Improver Swimmer need Breathing advice!

Steroo

Hi All,
I've been learning over the past few months to swim, with the overall aim to be able to tackle a half IM distance Triathlon next year at some stage.

I've been to the National Aquatic Centre for Improver lessons & am now on a course of Intermediate lessons... so I'm learning little by little & it's slowly coming together.

Today I swam 40 x 25m lengths for the first time - delighted.

However I had to stop at the end of each length for about 20-30 seconds to get my breathing back on track. I find I'm losing my breathing toward the end of each 25m length. I'm must be either breathing in too much air.... or not breathing out enough air?!

My breathing is bilateral & goes as follows:
stroke 1 - hold breath
stoke 2 - breath out
stroke 3 - breath in .... :eek:

When I move to the 50m pool I'm forced to change to breathing on every second stroke from about 35m as air runs short.

any advice please???

Kurt Godel

Steroo wrote: »

Hi All,
I've been learning over the past few months to swim, with the overall aim to be able to tackle a half IM distance Triathlon next year at some stage.

I've been to the National Aquatic Centre for Improver lessons & am now on a course of Intermediate lessons... so I'm learning little by little & it's slowly coming together.

Today I swam 40 x 25m lengths for the first time - delighted.

However I had to stop at the end of each length for about 20-30 seconds to get my breathing back on track. I find I'm losing my breathing toward the end of each 25m length. I'm must be either breathing in too much air.... or not breathing out enough air?!

My breathing is bilateral & goes as follows:
stroke 1 - hold breath
stoke 2 - breath out
stroke 3 - breath in .... :eek:

When I move to the 50m pool I'm forced to change to breathing on every second stroke from about 35m as air runs short.

any advice please???

First of all fair play to you for seeking lessons before completing a tri- far too many newbies enter hoping wetsuit bouyancy will take them through the swim!

The first thing to do is to slow down, and get the breathing under control. Plenty of time to progress and work on stroke etc after that. Don't hold your breath- if your head is underwater you should be exhaling slowly, enough so your lungs have almost emptied and you aren't exhaling when your mouth is overwater. Gasping is a no-no; try and keep everything nice and relaxed. That will feed into your stroke, but its important you are comfortable with the breathing before stroke work begins.

If you need to breath every 2, then breath every two. You can work bilateraly once you can breath with ease; but sufficient oxygen is more important for developing at the moment.

AngryHippie

Solid advice there.
Trickle breathing should definitely help, as it feels more natural and comfortable.
As for Bi-lateral, I wouldn't be too worried about it this stage, breathe every two strokes, but alternate sides every lap, so you don't end up with a comfortable side and an uncomfortable side. (Wind direction etc. can dicatate your side once you get to open water anyway).
I'd reckon you are pushing a little too hard in effort terms if you are gassed at the end of every lap, the same basic principles apply to the swim regarding the aerobic excercise zone. If you are trying to hold a pace that is pushing you over 75% MHR all the time, then you will run into oxygen deficit.
Reduce your stroke rate a little, stretch the stroke out, and focus on stroke count /lap rather than the clock, this will work in your favor in open water in any case.
SWOLF (Swim Golf) can help if you do a set every few weeks to measure improvement on both fronts.
Try building up your distances gradually, and check your pulse during rest breaks, it will help you control your rest times to maintain progress.


Be patient with it, enjoy and best of luck

Steroo

Thanks for that input... both makes perfect sense. I suppose I'm aiming for the text book swim but there are many ways to get there. I was thinking the it was odd the instructor was telling us to hold our breath on stroke 1. I'll certainly slow down & try all of your suggestions. Thanks