Breathing help

RE: Breathing help

Former Member — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 10:07:49 GMT

I take it you may be new to swimming since you mentioned the "one lap". Don't get discouraged. It sounds like you are a very healthy guy and involved in sports. One would think that swimming then would come easy, right? Wrong! It's something that takes a while. You have to train yourself. One lap at a time. You may want to have a coach look at your stroke and see how it can be more efficient or effortless. I once felt the exact same as you - BEFORE I started to learn flip turns. The flip turns nearly killed me. On a positive note, while it may take a while, you will feel improvement in baby-steps. Suddenly you won't feel as much like you are fighting the water and gasping for air. You will feel more rythm and ease. But it may take a wile. Consistency in your workouts is the key. Making it to the pool when you are not looking forward to it - and keeping your body getting used to this new sport. Muscle memorization - technique - efficiency - endurance - relaxation....keep those things in mind.

RE: Breathing help

Rich B. — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 08:05:26 GMT

Try to relax and do some hypoxic drills, gradually increasing the amount of time under water :2cents:

RE: Breathing help

Paul Smith — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 05:52:43 GMT

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.

RE: Breathing help

gobears — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:43:28 GMT

Sounds like you're tense. Relax. Try to make your breathing more natural and less forced. This may mean slowing down a little bit when you're swimming as well.