Myth #7: When it comes to getting oxygen in freestyle, breathing every cycle is as good as it gets.
In almost every other sport but swimming (freestyle, fly, breaststroke), we get the luxury of breathing whenever we want. Typically, with maximal exertion, that means we are inhaling at a respiratory rate of between 50 and 65 times per minute. Not so in swimming.
Most swimmers breathe every cycle and to one side only (a cycle is two arm strokes, or hand entry to hand entry). Since many swimmers turn their arms over slowly (say 35 to 55 strokes per minute), that means the respiratory rate while swimming is 18 to 28; hardly what one would do voluntarily, if one had the choice. (try running or biking with that respiratory rate and see how you do!)
But you do have a choice...sort of. First, you can learn to swim with a higher stroke rate and second, you can try a different breathing pattern. Specifically, I am referring to a 2:3 pattern rather than a 1:2 pattern of breathing. What that means in the Left Stroke Breath Right (LBR), Right Stroke Breathe Left (RBL) Left Stroke no breath (L), Right Stroke no breath (R) terminology is the following:
LBR, RBL, L, RBL, LBR, R, LBR, RBL, L etc
So, as is so common in swimming, this too presents compromise. What are the pros and cons?
Pros: You get 27% more oxygen than if you breathe every cycle, and with oxygen you'll produce 15 times more ATP than without it, and hopefully produce less lactate. You get the associated benefit of breathing more...less fatigue. You get to see the scenery on both sides of the lake or pool.
Cons: Most swimmers feel awkward breathing to their weak side. The act of breathing slows the stroke rate. Breathing often results in the arm being pulled too far under the body, creating more drag. In open water swims, if there is a nice swell on one side, breathing to that side may lead to swallowing more water.
So this begs the question, if this 2:3 pattern is so good, why aren’t world-class distance swimmers using it? A few have on occasion, like Kieren Perkins. It may be that it is yet an undiscovered technique...or, more likely, in the world of superbly conditioned, oxygen deprived distance swimmers, it may be that the cons outweigh the pros. But for this almost-60-year-old-not-so-superbly-conditioned swimmer, who enters an ocean swim once or twice a year and dislikes any pool race over 100 meters, I love the 2:3 pattern, especially on those long aerobic sets. And for those swimmers who dare to try it (and it takes some getting used to), you may not actually swim any faster than by breathing every cycle, but, barring swallowing more water, I'll bet you will feel a lot better afterward.
Gary Sr.
Parents
Former Member
You may well be correct, my knowledge of physiology is superficial at best and certainly doesn't extend to a knowledge of the relative magnitudes of the various processes.
The wikipedia article on acidosis states:
Metabolic acidosis is compensated for in the lungs, as increased exhalation of carbon dioxide promptly shifts the buffering equation to reduce metabolic acid.
I am taking that out of the context of the article so I may be misconstruing it. I don't have Maglischo handy to check more thoroughly. Hopefully Billy or another person knowledgeable about physiology will chime in as your point about localized acidosis in muscles seems valid.
I believe this causes us to feel the imperative to breathe (and I think that is what Billy is getting at too). While CO2 increases will certainly lower pH somewhere, I don't know how that compares to lactic acid buildup in the muscles.
So I'm not sure how the CO2 factor by itself impairs muscle efficiency. I am pretty sure the pH decrease due to LA buildup is much bigger: I feel a LOT more muscle burn when I "go anaerobic" than when I do hypoxic sets, for example. I think Maglischo says something similar when dismissing hypoxic sets as a way to improve lactate tolerance.
You may well be correct, my knowledge of physiology is superficial at best and certainly doesn't extend to a knowledge of the relative magnitudes of the various processes.
The wikipedia article on acidosis states:
Metabolic acidosis is compensated for in the lungs, as increased exhalation of carbon dioxide promptly shifts the buffering equation to reduce metabolic acid.
I am taking that out of the context of the article so I may be misconstruing it. I don't have Maglischo handy to check more thoroughly. Hopefully Billy or another person knowledgeable about physiology will chime in as your point about localized acidosis in muscles seems valid.
I believe this causes us to feel the imperative to breathe (and I think that is what Billy is getting at too). While CO2 increases will certainly lower pH somewhere, I don't know how that compares to lactic acid buildup in the muscles.
So I'm not sure how the CO2 factor by itself impairs muscle efficiency. I am pretty sure the pH decrease due to LA buildup is much bigger: I feel a LOT more muscle burn when I "go anaerobic" than when I do hypoxic sets, for example. I think Maglischo says something similar when dismissing hypoxic sets as a way to improve lactate tolerance.
