Breathe Easy: 3 Tips To Help You Breathe While Swimming
Breathing is one of the most important elements of swimming but for many new swimmers and triathletes it can also be the hardest. New swimmers and triathletes tend to struggle with their breathing which makes learning to swim freestyle incredibly frustrating! Breathing in freestyle swimming is not a natural motion which makes learning the skill that much harder. When someone is learning to swim there are a lot of new motions going on which make it difficult to figure out the nuances of breathing. Swimming comfortably and faster relies heavily on breathing. Keep reading to learn 3 tips that will help make breathing easier to master no matter what level swimmer or triathlete you are!
Always Be Breathing
When swimming you never want to hold your breath. When you are feeling that tightness or breath or like you are low on oxygen that is really caused by a build up of carbon dioxide in your blood and brain. If you are always trying to either inhale or exhale you will reduce the likelihood of low oxygen or high CO2 build up which will make swimming a much more enjoyable experience.
Focus On Exhaling Slowly
You just learned in the first tip that a build up of CO2 is what causes you to feel low on air or out of breath. The best way to reduce the CO2 level in your blood and brain is by breathing out. While you are learning to swim or trying to improve your breathing, you should focus on breathing out slowly. You don’t want an explosive breath out while your face is in the water. Your goal should be a slow, smooth exhalation out of your nose or mouth while your face is in the water. By doing this you will reduce the amount of CO2 in your blood and you will feel less out of breath. This will also allow for a more efficient and fuller inhalation!
Timing Is Everything
This is probably the hardest element of breathing to master but it is crucial to swimming easier and not feeling out of breath! The first two tips are helpful for learning how to breathe, but knowing when to breathe is equally important. As you start your pull phase and your body begins rotating to the side, that is when you want to turn your head to breathe. Once your mouth clears the water, you should ONLY BREATHE IN! Once you get your breath in and your hand is about to enter the water and your hips are going flat, then you should be turning your head down back into the water. Once your head is in the water, you should start slowly breathing out! Remember to always be breathing out slowly when your face is in the water and to only be inhaling when your face is out of the water! If you are learning to bilateral breathe, then you will breathe out slowly for 1 to 2 strokes and you will repeat the motion described above when your body turns to the other side after about 3 strokes.
These tips will have you breathing easier in no time. If you need a little extra help or are looking for some drills to fast track your learning, then check out the video to the right. It is jam packed full of some excellent drills and skills you can practice to help make feel less out of breath while swimming!
We hope you found these tips helpful! If you have additional tips that have helped you become the beast of a swimmer you are, then please drop them in the comments to help others just like you!