In workouts I'm breathing every stroke and into and out of every flipturn. Even worse, once I am really gasping for air (in the middle of a hard set or on the 3rd turn of a 100) I am almost coming to a stop off the turn to catch my breath. I've been swimming 2000-3000 yards 3x/week for the last 18 months dropping intervals and increasing speed but I guess I am still just not in good enough cardiovascular shape?
Of course, it can't help that I have been constantly reinforcing bad habits. But can I just keep plugging away and eventually the fatigue from swimming the length will at least equal the fatigue from the turns?
The alternative I imagine is some kind of hypoxic training that is going to make me miserable. But I'm willing to do what I've gotta do at this point.
Parents
Former Member
My personal experience with running out of air on flip turns was that I was blowing out too much during the flip and while pushing off, when I minimized the exhale during the turn to just enough to keep water out of my nose it greatly reduced the need for a quick breath. And if you've got a good quick flip it doesn't take much of an exhale. The duration under water really shouldn't be a big factor if you don't exhale until just before you breath. Is it possible that you are breathing out continuously instead of in a burst? That will really reduce the time you can go without breathing.
I think continuously blowing out air during the tumble and push off was in fact just what I was doing. I can't even say for sure because after reading this it seemed real easy to change it - but that is what felt natural. I will see if your new technique works for me after more study.
My personal experience with running out of air on flip turns was that I was blowing out too much during the flip and while pushing off, when I minimized the exhale during the turn to just enough to keep water out of my nose it greatly reduced the need for a quick breath. And if you've got a good quick flip it doesn't take much of an exhale. The duration under water really shouldn't be a big factor if you don't exhale until just before you breath. Is it possible that you are breathing out continuously instead of in a burst? That will really reduce the time you can go without breathing.
I think continuously blowing out air during the tumble and push off was in fact just what I was doing. I can't even say for sure because after reading this it seemed real easy to change it - but that is what felt natural. I will see if your new technique works for me after more study.
