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2016-02-04 11:07 AM

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Subject: Bilateral breathing - lesson learned
Despite trying to nail down bilateal breathing for a while now, I've never been able to swim efficiently doing bb....until now. Let me state that I'm still not a super fast swimmer (1:45-1:55ish per 100), so take this with a grain of salt, but I think I solved my bb technique problem and thought my lesson learned might help some other folks who are struggling with bb.

Ok here goes my 'lesson learned' story...at the start of the year, I gave myself a 'plank a day' challenge for January as a way to help kick-start my training for the 2016 season. I started running, swimming and biking with a bit more intent too, but the key to this story is the 'plank a day' core work.

I typically breath on my left, every other stroke. Every time I goto the pool, I try bilateral breathing for a few laps and I'm gasping for air at the end. I've noticed this week that swimming with bb is so much easier, and actually kinda relaxing - and this is not the norm.

The only thing that's changed in my training regimen is my every day core work. So, the only thing I can attribute to swimming much better with bb is my stronger core. It would seems that my lack of sufficient core strength was my limiting factor with bb in the past. I could breath well on one side, but not the other....until now.

So, if you too are struggling with bilateral breathing, perhaps try some more core work, and they try again. It seems to have worked for me.

(This may be self-evident to some of you, but it was 'news' to me, so I thought I would share...)



2016-02-04 12:10 PM
in reply to: LarchmontTri

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Subject: RE: Bilateral breathing - lesson learned
Good for you, some visible progress in the pool !

However, an important side note:

If you look at nearly all fast and very fast triathlon swimmers, they do NOT bilaterally breathe. They breathe every right arm pull, or every left arm pull. Bilateral breathing typically does not give you enough air when you are trying to do swim speed work, or race. Good triathletes can, of course, switch from breathing all left or all right, but they still breathe once ever stroke cycle when swimming fast. Bilateral breathing only allows you to breath once every 1.5 stroke cycles. Bilateral breathing is absolutely still a good skill to learn, but it is not the way you should breath when doing intervals or racing especially as you progress in swimming.

2016-02-04 12:14 PM
in reply to: LarchmontTri

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Subject: RE: Bilateral breathing - lesson learned
It shouldn't take your core anymore energy to pull your head one side or the other to breathe. That said, it's more likely your time working on it just made you more comfortable with it. Some of the issue is panic. So taking the time to get comfortable with it is crucial.

What I usually do to teach people bb is to start them while doing drills like popov, catch up, and single arm. Then progress them into easy sets that they can make an effort to bb with no pressure of time. Before long they are comfortable enough to bb at any pace. It's all about taking the time to get comfortable with it.
2016-02-04 12:30 PM
in reply to: DarkSpeedWorks

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Subject: RE: Bilateral breathing - lesson learned
Originally posted by DarkSpeedWorks

Good for you, some visible progress in the pool !

However, an important side note:

If you look at nearly all fast and very fast triathlon swimmers, they do NOT bilaterally breathe. They breathe every right arm pull, or every left arm pull. Bilateral breathing typically does not give you enough air when you are trying to do swim speed work, or race. Good triathletes can, of course, switch from breathing all left or all right, but they still breathe once ever stroke cycle when swimming fast. Bilateral breathing only allows you to breath once every 1.5 stroke cycles. Bilateral breathing is absolutely still a good skill to learn, but it is not the way you should breath when doing intervals or racing especially as you progress in swimming.




Yup.

Bilateral breathing can help you with sun and spotting but there is no reason to think you need to do it all the time. Taking an occasional breath to the opposite side when you need to is all that's required.
2016-02-04 1:04 PM
in reply to: Meulen

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Subject: RE: Bilateral breathing - lesson learned
I wonder about that. Here's my theory... if he has a weak core and is only breathing right side, it might have been more of an effort to roll onto his left side to breathe. So, prior to bilateral breathing, his rotation might have been kind of lopsided anyway. Then he had to expend extra energy to get rotated enough to breathe on that other side.
In reality, it doesn't much matter. But I'm a big proponent in strengthening one's core to improve pretty much all aspects of training.
2016-02-04 1:15 PM
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Subject: RE: Bilateral breathing - lesson learned
Originally posted by pwoolson

I wonder about that. Here's my theory... if he has a weak core and is only breathing right side, it might have been more of an effort to roll onto his left side to breathe. So, prior to bilateral breathing, his rotation might have been kind of lopsided anyway. Then he had to expend extra energy to get rotated enough to breathe on that other side.
In reality, it doesn't much matter. But I'm a big proponent in strengthening one's core to improve pretty much all aspects of training.


