The Exhale (or lack thereof)

[jenson1a]

I have seen several posts that say the cause of breathlessness is the fact that one isn't exhaling and that causes the build-up of co 2. I never paid much attention to those posts because I thought that surely wasn't my problem. I was once told by a YMCA (non TI) coach that I exhaled too forcefully and that caused a lot of bubbles and therefore drag. So I surmised that exhaling wasn't a problem for me, just the forcefulness.

An underwater video showed something else however. I was so busy watching my stroke that I failed to notice something else. I noticed that there were no steady stream of bubbles while my face was in the water. It was only near the breathing part that any exhale was done. Also, my facial expression looked as if I were lifting a huge weight. My muscles were all contorted and tight. Where was the relaxation?

Could this be the reason I tired even when doing SG and skate drills? Just a rhetorical question. Can't wait to get back in the water to see if I can change this. I intend to make my focal point a steady STREAM of bubbles on my next session.

I think it was laughing pat that said the cause of breathlessness was the failure to exhale correctly. I think he was right.

Sherry

[Richardsk]

You probably mean splashingpat, who is female. I don't think there has ever been a laughing Pat, but of course I could be wrong.

[jenson1a]

Originally Posted by Richardsk

You probably mean splashingpat, who is female. I don't think there has ever been a laughing Pat, but of course I could be wrong.

Oops--after I submitted this, I realized I had the user name wrong, but I should have used the third person instead. It does rhyme tho!

Tks for the correction and my apologies to splashing Pat if she is reading.

Sherry

[CoachDavidShen]

Originally Posted by jenson1a

I have seen several posts that say the cause of breathlessness is the fact that one isn't exhaling and that causes the build-up of co 2. I never paid much attention to those posts because I thought that surely wasn't my problem. I was once told by a YMCA (non TI) coach that I exhaled too forcefully and that caused a lot of bubbles and therefore drag. So I surmised that exhaling wasn't a problem for me, just the forcefulness.

An underwater video showed something else however. I was so busy watching my stroke that I failed to notice something else. I noticed that there were no steady stream of bubbles while my face was in the water. It was only near the breathing part that any exhale was done. Also, my facial expression looked as if I were lifting a huge weight. My muscles were all contorted and tight. Where was the relaxation?

Could this be the reason I tired even when doing SG and skate drills? Just a rhetorical question. Can't wait to get back in the water to see if I can change this. I intend to make my focal point a steady STREAM of bubbles on my next session.

I think it was laughing pat that said the cause of breathlessness was the failure to exhale correctly. I think he was right.

Sherry

The usual reaction to holding one's breath is to tightly engage the face and mouth muscles to hold in that air. Doing that generates a ton of tension elsewhere in your body in reaction and uses up way more oxygen than necessary.

If you hold air in your lungs with VERY relaxed face muscles, just keeping your lips closed enough to stop air from leaking out, i think you'll find that you'll have a lot more oxygen to draw from and not be so breathless.

You can experiment with slowly letting air out the whole way but generally i think not letting air out until you're almost ready to breathe is a better strategy. This comes from more open water swim habits than anything else. often out in the waves when you turn for air, you sometimes may find that the surface isn't where you expect it to be! Then you better be ready to keep your mouth closed until you feel your face break water to take a breath!

In the pool, this is less an issue since the surface is pretty consistent without that many waves. But in open water or during a swim race, there can be a lot of turbulence and being in control of your breathing will be crucial to you not swallowing water upon taking a breath.

So keep the air in with very relaxed face muscles and just before you turn to breath, forcefully blow it out and as your face breaks the surface, take a deep quick breath in. turn your body/face back into the water. keep swimming!

[jenson1a]

CoachDavidShen

Somehow I missed your post, but I have been getting some degree of success in breathing by limiting my exhale. Also I have been warming up with 4 lengths of SG and their variations. This is followed by doing 20 lengths of warmup and making breathing my main focal point. I don't do any open water swims (don't like the jelly fish or sting rays) so my sessions are all in a pool.

Anyway, I will experiment with your suggestion regarding holding the exhale until I am ready to breathe and see what happens.

Thanks for all the suggestions and videos that you have posted throughout these forums.

Sherry

[Osmond]

Originally Posted by jenson1a

I have seen several posts that say the cause of breathlessness is the fact that one isn't exhaling and that causes the build-up of co 2. I never paid much attention to those posts because I thought that surely wasn't my problem. I was once told by a YMCA (non TI) coach that I exhaled too forcefully and that caused a lot of bubbles and therefore drag. So I surmised that exhaling wasn't a problem for me, just the forcefulness.

An underwater video showed something else however. I was so busy watching my stroke that I failed to notice something else. I noticed that there were no steady stream of bubbles while my face was in the water. It was only near the breathing part that any exhale was done. Also, my facial expression looked as if I were lifting a huge weight. My muscles were all contorted and tight. Where was the relaxation?

Could this be the reason I tired even when doing SG and skate drills? Just a rhetorical question. Can't wait to get back in the water to see if I can change this. I intend to make my focal point a steady STREAM of bubbles on my next session.

I think it was laughing pat that said the cause of breathlessness was the failure to exhale correctly. I think he was right.

Sherry

I would agree that if you're holding your breath you're not relaxed. What has worked for me in practice is a small exhale on each peirce, this way I don't hold my breath all the time and cause additional tension. This also sets you up well in case you get that surprise of being rewarded with water instead of air in turbulant open water.