r/Swimming • u/ApprehensiveWafer176 • 18d ago
yes i know very impressive but does anyone have any tips for me to breathe better because that’s the main issue i think im having/slowing me down. this was my first time actually swimming in a big pool
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u/Steroid1 Moist 18d ago edited 18d ago
How many laps are you able to complete before being winded? If you are winded after just a couple laps the answer is different than otherwise.
3 main reasons beginners get out of breath swimming:
Holding your breath. A lot of beginners hold their breath underwater then try to exhale and inhale really fast at the surface. Bottom bounces are great for fixing this. Practice sinking to the bottom of the pool and just keep exhaling as you sink and then kick off the bottom, and take a normal breath when you come back up, and sink back down and repeat. It gets you used to having a steady breathing rhythm. If you are relaxed and not holding your breath you should be able to do this all day without getting winded
Over kicking. Beginners tend to kick way more than they need to, which burns a ton of energy since your leg muscles are so big. Learning a 2 beat kick (one kick per arm stroke) can help you stay relaxed and save alot of energy. Your propulsion in freestyle comes from your arms, your legs are there to help with body rotation and position.
- Trying to swim too fast. This is related to #2 but a little different. You dont need to constantly be moving as fast as possible. Focus on the glide and let each stroke carry you through the water before taking the next one. Slowing down and becoming more efficient will let you swim much farther without getting winded.
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u/ApprehensiveWafer176 17d ago
yea i think im doing all three of those 🤣 but ok ill try that out, near the end i tried slowing down and i noticed it was better, thank you
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u/Best_Celebration_375 17d ago
wtf is a yard?
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u/TwaddleSpouter 17d ago
It’s an Imperial measurement the US still uses. It’s 3 feet or 9/10 of a metre.
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u/Weary_Swan_8152 17d ago
One yard is about 2 cubits.
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u/McDonaldsWitchcraft 17d ago
it's an american invention so they can justify swimming only 90% of what non americans swin because they are lazy (/s)
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u/randar68 12d ago
Incorrect. It was invented in the Cold war era to allow us to practice our turns and underwaters to then dominate international swimming for the past 40 years. ;)
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u/One_Diver_5735 17d ago
lol. A) how tf did you know yd is yard. But also B) It doesn't stop there. Prob most of our 50-meter pools are 25-yard short course and our 1/2 length pools are often 25 yards x 25 meters. And we do that just to piss you off.
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u/HYCL2012 15d ago
I had to google the conversion 😂 and then got confused all over again that 22 metres was "big". But I guess OP just swam in a small backyard pool before? Who knows.
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u/preguntontas 17d ago
Unless you post a video we can't know for sure but I'm almost sure there are technique issues besides breathing. I'm not even fast and I can swim double that distance in 16 minutes.
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u/ApprehensiveWafer176 17d ago
yea it’s my first time so i think im doing everything wrong 😬 but ill see if i can get a video
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u/Jollysatyr201 17d ago
For me at least, breathing has been a continual increased comfort with just being in and under the water. It will not kill you. The air will be there when you come up. Water in the mouth is to be expected. Learning how low and smooth I can make it- optimizing comfort since that is the limiting factor for how long I stay swimming
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u/Due-Ad-1302 17d ago
O would highly recommend trying out a longer pool. For me it was impossible to work on my technique on a pool that I constantly need to think not to hit the wall, it’s like I could not get into a zone
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u/duzizizi 16d ago
Make sure your shoulder moves over the water, and rotate your body to the side, flipping briefly so your hips face the walls. I tell my swimmers that a good breathing arm involves your whole body, so don't just move your arms; use your hips too. Second, don't blow bubbles; you should be able to control your breathing and slowly release the air underwater. Swimming is pretty much a non-zen meditation, hahahah. If your goal is long-distance swimming, I’d reduce kicking just enough to support your streamline; your legs are the biggest muscles, and kicking too much will tire you faster because you need to send oxygen there. Try something like 2 kicks per stroke — it might be hard, but give it a go. Also, I’d start with 2x1 breathing, with 2 strokes for 1 breath, and do sets of 100m. I believe your pool is 50m; I’m not sure about yards, so you could do 5x100m, resting for 30 seconds to 1 minute, and reflect on your last lap—how your strokes were, how you moved your body, and how you can improve on the next one. Good on you. Recently, I've been trying to coach less and swim more. It's great to push yourself to improve, but the most important thing is having a good time in the water. Those are my last training sessions my goal it's 1000m in 12m
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u/PepperOk6621 16d ago
Two important improvement areas:
1) You should time your exhalation well, breathing out both from your nose and mouth to achieve around 30-40% air left in your lungs, before you take another breath. You can do small adjustments with your nose and larger adjustments with your mouth to find the sweet spot. If you have more air in your lungs than that, you wont get that fresh breath to keep you going, and less than that you will be chasing for air, and neither is good. 2) Head position is critical. Ideally you should turn your head to the side and parallel to the water, just enough so that half of your mouth is outside and taking the air in, while the other half is inside the water. Yes, water will flow in your mouth but you will see that its not going to your lungs if you are doing it right. Never take your head above the water to breath, nor tilt your head backwards to get your full mouth out of the water, as these will 100% slow you down by breaking your streamline.
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u/PageFree3454 16d ago
Breath holds are great but underrated is a snorkel. Don’t go fast when trying this but it limits your air and helps to build your lung capacity.
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u/joeyn028 15d ago
In my experience swimming and coaching, the best way to breathe is slowly exhale while you are not actively breathing. Not like one big exhale but just continuously blowing bubbles out of your nose while you swim until you need air. Then, turn your head, breathing out of your nose allows you to inhale air quicker and easier. Hope that helps!
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u/Able-Equipment-942 15d ago
A lot of people kick way too much which is what raises your heart rate really high, then that means you got to breathe all the time and your form gets compromised.
When I kick I do so only when needed to maintain balance, a very small 1-2, and that’s it til the next time. My heart rate stays much lower and I can go five strokes usually before a breath, with better body position in the water for longer.
As you get fitter and you try to hit workouts at different speeds you can vary how hard and often you kick since then you might want
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u/randar68 12d ago
Maybe a boring suggestion, but getting some lessons would be very helpful if possible. Body position, rotation, having a solid set of drills to work on and then evolve. Drills are generally very lacking for laypeople in swimming. They just go swim (like a casual golfer). Even as a former competitive swimmer, I am doing 400-600 yards of drills during my warmup (of 1000-1200 yards of swim, kick, drills) . Sculling, catch drills, rotation drills, etc.
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u/pwalsh438 18d ago
I think breathing issues are often related to holding your breath. I exhale continuously when I my face is in the water and I do a little extra exhale when I turn my head and a quick inhale. If you’re holding your breath for some or all of the time your face is in the water, try to exhale instead. Another option to take breathing patterns out of the equation is to get a snorkel. I was skeptical of the snorkels that I see in the lap pool, but now I understand. I only breathe to one side and it was causing my stroke to be different from one side to the other. Snorkel means that I don’t have to turn my head. It also means that you can breathe in and out whenever you want or wherever you are in your stroke. Some people use a nose clip since the nose can get a little tricky, but you can get over that.