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Breathing during the race vs pool swimming
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 2016-12-20 12:54 PM |
 5 |  Subject: Breathing during the race vs pool swimmingI am not a great swimmer. When i swim in the pool to train i feel way more comfortable with bilateral breathing. I find breathing to the same side just wears out that side and is not as straight. I used to panic in open water but i got over that over years of triathlon. However I still find i go to unilateral breathing in a "i cant breath" mode in races immediately - not sure why (left over panic syndrome probably,...) What is better during a race - what should i strive to get better at for race days? I see some sights saying to breath to one side - never breath every 3 strokes or more. And other sights say how important bilateral breathing is. |
| 2016-12-20 3:07 PM in reply to: jettabar99 |
Expert 1074   Tyrone, Georgia | Subject: RE: Breathing during the race vs pool swimming I have always been told to breath as much as you need. During pool swims I almost always bilateral breath. In races for me it is a mixture. Typically in a sprint triathlon I am unilateral breathing, but for oly's and half distance I get more relaxed it seems and go bilateral. |
| 2016-12-20 3:15 PM in reply to: dandr614 |
Veteran 2842   Austin, Texas | Subject: RE: Breathing during the race vs pool swimming Agree on the breath as much as you need theory for tri (as opposed to hammering a 100 in a pool). I breath to one side, but alternate each length - so I'm always breathing to the same direction, but opposite sides. Let's me practice on both sides, but while doing unilaterally by length, so that I can go to either side in a race. Sun, winds, waves, turn direction - whatever, I want to be able to comfortably breath to whichever side is better for that course. Unilateral breathing, and practicing on both sides, lets me do all that. YMMV - just what works for me. Matt |
| 2016-12-20 5:25 PM in reply to: jettabar99 |
Master 10208 Northern IL | Subject: RE: Breathing during the race vs pool swimming I do much like Matt said in the pool. Switch sides every 25 or every 50, depending on how I feel. Racing is more same side for some period interspaced with 3 to switch over. Sometimes just for fatigue balance and others for the conditions listed. Originally posted by jettabar99 I am not a great swimmer. When i swim in the pool to train i feel way more comfortable with bilateral breathing. I find breathing to the same side just wears out that side and is not as straight. There is an issue in the stroke to figure out. It may seem to work for you now, but it's more of a bandaid type as a pair of negatives don't quite make something positive here. |
| 2016-12-20 7:49 PM in reply to: jettabar99 |
Regular 694 Tucson, AZ | Subject: RE: Breathing during the race vs pool swimming You want to breathe every stroke in a race. You can see pool swimmers sneaking in extra breaths all over the place. When I say extra breathes, they will often sneak a breath on the right side then immediately sneak another on there very next stroke before hitting the wall. This wasn't always that way, and because things changed over the past 25 years there is a lot of misinformation out there. If a coach says you have to bilateral breathe they should be fired immediately. |
| 2016-12-21 6:53 AM in reply to: ThomasGerlach ProTri |
Member 1748 Exton, PA | Subject: RE: Breathing during the race vs pool swimming I agree you should breath every stroke in a race, although some people don't need to they are probably a little more gassed at the end if they don't. Bilateral breathing is a fix to a make believe problem. You should be able to breath to either side when you need to for sighting or avoiding some waves. As an ex swimming I breath almost exclusively to the right, but can breath left when I need to. This in no way slows me down or hurts my performance. |
| 2016-12-21 9:32 AM in reply to: mike761 |
| 1300 | Subject: RE: Breathing during the race vs pool swimming Ditto to Thomas and Mike. Watch any race and you will see the FOP breathing almost , if not, every stroke to one side. Go back and watch clips of distance swimming in the last Olympics and you will see plenty of breathing every stroke to one side. There's nothing wrong IMO if you want to work on bilateral breathing to balance your stroke or for what ever reason. Breathing every stroke to the same side is fine. |
| 2016-12-21 11:53 AM in reply to: mike761 |
