Swimming Technique: Breathing
This post is all about breathing. We have talked about breathing patterns already – so this post is more about what we should be doing and how we should actually breathe.
Firstly, I would say that getting breathing right is crucial to effective swimming. That sounds obvious. I meet many swimmers who can run and bike really well, but are shattered after 25m or 50m of swimming. They are clearly fit, but struggle to swim for more than one minute without being completely exhausted. The reason? Usually, they are not breathing. They are holding their breath.
Exhaling
Not breathing properly isn’t exclusively a trait of those new swimmers. After reviewing many swim videos, it is apparent that not everybody exhales when they put their face back in the water – even some pretty decent swimmers. These swimmers do exhale eventually, but hold onto their breath initially.
We want to see that exhalation begin immediately – we don’t want to hold our breath for a moment. A gentle, controlled exhale, similar to a ‘sigh’ is what we’re looking for (although you can breathe out through your nose too).
Taking A Breath
When we take a breath, we need to think about how much oxygen we want or need. Simply, we shouldn’t need to take a big lungful of air on each breath. It shouldn’t feel like we’re filling our lungs, just a ‘normal’ breath.
Remember, the more oxygen you take in on each breath, the more you need to exhale underwater!
One Goggle In
When we breathe, we want to keep our head quite low.
We don’t need to rotate and move our head a lot. Ideally, we want to keep our cheek / one goggle in the water when we turn our head, looking at the side of the pool and not the ceiling. Doing this will keep swimmers more balanced in the water, less prone to over rotation and they will be able to keep their leading arm high in the water (and not press down).
It takes confidence to keep your head low when breathing (for fear of swallowing lots of water). Try it next time you swim.
Head Still
We also want to keep our head still, only rotating it to breathe. Many swimmers lift their heads up a little and then turn to breathe. From looking towards the bottom of the pool during their swim, swimmers often lift their head to look forward and then move it again to breathe to the side. The more we move our head, the more other ‘stuff’ in the stroke happens.
Trust that turning your head to breathe is enough. You don’t need to lift and turn.
Breathing Both Sides
I meet a lot of swimmers who tell me that their coach has told them they should breathe bilaterally (breathing on both sides – usually every three strokes) or they have read that advice somewhere.
That is just not the case.
I think it is important to be able to breathe on both sides (in case you have to do this in a race to avoid waves or a fellow swimmers arms!).
However, having a breathing pattern where you breathe on one side only is absolutely fine.
That said, I would encourage you to practice breathing on the other side during some swim sessions. A simple set of 25s, where you breathe only to the left on one 25m, and only to the right on the next 25m.
When doing this, you can breathe every two strokes or every four strokes, but try and stay on the one side during these 25s.
This can be quite a challenge for swimmers who usually only breathe to one side. However, it is worth practicing.
Breathing Patterns
We’ve mentioned breathing patterns before, and it is worth highlighting it again. You may always breathe every two or every three strokes and you’re wondering why you need to do some work using different breathing patterns.
For me, it helps us think about our exhalation a bit more. How forceful you breathe out is very different when you are breathing every two strokes compared to every six strokes. The set below helps us to practice controlling that ‘out breath’.
You could try this simple set.
4 x 25m + 1 x 50m breathing every two strokes. Then the same set breathing every three, then every four, every five and finally, breathing every six strokes.
Impact
I hope the post has made you think about how you breathe (inhaling and then exhaling immediately), how you breathe (keeping your head low and no extra head movement) and how often you might want to breathe.
Working on this in a session might not be the fast and furious swim some athletes crave, but it will make swimmers more efficient and able to swim more effectively.
Next time you’re in the pool, think about your own breathing and see if you can improve it.
Feedback
When you have read the post and put it into practice, let me know what you think? Did it make a difference to your swim? Are you thinking about your swim differently now? I’d love to hear how you got on.
If you need any more guidance, or want to improve your swim technique, get in touch!
Swimming Technique: Breathing