into a general thought on here!

RE: when to breath free style

Former Member — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:40:50 GMT

When I swam the marathon races there was a lot of discussion amongst the swimmers. It was believed by most that the breath should be held in as long as possible and expelled just before you where ready to breathe in. It was thought the body held a better position in the water if we did this. More air in the lungs for a longer time better floating ability, more streamline. I have expelled air and have found at times crashing waves sometimes did not allow you to breathe in, the secret is to be adaptable. I agree; you have to be able to adapt to the conditions, distance, intensity, etc in order to be a better performance swimmer.

RE: when to breath free style

Former Member — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:39:49 GMT

Andy: there is only one reason to hold your breath, and that is so you can remove more C02 from your blood, so as to diminish the "urge" to breathe. Notice this: if you can hold your breath while doing the flip turn you will last longer going out then someone who exhales (usually to prevent water from entering nose) during the turn. I personally am trying to exhale less, just enough to avoid water in nose, so as to last longer till the next breath out of a turn. At a certain age or at a certain lack of training (not as efficient energy expenditure and producing more C02) one has to breathe more often and I think the gain from not breathing as to maintain streamlining might not be so important as getting a breath and "feeling better". I have given up taking strokes after the turn before breathing. It isn't making ME any faster but causes some distress from the urge to breathe. Most of the oxygen consumption and need of are at a cellular level and have little to gain from breathing more or less up to a certain level. You use up most of you cellular oxygen the first 20 seconds of your sprint, and from then on it is alternative energy pathways, the oxygen you breathe in will help you immediately. So on a sprint, all you have to be concerned is about controlling your urge to breathe to get rid of the accumulated carbon dioxide in your blood. The resulting acidosis won't hinder your energy or speed, because before it has any impact on your muscles the race is over. This is dificult to undertand, and I won't even go near the Lactic Acid "build up", or the turning point in the lactic acid, where breathing plays an important factor such as in running over 400 meters or swimming longer. Finally, if you can hold your breath all the way on a 50 or longer swim, good for you, but your speed is not dependent on this unless you factor in the streamlining gained or lost from moving your head. Before anyone wants to argue that not breathing is deleterious and dangerous, I must say that I am talking about short sprints where anaerobic metabolism rules. I absolutely love it! This is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you!

RE: when to breath free style

Former Member — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:37:15 GMT

RE: when to breath free style

Former Member — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:50:40 GMT

When I swam the marathon races there was a lot of discussion amongst the swimmers. It was believed by most that the breath should be held in as long as possible and expelled just before you where ready to breathe in. It was thought the body held a better position in the water if we did this. More air in the lungs for a longer time better floating ability, more streamline. I have expelled air and have found at times crashing waves sometimes did not allow you to breathe in, the secret is to be adaptable. I definitely think this is a good description of what could be done with the breathing as well! Let me ask this to the forum: What is the benefit of holding your breath versus continuously exhaling throughout the stroke (or vice versa)?

RE: when to breath free style

Former Member — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:58:18 GMT

No breath for me in a 50 long course, 1 breath during a 50 short course after the turn. I always expelled air out of the nose during the turn.

RE: when to breath free style

Former Member — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:57:56 GMT

25 yards, don't exhale at all. From then on to 1500 exhale slowly so you won't have to exhale all at once but don't exhale to fast that you won't have any alveoli left to remove your excess C02 I definitely think this is a good description of what could be done with the breathing as well! Let me ask this to the forum: What is the benefit of holding your breath versus continuously exhaling throughout the stroke (or vice versa)?

RE: when to breath free style

Former Member — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:51:27 GMT

I think we can agree that there should be no breathing after the flags at the finish, no breathing for a stroke or two after the start (depending on the race), and no quick gasp of life giving oxygen a stroke before and after your turn. I definitely agree that there is no "one breathing style fits all" in the swimming world, and if there is then that person needs to fill us all in to rectify this discussion. However, I absolutely agree with the above statement!