Absolutely! I wouldn't knock the importance of a strong core for all aspects of the sport. However, IMO, there will be very little correlation to ability to bi-lateral breathe. If anything, maybe there are some mobility issues that are sorted out by some core work to some degree. But, mostly bb is about getting comfortable to the change. It can be a useful skill. For a lot of MOP'ers and BOP'ers, in long course racing, they aren't going hard enough in the swim that they need to breathe every stroke. Besides, there added benefits of getting out of the sun, other people splashing, using it to sight, etc. For some swimmers bb is a good way to balance out their stroke also. Some people find they find their body rotation better when they learn to bb.

Edited by Meulen 2016-02-04 1:18 PM


2016-02-04 1:24 PM
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Subject: RE: Bilateral breathing - lesson learned
Originally posted by DarkSpeedWorks

Good for you, some visible progress in the pool !

However, an important side note:

If you look at nearly all fast and very fast triathlon swimmers, they do NOT bilaterally breathe. They breathe every right arm pull, or every left arm pull. Bilateral breathing typically does not give you enough air when you are trying to do swim speed work, or race. Good triathletes can, of course, switch from breathing all left or all right, but they still breathe once ever stroke cycle when swimming fast. Bilateral breathing only allows you to breath once every 1.5 stroke cycles. Bilateral breathing is absolutely still a good skill to learn, but it is not the way you should breath when doing intervals or racing especially as you progress in swimming.




Keyword: Nearly, so you are recognizing that outliers exists, The OP might be one.

That said I think people automatically associate bilateral breathing with 3 strokes breathing. You can still bilateral breathe every stroke, you just limit the time you breathe to the other side and get just about as much air. For example: 10 strokes left/10 strokes right, only once in that rotation do you breathe every third, but you are breathing to both sides so it is, as termed, bilateral. Or what I do, breathe to the left, and every 10-15 strokes take ONE breathe to the right. I am breathing bilaterally, 90-95% of my breathing is to the left, but it is bilateral and the reduction in oxygen intake is minimal.

Yes nearly all fast swimmers do breathe to one side, but they also have the ability to breathe to both sides. There is a big difference to not being able to breathe bilaterally and being able to breathe bilaterally and just choosing not to.

To the OP my question is why do you attribute planks (an anti-extension exercise) to help you breathe bilaterally? I do not see as much association of the focused anti-extensional work to help your breathing as much as the more time accumulated in training to breathing bilaterally, in other words, its hard to see how planks can really benefit the movements the body perform when rotating to breathe bilaterally. Now an improvement in your shoulder mobility, anti-rotational "core" strength, etc might be more indicative, but I could be wrong.

Edited by bcagle25 2016-02-04 1:26 PM
2016-02-04 1:51 PM
in reply to: bcagle25

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Subject: RE: Bilateral breathing - lesson learned
Originally posted by bcagle25

Keyword: Nearly, so you are recognizing that outliers exists, The OP might be one.
Absolutely, outliers exist. But most of us are not outliers. Sure, it is possible that the OP is an outlier, but it is very very unlikely.
However, if he can swim 1500m in the pool in around 15 min. and still bilaterally breathe, then I will say, yup, he is clearly an outlier. His swimming success proves it.

That said I think people automatically associate bilateral breathing with 3 strokes breathing.
Yes, that is what I assumed. It is the most common understanding and useage of the term, 'bilateral breathing'.
And, yes, I am sure that one can do all kinds of other things with one's breathing patterns in the water. But, to me far more important: what do nearly all fast and very fast swimmers and triathletes do in the water? They breathe every left pull or every right pull. Sometimes they switch from left to right. But the vast majority of the time, they breathe every left pull or every right pull.

Yes nearly all fast swimmers do breathe to one side, but they also have the ability to breathe to both sides. There is a big difference to not being able to breathe bilaterally and being able to breathe bilaterally and just choosing not to.
Of course, I totally agree with you. It is a very very good idea to learn to breathe well and comfortably on both sides. I definitely think that that is an important, maybe even essential, open water swimming skill.

All good stuff to think about and discuss. Lots to learn (for all of us) in the water. I like to swim and I swim well and I do swim technique instruction, but I sure as heck can't swim 1500m in 15 min. !