| 216 | Subject: RE: Breathing during the race vs pool swimming Originally posted by mike761 I agree you should breath every stroke in a race, although some people don't need to they are probably a little more gassed at the end if they don't. Bilateral breathing is a fix to a make believe problem. You should be able to breath to either side when you need to for sighting or avoiding some waves. As an ex swimming I breath almost exclusively to the right, but can breath left when I need to. This in no way slows me down or hurts my performance. Exactly. When I left swimming in the late 80's, the conventional wisdom was not to breath for 2-3 strokes before or after the wall. And we were trying to swim 100's breathing ever 4-6, 200's breathing every 4, and even 500's breathing every 3 strokes. Came back to competitive swimming a couple years ago. What a difference two and half decades makes. Now you see people breathing every two on everything 200 or longer (and sometimes even on 100s), and distance swimmers breathing on consecutive strokes before a turn and on the first stroke out of a turn. Oxygen is your friend. Breath as much as you need. Know how to breath to either side, but don't obsess over bilateral breathing drills in training. |
| 2016-12-21 1:07 PM in reply to: gary p |
| 1300 | Subject: RE: Breathing during the race vs pool swimming Originally posted by gary pWhen I left swimming in the late 80's, the conventional wisdom was not to breath for 2-3 strokes before or after the wall. I had a fair share of kick boards thrown at me at that time for that exact reason. |
| 2016-12-21 1:12 PM in reply to: gary p |
| 249 | Subject: RE: Breathing during the race vs pool swimming This is very interesting reading. I am an adult onset swimmer, and I started 2 years ago at age 56. All I ever read or saw was bilateral breathing. So, for me, I guess I have never done anything else. Out in the open water, I can switch for 5-10 strokes to one side to avoid boat waves, etc, but if I try and go 200-300 yards on breathing from one side, I am zig zagging a lot. Bilaterally, I go pretty darn straight. Stroke problem? |
| 2016-12-21 3:26 PM in reply to: Goggles Pizzano |
Member 1748 Exton, PA | Subject: RE: Breathing during the race vs pool swimming Originally posted by Goggles Pizzano Originally posted by gary pWhen I left swimming in the late 80's, the conventional wisdom was not to breath for 2-3 strokes before or after the wall. I had a fair share of kick boards thrown at me at that time for that exact reason. If we breathed anywhere from flags to wall we had a water polo ball bounced off our head! |
| 2016-12-22 9:32 AM in reply to: dandr614 |
| 5 | Subject: RE: Breathing during the race vs pool swimming I find that i am so more relaxed when i bilateral breath. Once i breath to one side it seems more "panicked" (not sure if that is the right word). The bilateral breathing is just so much easier for me. i just wanted to get some advice to see if i should work more on the one sided breathing to relax it out more. |
| 2016-12-22 10:04 AM in reply to: jettabar99 |
Member 622 Franklin, TN | Subject: RE: Breathing during the race vs pool swimming How fast are you going when you breathe every 3? If I'm warming up or lolly-gagging, I'll breathe every 3-4. If I'm doing interval work I need more air so I'll breathe every 2. If I'm sprinting a 25-100, I'll probably only breathe 2-3 times per 25. In triathlons, I breathe every 2 since it's a tempo or harder effort depending on distance. |
| 2016-12-23 6:34 AM in reply to: jettabar99 |
Member 1748 Exton, PA | Subject: RE: Breathing during the race vs pool swimming Originally posted by jettabar99 I find that i am so more relaxed when i bilateral breath. Once i breath to one side it seems more "panicked" (not sure if that is the right word). The bilateral breathing is just so much easier for me. i just wanted to get some advice to see if i should work more on the one sided breathing to relax it out more. If bilateral breathing is comfortable then do it. It is not the norm, most people are more comfortable breathing to 1 side. There is no reason to work on one sided breathing if your preference is to bilateral breath. |
| 2016-12-23 3:42 PM in reply to: jettabar99 |
Expert 1224 Is this Heaven? No, it's Iowa. | Subject: RE: Breathing during the race vs pool swimming I personally train to breathe on every right arm stroke in the pool or in open water races / training. My thoughts.... I don't hold my breath when I run or ride my bike, why should I be different in the water.
For me, while swimming, I am better relaxed stroking every right arm as I exhale completely during left arm. (If that makes sense??) :-)
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| 2016-12-24 12:11 PM in reply to: siouxcityhawk |
Expert 2373 Floriduh | Subject: RE: Breathing during the race vs pool swimming When training I will breathe every other stroke unless I'm doing a sprint set of 100s. In a race I generally breathe every stroke unless longer distance (like 1500 in an oly race) when I have enough time try and get my breathing (and adrenaline) in check. Overall though, I agree that you breath as much as you have to. |
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