I know this topic has been beaten to death, but I'm really struggling with breathing and I can't figure out why. I am breathing out under water, emptying most of my lungs slowly, and am ready to breath in when going for air. I definitely feel like I'm getting a good amount of air and have become pretty proficient at rolling to air, keeping my balance, and breathing in that trough. The feeling I get is extreme air hunger after a lap, like I need to take a breath in quickly. I really don't have the same problem with other sports. I've tried taking a coupole of puffs of Albuterol before swimming, but it has had no effect and makes me doubt that the chlorine gases are causing this.
I'm wondering if this is an issue of getting used to a little hypoxia or hypercarbia. Maybe I'm panicking at the first pang of hypercarbia. Has anyone experienced this, and is it resolved by training yourself to do that next lap despite feeling short of breath? Is there a barrier that you need to push yourself through and then the rest gets easier? Or perhaps I am
Taruky, interesting question...I doubt many swimmers have stopped and really broken down how they breath which makes it a very challenging thing to answer. i played with it a bit the last couple of days and wanted to pass along some thoughts:
1) My first question is are you brathing every stroke or every 3?
2) The first thing I ask swimmers to work on is to NOT exhale powerfully and completely empty out their lungs when they push off the wall and/or on the breakout after a turn. Rather use a slower/controlled realease.
3) On the first arm stroke/breath I find that have a small amount of air left that I exhale quickly/forcefully just as my mouth reaches the postion of taking a breath...it has the effect of clearing water as well as that lasy bit of depleted O2.
4) The inhale is not a long/slow/deep process but rather a fairly quick and somewhat shallow inhale the length of which should be determined by your arm tempo/speed vs. the other way around.
5) At lower speeds I actually hold my breath for what is porbably about 1 second in the stroke cycle and begin a controlled exhale as my opposite arm cycles into it's entry phase.
* If you have a video post it or PM to me and that will help with the feedback quite a bit. bottom line is I think you are taking to long/deep breaths which are great for relaxation but not functional during movement. Be patient, it will take some time before it becomes something you don't have to think about.
Taruky, interesting question...I doubt many swimmers have stopped and really broken down how they breath which makes it a very challenging thing to answer. i played with it a bit the last couple of days and wanted to pass along some thoughts:
1) My first question is are you brathing every stroke or every 3?
2) The first thing I ask swimmers to work on is to NOT exhale powerfully and completely empty out their lungs when they push off the wall and/or on the breakout after a turn. Rather use a slower/controlled realease.
3) On the first arm stroke/breath I find that have a small amount of air left that I exhale quickly/forcefully just as my mouth reaches the postion of taking a breath...it has the effect of clearing water as well as that lasy bit of depleted O2.
4) The inhale is not a long/slow/deep process but rather a fairly quick and somewhat shallow inhale the length of which should be determined by your arm tempo/speed vs. the other way around.
5) At lower speeds I actually hold my breath for what is porbably about 1 second in the stroke cycle and begin a controlled exhale as my opposite arm cycles into it's entry phase.
* If you have a video post it or PM to me and that will help with the feedback quite a bit. bottom line is I think you are taking to long/deep breaths which are great for relaxation but not functional during movement. Be patient, it will take some time before it becomes something you don't have to think about.