RE: when to breath free style

Former Member — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:45:13 GMT

Don't believe everything you read. If you are bilateral breathing and as soon as your face is in the water you start exhalling you will soon stop bilateral breathing. If you swim a 50 and only breathe in 2 or 3 times during the 50 don't start exhalling as soon as you put your face in the water. Several will say blow out all your air, I say hold a little back. Many exceptions to what you have read. But you are welcome to do whatever you wish. I hear what you are saying. I'm not trying to tell anyone how to swim, and I'm sorry if that is what it looks like. Basically, I'm just saying that I have tried both ways, and when I don't exhale continuously, I feel like I'm huffing and puffing. For what it's worth, I don't breathe bilaterally.

RE: when to breath free style

Former Member — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:50:03 GMT

Repeating: if you exhale, your C02 removal from the blood will end and you will soon have the strong urge to breathe. If you are breathing every stroke than you can exhale as you wish, if you are taking your time to take a new breath, then exhale appropriately, exhaling stronger when you will be taking a breath. I went swimming today and noticed that I breathe in then hold for a little while then slowly exhale, but harder when I am approaching the time to breathe again. As I only breathe to the left, If I am holding my breath, skipping a breathing opportunity, then I will not exhale until I start the next cycle, which in my case is always one sided. If I am swimming fly then I wait to exhale at the cycle that I will take a breath that might happen every two and eventually every stroke. Keep in mind that the relaxed exhaling during the stroke is only that, it has no influence in your performance, but might make you distressed by the stronger urge to breathe once you have exhaled completely. Once you have exhaled completely, your strong urge to breathe will hit you fast. I speak not as a swimmer, but as a gas passer....billy(passing gas professionally and sometimes on his own)fanstone

RE: when to breath free style

Former Member — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:24:33 GMT

RE: when to breath free style

Former Member — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 10:58:37 GMT

Everything I've read, and everything my coaches have told me say that holding your breath is not correct. I'm not sure exactly why, but when various books and coaches tell me something, that leads me to believe it is correct (especially when I see it done by the big guys and gals). Now, as far as breathing when you're taking more than 2 strokes between breaths, I'm not really sure how it works, since I don't do that. But, I have seen videos of Stefan Nystrand swimming an easy 50, and he does sort of a combination of holding and exhaling. If you watch the video, he breathes every 3rd stroke, but sometimes he's holding it, and sometimes he's exhaling. I guess it just depends on personal preference really.

RE: when to breath free style

Former Member — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 09:11:03 GMT

"the oxygen you breathe in will help you immediately" Correction: the oxygen you breathe in has no immediate effect at a cellular level. Believe me, I have held my breath while using a pulse oxymeter and I was finished, with strong urge to breath and my saturation was still above 95%, which means that although I felt a strong urge to breathe my oxygen at a cellular level, in my circulating blood was still high.

RE: when to breath free style

Midas — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:40:48 GMT

Andy: there is only one reason to hold your breath, and that is so you can remove more C02 from your blood, so as to diminish the "urge" to breathe. Notice this: if you can hold your breath while doing the flip turn you will last longer going out then someone who exhales (usually to prevent water from entering nose) during the turn. I personally am trying to exhale less, just enough to avoid water in nose, so as to last longer till the next breath out of a turn. At a certain age or at a certain lack of training (not as efficient energy expenditure and producing more C02) one has to breathe more often and I think the gain from not breathing as to maintain streamlining might not be so important as getting a breath and "feeling better". I have given up taking strokes after the turn before breathing. It isn't making ME any faster but causes some distress from the urge to breathe. Most of the oxygen consumption and need of are at a cellular level and have little to gain from breathing more or less up to a certain level. You use up most of you cellular oxygen the first 20 seconds of your sprint, and from then on it is alternative energy pathways, the oxygen you breathe in will help you immediately. So on a sprint, all you have to be concerned is about controlling your urge to breathe to get rid of the accumulated carbon dioxide in your blood. The resulting acidosis won't hinder your energy or speed, because before it has any impact on your muscles the race is over. This is dificult to undertand, and I won't even go near the Lactic Acid "build up", or the turning point in the lactic acid, where breathing plays an important factor such as in running over 400 meters or swimming longer. Finally, if you can hold your breath all the way on a 50 or longer swim, good for you, but your speed is not dependent on this unless you factor in the streamlining gained or lost from moving your head. Before anyone wants to argue that not breathing is deleterious and dangerous, I must say that I am talking about short sprints where anaerobic metabolism rules. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this supports the theory that you should only exhale immediately before your next opportunity to inhale.