Greg @ dsw




2016-02-05 6:01 AM
in reply to: LarchmontTri

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Subject: RE: Bilateral breathing - lesson learned
I typically breath every 3rd stroke when training. I do this mainly because of neck issues and I try to keep even on both sides with bb. That being said, I'm much more efficient breathing on left side than the right and generally breath exclusively on the left during races, unless there are issues with waves or sighting that make breath on the right.

I've had chronic neck/upper back issues due to an injury from 25 or so years ago, and just finished a 2 month round of physical therapy. The therapist suggested throwing in some back stroke to help correct some muscular imbalances. I started out being horrendous at backstroke, but after a couple of months, I only stink at it. I think the backstroke has overall been beneficial, helping the imbalances and also improving my freestyle. I typically throw in 250 yards of backstroke each workout.
2016-02-05 6:43 AM
in reply to: nickster

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Subject: RE: Bilateral breathing - lesson learned
I think that the more strokes one knows and uses in training, the better--they really help balance out the stroke and prevent fatigue and possibly overuse injuries from the big freestyle sets one sees in so many triathlon programs. (You know, 6 X 500m and the like. I'm a FOP swimmer for my age group but those sets always make me feel vaguely suicidal.) When I find my stroke starting to deteriorate from fatigue, I'll throw in a few IM's or laps of breaststroke or backstroke, and it feels like I got "reset".

As for bilateral breathing, meh...One needs to be comfortable breathing to either side as it is sometimes necessary in open water, but I have found it of absolutely zero benefit in terms of speed for long sets. As a teenager, I swam my best 1500m (about 21 minutes flat) breathing only to one side with a 2-2-4 pattern. Not a world-class time but strong compared to most amateur female triathletes. That simply was what worked best to get me the right amount of oxygen for distances of 400m and up. I learned bilateral breathing after I got into triathlon, at 41, and really mastered it after an elbow injury a few years ago made it uncomfortable to breathe to my dominant side for a few months. But as others have said, breathing every 3 strokes may not be enough if one is doing a distance swim at a decent level of intensity. I have tried other patterns such as 2-2-3 and while they work, they actually give me too much air. (Will leave the effects to your imagination.) So in a hard effort, it's back to 2-2-4. In a race, I will do that unless I have to do otherwise due to current, light conditions, sighting, other athletes, etc.

I'm not the most coordinated or buoyant of swimmers, despite being fairly fast, and found that it was much easier to master bilateral breathing when I was a bit more buoyant than normal, either with pool toys like a buoy or fins, in my wetsuit in a lake, or swimming in the ocean. I know a lot of triathletes who are adult-onset swimmers depend on their wetsuits and pool toys too much, but they might be useful when one is focused on learning bilateral breathing.
2016-02-05 11:13 AM
in reply to: Hot Runner

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Subject: RE: Bilateral breathing - lesson learned

I'm curious...  What role does comfort play in the breathing pattern?  As a child (<13 yrs old) I was taught traditional bilateral breathing: every 3rd stroke.  I can't recall why that was, but I am still more comfortable breathing that way.  Wouldn't that comfort provide some competitive benefit?  Also, we do not utilize all of the O2 in each breath that we take.  That is why CPR breathing provides more than enough O2 to a victim.  Granted, exertion causes us to use more of the O2 we inhale, but I would guess that there is still plenty of O2 available to us if we utilize alternate breathing.  I'm not saying I'm correct--hell, I could be way off--but these are 2 things I've been curious about since I've been on BT.



2016-02-05 11:25 AM
in reply to: dbrook1

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Subject: RE: Bilateral breathing - lesson learned
Yes, I think comfort is important. You can't ignore that.

O2 quantity and uptake is another part of the equation, but to simplify, I think that you gotta also look at what skilled swimmers do. And do very successfully. Easily 95%+ of faster distance and faster triathletes, when swimming at near race pace, breathe the vast majority of the time every single left pull, or every single right pull. Why exactly are they doing that? Probably many reasons. But, in the end, it seems to work best for that kind of swimming (i.e., fast distance swimming).

