Breathing in water

[Jigghead]

Not entirely sure I agree with that.  If you swimming with your heap looking down and only turn your head you probably wont be able to get your mouth out the water enough to breath. Your shoulders will naturally rotate as you breathing while doing your recovery stroke. Maybe this is what you mean leading with your head not shoulders?

 

Loads of practice has taught me to control this as far as possible. I also make sure I breathe with around half my mouth open, this way I don't need to rotate my neck all the way. There will be some shoulder roll, but limit this as much as you possibly can. It's practice and not an exact science, but the trick is, keep breathing and stay as streamlined as you possibly can at all times.

[_David_]

http://www.swimsmooth.com/breathing_beg.html

[Blackheart]

Here's a link to a demo of the Total Immersion technique by Shinji Takeuchi.

The economy of motion is clear. So easy and graceful.

Interesting is his comment on breathing: "I just breathe out to get enough air for me"

 

[Davey_Jones]

Poor OP is not going to know what to do.

 

Try them all and see what works for you.

[J∆kk∆ls]

Having good swimming posture will also reduce drag. Maybe your legs are sinking while you swim. You can purchase a pool boy to help correct this. 

 

http://www.sportsmanswarehouse.co.za/product/arena-freeflow-pullbuoy/4689

[Disylizzy]

Having good swimming posture will also reduce drag. Maybe your legs are sinking while you swim. You can purchase a pool boy to help correct this. 

 

http://www.sportsmanswarehouse.co.za/product/arena-freeflow-pullbuoy/4689

 

 You just made me laugh!  

 

What if I prefer a pool man, boys are too young for me

[lerouc]

Harry Potter ate some plant (can't remember if it was a weed) and then he was able to breath under water...maybe try that?

[TheBritishTwit]

thanks for the reply everyone. Currently when I swim, I breathe out through my month and then take a breathe every 4th stroke. The reason I breathe out of my month is because I find it easier to get all the air out of my lungs quicker then I can using my nose however as as Breaker said below that doesn't always go to plan...

 

I had exactly the same issue when I started training for my first Xterra.

Cycling: No problem as that is my core sport.

Running: Ok - I could do 5min ks almost immediately, got that down to a 42min 10k pretty easily.

Swimming: 2 lengths of a 50m pool and I was finished..

 

I signed up for a total immersion workshop and that sorted all my problems out.

Worth looking at.

 

Note: It didn't make me fast in the water, it made me comfortable.

@Blackheart your quote above is exactly my situation.

 

Not if your Regan from the exorcist

My 2c, I was in the same spot about 3 months ago, joined swim squads and then heard about this exhaling under water thing  . All I can say is, its bloody hard and not something you should try in a race situation unless you have practiced it.

Another thing that someone mention is don't exhale completely underwater. My problem was that as I came to the end of exhaling, then some weird reflex in me tried to take a small breath.... while I was underwater. Not a nice feeling.

Good luck

 

 

You might be starting out too fast and pushing your heart rate too high to quick.  Start out doing your laps super slow to warm up then slowly increase your pace.  You'll soon be breaking that 1km mark with ease.

@Davey_Jones agree this is likely to be the case as well. i have always been that guy that flies at the beginning and then get overtaken later on because dead.

 

Harry Potter ate some plant (can't remember if it was a weed) and then he was able to breath under water...maybe try that?

@Lerouc is there a chance we can do a deal???

[lerouc]

A friend once dared me to do a triathlon, nothing big, just an xterra (lite), mtbing wasnt an issue, i can get running fit (i just hate running hence why i dont do it) and then came the swim, also thinking, i dive alot during crayfish season, used to be an okay-ish swimmer at school (primary) so how hard could it be. After having to stop several times trying to reach the other side not able to get breathing right at all, i got out and left the pool, have not been in one again.

[SwissVan]

As a plonker who also struggled in the beginning (could not swim 50m without getting dizzy) this is what i found works best:

 

Its not natural to do exercise and hold your breath, learn to breathe bilaterally (Left and right sides) and do this all the time. It might seem difficult and feel funny to breath on "the other side"  but keep at it and pretty soon it will become natural. Hypoxic swimming where you hold your breath for a number of strokes is a valuable training method, but its just that.. a training method which can be incorporated into a training session and not a full time swimming style. Once you get swim fit you might be able to swim further breathing less often BUT if you are breathing less often then you are not swimming hard enough....(applicable to long distances not sprints)

 

When you breath out make sure you finish breathing out while your mouth is still under water, its important to finish exhaling everything before your mouth is out the water. There is not enough time to finish breathing out and to inhale when your mouth is out the water. You will take in more air if all the air is exhaled before you inhale.

