Thigh Fatigue and Breathing Problems

quainy

Hey fellas,

I'm just a blow in to this board. Lately I've been swimming a lot more. I'm trying to work out a system where I can get 10 lengths done and do sets of it without dying.

I'm only doing front crawl and I seem to have no breath after max. 2 lengths. Furthermore, I seem to be getting fatigue in my thighs from the kicking.

2 questions; upon investigation I have found that a vast majority of people's problems with increasing the length they swim is actually their breathing, could it be that I am not breathing in a relaxed state and subsequently impeding oxygen from being exhaled/inhaled correctly?
Also, could the leg fatigue be due to a lactic acid build up from this lack of oxygen or is it just due to lack of endurance for that technique?

I have pretty muscular legs due to being an ex rugby player and training combat sports growing up.

mad m

Are you holding onto your breath while doing Front crawl? You should be breathing out while your head is underwater then turning your head to take a breath.

While your swimming when blowing out try saying bubble bubble bubble, this will help you regulate your blowing out before taking another breath.

I think there is a sticky up top about breathing, loads of videos on YouTube as well. you must be kicking very hard or erratically while doing front crawl. Look at some videos also on kicking. Your legs are big muscles and kicking wrongly can waste a lot of energy, also pushing off wall and extending your legs that bit further can lead to slight cramp if your not used to it.

Murtinho

Two things i've learned is that you need to be breathing out most of the time your mouth is submerged and the chances are your kicking way too much. Kicking doesnt propel you forward much, its more to just help you keep your lower body afloat, try kicking as little as possible.

quainy

Been working on technique, staying as horizontal as possible especially when breathing, I think I was kicking too much and my breathing was more gasping, seems to have been alleviated a bit. I've noticed swimming slower helps. I think now it's just a matter of fitness :P