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2016-02-05 5:27 PM
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Subject: RE: Bilateral breathing - lesson learned
I imagine that if you have been using a certain breathing pattern for a very long time, like since childhood, then comfort/relaxation might play a part in its effectiveness. There's also a chance (if you evolved the pattern yourself, as I did in my case-I'm the only one I know that uses a consistent 2-2-4 pattern; my mom claims she can even spot me in races because of it), you use the pattern because it happens to meet your needs for oxygen delivery. At least in my case the pattern is pretty automatic and needs some kind of conscious decision to override, and I always feel like I can relax a bit when I go back to 2-2-4. I did a couple of swims at altitude (8,000-9,000 feet) one summer and was baffled when I found myself short of breath after a few minutes. I'd slowed down a lot and even stopped to do breaststroke a couple of times before I realized that 2-2-4 wasn't working in that context, and I needed to go to breathing every 2. It's just so hard-wired that it wasn't the first thing I tried.

Edited by Hot Runner 2016-02-05 5:28 PM
2016-02-07 9:44 PM
in reply to: LarchmontTri

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Subject: RE: Bilateral breathing - lesson learned
Side or "diagonal" planks and "thread the needle" type exercises are excellent for swim specific core work. It's great youve improved your breathing...it'd be even better to identify where in your stroke your core comes into play...developing awareness for the future of what specific issues you may be having and how to correct them or at least know what to work on...not just "breath to the left" but, possibly, rotate to the left without letting my lead arm drop (just an example)

Good work.
2016-02-08 7:00 AM
in reply to: DarkSpeedWorks

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Subject: RE: Bilateral breathing - lesson learned
Originally posted by DarkSpeedWorks

Yes, I think comfort is important. You can't ignore that.

O2 quantity and uptake is another part of the equation, but to simplify, I think that you gotta also look at what skilled swimmers do. And do very successfully. Easily 95%+ of faster distance and faster triathletes, when swimming at near race pace, breathe the vast majority of the time every single left pull, or every single right pull. Why exactly are they doing that? Probably many reasons. But, in the end, it seems to work best for that kind of swimming (i.e., fast distance swimming).

Greg @ dsw



Can't tell you exactly when I started breathing to the right all the time, but most swimmers I knew/know breath to the right.

When you swim 5,000-10,000 yards a day with up to 6 people in a lane breathing to the right(lane line side) stops you from getting a mouth full of water all the time.

So breathing right for many swimmers is natural; can we breath to the left- sure. For me it's an occasional breath to the left when I need it.
2016-02-08 12:47 PM
in reply to: dbrook1

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Subject: RE: Bilateral breathing - lesson learned

Originally posted by dbrook1

I'm curious...  What role does comfort play in the breathing pattern?  As a child (

 

breathing every 3, once learned correctly, is extremely efficient, so it naturally becomes more comfortable. Breathing itself is more about ridding the body of CO2 than it is bringing in O2, but regardless, as the effort level increases, so does the need to breathe faster. That doesn't mean that you are swimming faster necessarily, but your swimming harder. It's been mentioned that top swimmers breathe to one side while racing, but they train an enormous amount of volume breathing bilaterally. It's done b/c it keeps your stroke balanced. the check/counter check of that stroke puts equal burden on the arms, forces equal rotation to each side, etc, etc. When you start training to one side, you develop a weak side/strong side which then causes you to start favoring certain techniques. I should also mention that breathing slows you down, so a slower effort breathing less can often be just as fast as a slightly harder effort breathing more. Now big efforts the power vs efficiency ratio moves so that breathing a ton and crushing it is faster than being super efficient.  All that blathering aside, a efficient bilateral stroke is what creates a powerful stroke when breathing at will. I guess the best analogy would be track athletes don't spend gobs of time working on their right leg to make it stronger. They run a balanced stride in training even though the right leg does a considerably larger amount work on race day. ...ok that analogy is kinda weak but you get the idea.



2016-02-08 1:18 PM
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Subject: RE: Bilateral breathing - lesson learned
Originally posted by tjfry
It's been mentioned that top swimmers breathe to one side while racing, but they train an enormous amount of volume breathing bilaterally. It's done b/c it keeps your stroke balanced. the check/counter check of that stroke puts equal burden on the arms, forces equal rotation to each side, etc, etc. When you start training to one side, you develop a weak side/strong side which then causes you to start favoring certain techniques.


Good post.

But a few things. For training, when you're doing easy yards, bilateral breathing is fine. However, while training fast and while racing, you want to get enough O2/CO2 transfer and that pretty much requires breathing every stroke (so breathing every left pull or every right pull). And there is at least one easy way to do that in training but without developing any arm or body imbalance.

