Breathing Question

[Koosha]

I was wondering how many times i should breath in one length of 25 yards pool. Also i was wondering how many strike should take me to finish a length. i believe i read somewhere that it should take me 12 strikes but i am not sure.

Thanks
Koosha

[Mike Llerandi]

Hi Koosha,

I'll take a shot at answering your questions, but in reverse order:

- While there's no "right answer" on the number of swim strokes per length, there is a school of thought that says that you should minimize that number by becoming a more efficient swimmer. The justification for this approach is that the fastest swimmers take the fewest number of strokes per length. So try to improve your efficiency as you try to improve your strength and speed, which means that however many strokes you're taking per length right now, try to take fewer.

- The question on the number of breaths clearly depends on the number of strokes, but the real question is whether you breath every stroke (all to the same side) or every third stroke (alternating sides), or some combination of the two. In general, you want to balance your breathing between the two sides to promote good form. I breath to one side for a couple of breaths, then switch, then switch back again in a steady routine, which also serves to let me know if I'm taking more/fewer strokes per length: if I get to the wall before I need that 7th or 8th breath, then my strokes per length number is ok, if it's less that's even better.

Hope that helps,
Mike

[Koosha]

Hi Mike;
Thanks for your response. I just had a quick question regarding your breathing comment. I breath every stoke and i do it in one side. But i have realized if i go from every stroke to every other stroke, i can go faster but at high tensity work out if i don't breath every stroke i feel i am not getting enough air. So i was wondering if i should try to breath as few as possible or breath as many as i feel comfortable.

Thanks

Koosha

[Mike Llerandi]

You might want to slow down to let your breathing rate get in balance with your intensity, but I understand if you switch to breathing on one side only when you're going hard. I do that all the time, regardless of my master plan! ;-)

[John Schneider]

I saw a lot of good advice for you. One thing I would add, try to practice breathing on both sides, you never know when the wind wipped waves will be coming from one direction. You may need to breath on your left side up to the turn around, then breath on your right side on the way back, otherwise you may drink a lot of water. Also, in somewhat calm water, breathing every third stroke will help you relax during the race, I learned that from Gordo. I work on breathing from both sides during hard sets, IE. 3 x 500's 1 - breathe on right side, 2 - breath on left side 3 - breath every third. You can do this on a long swim as well, IE. a straight 1500.

[John]

I breathe both sides ie every third stroke, and practice breathing either side at times during training, but when I have spoken to fast swimmers they often race breathing on their favoured side only. Does anyone have any comments on this? Changing your breathing during long intervals as John suggests seems like a good idea, breathing skills like these certainly build open water confidence.

[Kimberly Mormando]

Thanks for all your great comments.

I am a newbie at swiming and have been challenged by the breathing. I have decided to breath on both sides. Any comments on how I can shoot my endurance up. I get in the pool 3X a week and do 2 laps at a time need to rest for 20 seconds before the next laps.

[Mike Llerandi]

I would actually suggest that you start by breathing to one side, and breathe every stroke until you are able to establish a rhythm and build up enough endurance to go farther before having to stop. Also, see if you can't cut that rest in half, to 10sec, and try to build your endurance that way.

It may also make sense to get some swimming tips from someone who is able to watch you swim and work with you "live"...we all have the potential to make huge gains with changes to technique, not just strength.

Hope that helps-
-Mike

[Kim Pollock]

When it comes to building up your strength, endurance, or whatever you want to call it to be able to continually swim lengths without stopping (other than to turn around), for me, there was no simple solution....you have to practice!!! Don't get discouraged, if you keep at it, it will happen. I agree with the comment, start by breathing every stroke on the same side until you can do it forever, then start bilateral breathing (every third stroke). This too will take some time to get use. I got to the point where I could swim over a mile and the last stroke felt as comfortable as the first. Did it for years.Then two weeks ago, I was introduced to Total Immersion and I am back to only being able to swim 2 laps before I need to rest! Taking fewer strokes per length reduces the amount of breaths you take so I have to retrain my lungs. Very frustrating but hopefully worth it in the end!

[Brian Teller]

Less than 2 years ago, I couldn't do 25 yards without stopping to breathe. It definitely took me a long time to learn to get over the "I'm drowning" sensation. I don't know what else to call it. I learned to swim slow first and learned to breathe on both sides. Currently, when I'm on a hard workout (I think most the work outs from Mike's training guide are farily challenging to me) I breathe twice on one side, then alternate to the other side. When I do a long swim (more than 500 yards, I do alternate breathing)

[Colm Maguire]

Well every 3 strokes I breathe. Alternate sides, sometimes every 5 or 7, I am playing with it to see what it right, but I swim slowly, I think my stroke to distance ratio is pretty poor, I count about 47 strokes for a 50 meter pool especially when I am tired or stressed with the number of people in the pool. Open water in the sea is a different story, but still bilateral breathing. Just do what you can and then you will be able to do more