 

Don't lift your head up, imagine you are on a skewer and rotating your head side wards while stretching your arm slightly forwards and your ear is going into the cavity next to your armpit, should feel like only a portion of your mouth is out of the water and only one eye is above the surface...

 

Trying to focus and doing all the "correct techniques" at the same time can be difficult...don't forget to breath.. and if you feel tired and start loosing control of the correct technique stop, get your breath back and then continue....swimming endless lengths with the wrong technique just helps to enforce the bad habits, rather swim less lengths with the correct technique and build up the lengths as you get fitter.

 

Enjoy

[Rocket-Boy]

I always advise less confident swimmers to breathe more often near the start of a race.

You often dont feel like you need to and then suddenly are badly out of breath.

Just breathe on every stroke or every second one until you have your rhythm down and then breathe as needed. 

[Fisan]

Here's a link to a demo of the Total Immersion technique by Shinji Takeuchi.

The economy of motion is clear. So easy and graceful.

Interesting is his comment on breathing: "I just breathe out to get enough air for me"

 

 

Funny thing one of my training buddies also mentioned how TI changed his life swimming technique. I'm wary when it comes to cults brand-named programmes like crossfit. But since I can't get my pace below 1:50 on 1km+ I "acquired" the TI-video and will give it a go.

[IceCreamMan]

Just get the swim smooth book available as e book. it will do wonders for your swimming if you practice the drills etc.

[Amberdrake]

As a plonker who also struggled in the beginning (could not swim 50m without getting dizzy) this is what i found works best:

 

Its not natural to do exercise and hold your breath, learn to breathe bilaterally (Left and right sides) and do this all the time. It might seem difficult and feel funny to breath on "the other side"  but keep at it and pretty soon it will become natural. Hypoxic swimming where you hold your breath for a number of strokes is a valuable training method, but its just that.. a training method which can be incorporated into a training session and not a full time swimming style. Once you get swim fit you might be able to swim further breathing less often BUT if you are breathing less often then you are not swimming hard enough....(applicable to long distances not sprints)

 

When you breath out make sure you finish breathing out while your mouth is still under water, its important to finish exhaling everything before your mouth is out the water. There is not enough time to finish breathing out and to inhale when your mouth is out the water. You will take in more air if all the air is exhaled before you inhale.

 

Don't lift your head up, imagine you are on a skewer and rotating your head side wards while stretching your arm slightly forwards and your ear is going into the cavity next to your armpit, should feel like only a portion of your mouth is out of the water and only one eye is above the surface...

 

Trying to focus and doing all the "correct techniques" at the same time can be difficult...don't forget to breath.. and if you feel tired and start loosing control of the correct technique stop, get your breath back and then continue....swimming endless lengths with the wrong technique just helps to enforce the bad habits, rather swim less lengths with the correct technique and build up the lengths as you get fitter.

 

Enjoy

This should be happening during your stroke. Then add in the advice of 3ed stroke and exhale during your other strokes. It takes a lot of practice as the natural response is to lift head out of water too far or too long. Ideally a coach will be able to highlight your errors and improve your stroke. When starting out I have found that most new swimmers don't kick or kick less than optimum, this contributes to being uncomfortable as kicking maintains your rotational balance. In turn rotational balance affects how easy it is to manage breathing.

 

Good luck

[Blackheart]

Funny thing one of my training buddies also mentioned how TI changed his life swimming technique. I'm wary when it comes to cults brand-named programmes like crossfit. But since I can't get my pace below 1:50 on 1km+ I "acquired" the TI-video and will give it a go.

Spot on. I am also 'cult' averse, an absolutely not a joiner. "does not play well with others".. But this system really worked for me.

[Davey_Jones]

I also used the TI concepts to get me through my first Tri-swim. Helped me heaps and that became my favourite part of the tri from being my most concerning.

One thing our coach told us first timers. When the whistle goes for 30 seconds do nothing, just stand there and let the washing machine go. Then you go, remember its a triathlon so there is plenty time to catch the other guys in the entire race.  After 30 seconds you go and you wont get caught up in that intense battle for space pushing your heart rate up and throwing you out of rhythm.  You will pass so many people after the first half of the swim as the ones that got caught up in the hype tire out and start breaststroke and backstroking it just to get their breathing under control.

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast!!

 

Once you get really confident then you can start up front with the big boys.