One way is to always breathe one direction in the pool. For example, you can breathe so you always face the pace clock. Or, you can breathe so you will always face away from the sun during that workout. The result of this approach will be that for exactly half of your workout you will breathing during your right arm pulls and for exactly half of your workout you will breathing during your left arm pulls. Works great, keeps you honest, and zero imbalance.

2016-02-08 1:38 PM
in reply to: DarkSpeedWorks

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Subject: RE: Bilateral breathing - lesson learned

One of the things that has helped me to work on a balanced stroke is using a Finis swimmer's snorkel, particularly during pull sets.  I breathe to my right and had been 'tucking under' my left arm on my non-breathing side creating a non-symmetrical pull pattern.   The snorkel lets me focus on proper arm entry and extension relative to my shoulder, without worrying about body rotation.  Doing a catch-up drill can help accomplish the same thing, but I think the snorkel is more effective.

Mark

 

 

2016-02-08 3:56 PM
in reply to: DarkSpeedWorks

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Subject: RE: Bilateral breathing - lesson learned

Originally posted by DarkSpeedWorks
Originally posted by tjfry It's been mentioned that top swimmers breathe to one side while racing, but they train an enormous amount of volume breathing bilaterally. It's done b/c it keeps your stroke balanced. the check/counter check of that stroke puts equal burden on the arms, forces equal rotation to each side, etc, etc. When you start training to one side, you develop a weak side/strong side which then causes you to start favoring certain techniques.
Good post. But a few things. For training, when you're doing easy yards, bilateral breathing is fine. However, while training fast and while racing, you want to get enough O2/CO2 transfer and that pretty much requires breathing every stroke (so breathing every left pull or every right pull). And there is at least one easy way to do that in training but without developing any arm or body imbalance. One way is to always breathe one direction in the pool. For example, you can breathe so you always face the pace clock. Or, you can breathe so you will always face away from the sun during that workout. The result of this approach will be that for exactly half of your workout you will breathing during your right arm pulls and for exactly half of your workout you will breathing during your left arm pulls. Works great, keeps you honest, and zero imbalance.

 

Hard swimming - I'd agree..mostly. There is great value in breath control to increase lung volume and oxygen transfer, but for the bulk of hard efforts I totally agree, you need to breathe when you want.

Breathing to the same side of the pool-  I'd disagree. I do this sometimes with harder efforts and you end up swimming with an imbalanced stroke going one way and then an equally  imbalanced stroke coming back. It would be akin to limping on your right leg for a mile and then limping on your left leg for the next mile in the hopes of creating a balanced running stride. If you want balance and a symmetrical stroke, you need to train with a balanced and symmetrical stroke. Then when you go race you don't think about your stroke at all because the habit has formed.

2016-02-08 4:23 PM
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Subject: RE: Bilateral breathing - lesson learned
Originally posted by tjfry
It would be akin to limping on your right leg for a mile and then limping on your left leg for the next mile in the hopes of creating a balanced running stride.


Ok, well that is an interesting view.

So does that mean that bilateral breathing is, "limp on left leg, then limp on right leg, then limp on left leg, then limp on right leg, etc." ??


2016-02-08 6:00 PM
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Subject: RE: Bilateral breathing - lesson learned
Originally posted by tjfry

Originally posted by DarkSpeedWorks
Originally posted by tjfry It's been mentioned that top swimmers breathe to one side while racing, but they train an enormous amount of volume breathing bilaterally. It's done b/c it keeps your stroke balanced. the check/counter check of that stroke puts equal burden on the arms, forces equal rotation to each side, etc, etc. When you start training to one side, you develop a weak side/strong side which then causes you to start favoring certain techniques.
Good post. But a few things. For training, when you're doing easy yards, bilateral breathing is fine. However, while training fast and while racing, you want to get enough O2/CO2 transfer and that pretty much requires breathing every stroke (so breathing every left pull or every right pull). And there is at least one easy way to do that in training but without developing any arm or body imbalance. One way is to always breathe one direction in the pool. For example, you can breathe so you always face the pace clock. Or, you can breathe so you will always face away from the sun during that workout. The result of this approach will be that for exactly half of your workout you will breathing during your right arm pulls and for exactly half of your workout you will breathing during your left arm pulls. Works great, keeps you honest, and zero imbalance.

 

Hard swimming - I'd agree..mostly. There is great value in breath control to increase lung volume and oxygen transfer, but for the bulk of hard efforts I totally agree, you need to breathe when you want.

