Quote:
Originally Posted by scribe3
I am having an issue, with my breathing. I tend to exhale the last bit of air, as my mouth breaks the surface. .... By the way, I exhale through my nose, and inhale through my mouth..
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Sounds exactly like what I do. While I'm probably not a true 'sinker', I am pretty low in the water. However, for me, I have not found it helpful to retain excess air in my lungs in order to 'keep from sinking'. I tried it initially in my learning curve, but it added to stress. And since one of my issues is more of a poor horizontal position in the water...so, extra air in the lungs leads to keeping the upper body higher, but legs still sink, adding to drag.
Plus, I am much more relaxed if I naturally exhale nearly all of the air underwater (EDIT: we never actually exhale ALL the air in our lungs, however - there is ALWAYS a bit of residual air), blowing out through my nose 'as my head turns to air'....like a whale
'clears the blowhole'. This prevents water from coming in my nose (usually). This again is part of what I call the
'air-regulation' side to breathing that must be learned and practiced over and over until it feels right.
Quote:
Originally Posted by scribe3
However, I read online, you are suppose to exhale all your air under water, retaining a little though, to keep you from sinking, so when your mouth breaks the surface all you have to do is inhale
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If you exhale all your air underwater, you will not have any to retain!
Everyone is a bit different. I just find it more comfortable to exhale through nose continuously -- beginning as soon as my face turns down into the water after the breath, continuing to exhale
as head turns to air, and finally inhaling quickly through the mouth. I could never get air quickly enough if I inhaled through my nose. I don't think many swimmers inhale through the nose only. And it's never been very comfortable for me to exhale through the mouth, though some exhale through mouth and nose.