RE: when to breath free style

Midas — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:37:42 GMT

I've tried, but I have a hard time exhaling through several strokes and then breathing. It was hard to tell from the videos posted by Michael whether any of these swimmers does that. The first video of Thorpe clearly shows him holding his breath and only expelling his air maybe a stroke before he breathes. In most of the other videos, the swimmers were breathing every 2 strokes, in which case of course they're going to need to be expelling almost immediately. I'd be surprised if most swimmers constantly exhale while breathing every 3 or more strokes... I'm with ehoch on this.

RE: when to breath free style

Former Member — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:41:59 GMT

Slowly exhale throughout your strokes Maybe for little kids that learn how to swim and "blow bubbles" but not for good swimmers - you exhale right before you take your breath.

RE: when to breath free style

Former Member — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:11:29 GMT

"What we have here is a lack of communication", line from Cool Hand Luke, a great film with Paul Newman. First, what makes you hunger for air isn't the need for oxygen but the need to exhale the carbon dioxide that is building up in your blood stream. If you exhale through your nose on a flip turn because you can't avoid water entering by just holding your breath, then you will want to breathe pretty fast. If you swim a straight 50 with one, or two or no breaths it doesn't matter, as you can accumulate all the C02 and then at the end of the lap you can breathe thusly expiring the air and getting rid of the C02 and starting a fresh cycle. If your lung is inflated it will continuously remove C02 from your blood, however as you exhale you have less and less alveoli to remove the excess C02 in your blood that is driving you to breathe. BUT, if you wait to exhale all at once you might not have enough time to breathe in...so you have to dose what you want, according to your speed and distance. 25 yards, don't exhale at all. From then on to 1500 exhale slowly so you won't have to exhale all at once but don't exhale to fast that you won't have any alveoli left to remove your excess C02. Clear and to the point (I think not), but even I after many sleepless night on the internet have yet to figure the validity of non breathing drills or holding your breath from flag on and so forth. No bubbles from Cielo on his way to win the 50 free...billy fanstone

RE: when to breath free style

Former Member — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:55:29 GMT

Hi I really mean when is the right time to exhale. Should I slowly exhale while swimming or should I hold my breath until I need air exhale and then turn to inhale? Thanks for helping out this newbie Slowly exhale throughout your strokes...definitely don't hold your breath! You want to make it as normal of a breathing process as you can (compare it to when you are walking around, etc).

RE: when to breath free style

Former Member — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:26:56 GMT

I would almost consider becoming a backstroker, but I just can't seem to overcome the stigma. :lmao: This may become my new signature line... I'll give you credit for the quote, of course...

RE: when to breath free style

Former Member — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:24:19 GMT

I think we can agree that there should be no breathing after the flags at the finish, no breathing for a stroke or two after the start (depending on the race), and no quick gasp of life giving oxygen a stroke before and after your turn. I love, love, love, air. I would almost consider becomming a backstroker, but I just can't seem to overcome the stigma.

RE: when to breath free style

Former Member — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:02:39 GMT

Thanks. That was really my point, I just don't have the gift of succinctness.

RE: when to breath free style

Former Member — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:52:44 GMT

I don't think we can set any rule to follow when breathing.