Breathing to the same side of the pool-  I'd disagree. I do this sometimes with harder efforts and you end up swimming with an imbalanced stroke going one way and then an equally  imbalanced stroke coming back. It would be akin to limping on your right leg for a mile and then limping on your left leg for the next mile in the hopes of creating a balanced running stride. If you want balance and a symmetrical stroke, you need to train with a balanced and symmetrical stroke. Then when you go race you don't think about your stroke at all because the habit has formed.

so are you saying bilateral and race that way also?


2016-02-09 8:21 AM
in reply to: DarkSpeedWorks

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Subject: RE: Bilateral breathing - lesson learned

Originally posted by DarkSpeedWorks
Originally posted by tjfry It would be akin to limping on your right leg for a mile and then limping on your left leg for the next mile in the hopes of creating a balanced running stride.
Ok, well that is an interesting view. So does that mean that bilateral breathing is, "limp on left leg, then limp on right leg, then limp on left leg, then limp on right leg, etc." ??

 

no, bilateral is running. breathing only to the right, then only to the left is limping. If I have time today I'll find some videos.

And to the other post, race day anything goes. the habit is already formed, so you just race and breathe when you want, but in an ironman I will do some bileteral breathing from time to time.

2016-02-09 8:30 AM
in reply to: LarchmontTri

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Subject: RE: Bilateral breathing - lesson learned
That is really interesting. Thanks for sharing. I recently had a coach tell me to concentrate on engaging my core while swimming so I think it's reasonable to say there's a pretty strong connection.
2016-02-09 10:22 AM
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Subject: RE: Bilateral breathing - lesson learned

Originally posted by tjfry

And to the other post, race day anything goes. the habit is already formed, so you just race and breathe when you want, but in an ironman I will do some bileteral breathing from time to time.

Got you.  I couldn't figure out if you were trying to say bilateral breathing is a must in racing also.  I feel like people get too hung up on this and want to force the issue with themselves during a race.  Outside of stretching out a side stich I don't think I have taken a breathe to the left in a race.  Right in tandem with breathing patterns.  All that stuff is great in practice if you have the desire to work on it.   But what I bolded from your statement above should be paid attention to.  I will even blaspheme and say it's ok to breathe every stroke.

 

2016-02-09 11:04 AM
in reply to: Goggles Pizzano

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Subject: RE: Bilateral breathing - lesson learned

Originally posted by Goggles Pizzano

Originally posted by tjfry

And to the other post, race day anything goes. the habit is already formed, so you just race and breathe when you want, but in an ironman I will do some bileteral breathing from time to time.

Got you.  I couldn't figure out if you were trying to say bilateral breathing is a must in racing also.  I feel like people get too hung up on this and want to force the issue with themselves during a race.  Outside of stretching out a side stich I don't think I have taken a breathe to the left in a race.  Right in tandem with breathing patterns.  All that stuff is great in practice if you have the desire to work on it.   But what I bolded from your statement above should be paid attention to.  I will even blaspheme and say it's ok to breathe every stroke.

 

I was a perfect example of this. In high school I noticed my free times slipping and had completely gotten away from bilateral breathing IN TRAINING. So I rededicated myself for an entire month to breathe every 3, including the hard sets. by the end, but form returned and times dropped back to where they needed to be in races when I breathed every other stroke.

- breathing every stroke..sorry can't get on board there. makes me dizzy when the stroke rate gets up to speed.

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author : Tri Swim Coach
comments : 0
Discussions on bilateral breathing, working on balance drills, the importance of interval training to improve speed, the importance of kicking and sighting in open water.
date : June 27, 2007
author : Tri Swim Coach
comments : 0
Questions and answers on wetsuit swimming, cadence, interval time, paddle benefit, hand entry, runners kick drills, bilateral breathing and race breathing.
 
date : February 7, 2007
author : Gina76
comments : 2
The completion of my first sprint triathlon! Even though it has been over a year since my first tri, I find myself ready to do two more this year and even two half marathons!
date : April 2, 2006
author : Tri Swim Coach
comments : 0
Discussions on endurance building, bilateral breathing, kick drills with zoomers, tri versus competitive swimming, ramping up for a HIM and swim golf.
 
date : January 10, 2005
author : Ken
comments : 7
Don't worry, you can't do anything that hasn't been done before. Read this article for some humorous insights of one triathlete's introduction to the sport.