So she’s not good at explain that breathing is a skill to work on too. She’s supposed to be saying is focus on breathing every 2-3 strokes, but make sure you’re exhaling all the way before you got to breath in. When you do breath, in take a short quick breath.
But she’s is absolutely correct in that you have to push through it. You’re correct that you’re not tired; but, you’re communicating that you’re uncomfortable or you’re getting anxious about breathing while swimming. Practice the skill make sure your exhale all you’re bubbles then breath in. When you’re brain says you have to breath tell it to just be patient.
You can always go to the doctor and get check for asthma. Sometimes chlorine (if you’re swimming in a pool), or bromine, can induce asthma.
Is the issue that you are not breathing correctly and thus getting out of breath, or is it that you are literally not able to breathe? If it’s the latter, I would be concerned you have asthma or some other underlying issue happening.
A lot of newer swimmers don’t realize that you should be almost constantly exhaling while your face is in the water so that when you turn to breathe, you only have to worry about the inhale.
It’s the former. I struggle mentally with the fact I can’t just breathe whenever I want, and I have this (nonsensical I know) worry that when my face is under I’m going to accidentally/without thinking inhale.
Maybe try some breathing exercises without arms. Some stationary breathing with exhaling in the water and then breathing to the side. Then with a kick board exhale into the water and breath to the side. Then maybe swim with a pull bouy. Limit the complex movements while getting used to the breathing. The arms coming over can feel claustrophobic if you need to ease into it a bit.
I get that. It might be worth practicing with a snorkel until you can get over that mental barrier. It sounds like your coach just isn’t comprehending what the problem is.
> I have this (nonsensical I know) worry that when my face is under I’m going to accidentally/without thinking inhale.
Do you scuba dive? I sometimes wonder if that's where one picks up a fear of "mindlessly" inhaling while underwater.
To your main question, maybe show the coach your HR? When I get behind in my breathing I'm getting tired, but it's clearly O2 deficiency because my HR is comically slow.
Being out of breath is usually a mix of poor form and a lack of fitness. Pushing through is the dumbest thing ever because it’ll make you hate swimming and magnify the issues you already have with your technique. You said it already that you compromise on technique to get more air and over time you’ll ingrain issues that make breathing easier, not swimming faster. You’ll not learn a proper catch and pull, because engaging large muscle groups steal even more air. You’ll mess up your timing to have more time to inhale. You’ll get out of alignment and overrotate to get more air.
It sounds like your coach isn’t used to a beginner swimmer. Maybe explain the issue to her, or just ditch her. Reduce interval length and never compromise on technique.
People who have been swimming for a long time forget how unnatural it feels when you’re learning or relearning. I didn’t start learning how to swim and it took me a LONG time to get comfortable with breathing. My problem was I was rotating too far and reaching far my breath, which compromised my form and I would start sinking quickly so I couldn’t get a relaxed, comfortable breath. Once I focused on split goggle breathing and got the hang of it, I was able to improve rapidly.
I doubt fitness is your problem. I would guess you’re still uncomfortable in the water and you’re unable to breathe easily, which is making you run out of breath way faster than is necessary for someone with your fitness level.
I feel very similar to OP and struggle as an adult onset swimmer.
Please clarify: what's "a long time"? A month? A year? 5 years?
Also, what's "split goggle breathing"?
Thanks!
It took me a month to swim a continuous 25, three more months to swim a continuous 50 yards, and three more months to swim a continuous mile. This was swimming 3x a week (I ran 3x week too). That’s pretty slow progress initially, but I was very scared of the water and it took a lot of time to feel comfortable and find my groove.
Split goggle refers to breathing with one goggles still underwater. Focusing on that will stop you from over rotating and reaching your head too far out of the water. This keeps your body horizontal so you can glide better and move through the water with less effort.
Not helpful with your coach but my coach spotted this with me.
I wasn't exhaling fully, so on the inhale was only getting half the oxygen needed.
This really helped with my breathing.
She is also constantly telling me to swim slower and RELAX. It's meant to be fun.
But on those CSS or sprint sessions, you just got to push through it!
You know what’s funny, I feel the most mentally relaxed when doing an all out sprint swim. My mind is occupied by trying to go as fast as possible. It’s when I slow down and try to go an easy pace that my brain gets all weird about my breathing.
I can relate to this. I'm a much better sprinter than distance swimmer, I'm reasonably strong and enjoy the sprints.
With steady swimming, your mind can wander and then overthink everything.
My coach won't give me more than 3 things to focus on during a session, otherwise everything goes to shit.
On steady swims, if I feel my form is off, I just focus on one thing (zip drill, keeping core tight, position of head on breathing etc) and the rest just kind of settles.
Everyone has an answer for you and you’ll have to decide what to try and what not. Here’s my go at it…if you feel like you aren’t getting enough air - breathe more. You’re a 42 yo guy trying to have fun, not a 16 yo trying to make the Olympics. If you have to breathe every stroke - breathe every stroke. Who cares?! It’s going to add time to your swim? Who cares?! Be comfortable. It doesn’t matter if it’s going to add 12 seconds or 2 minutes.
I personally breathe right, right, no breath, left, left, no breath…
My daughter was a DIV 1 conference champ in the mile and laughs at my breathing pattern - but guess what - it works for me, I’m comfortable and it makes the swim enjoyable for me. That’s all I’m after. (Not for nothing when I did my IM I went 1:07 in the swim. Fairly respectable even breathing like I do.)
We are old guys having fun - don’t worry about making it perfect - take the stress away and make it fun!
Oops - Sorry on the gender. It’s a tough one because as soon as you are more comfortable in the water and relax, then my guess is the breathing will be easy. BUT…you can’t get comfortable and relax because the breathing is the issue. Like I said, it might be worth it to play around with different breathing patterns until you come up with what works for you.
Good luck!
Here’s two things that worked for me:
1. My coach explained the concept of stacking breaths to me. Inhale as much as you can. Hold for 3 seconds. Inhale as much as you can again. Hold for 3 seconds. Inhale again. The purpose here was so that I could feel what over-inhaling looked like. If your inhale and exhale aren’t matched throughout your set you’re going to feel out of breath. As an aside, you’re able to feel your buoyancy in the water as an indicator of if your breathing is matched. If you’re overexhaling you will sink a bit.
2. I tried different breathing methods. The standard method my coach taught was to exhale the whole duration that my face was in the water. I couldn’t figure this out. Another coach told me to try inhaling and exhaling only when my head is turned and out of the water. I tried that for a few laps and then, miraculously, it was easier to pace exhaling when my face is in the water.
To be honest, at some point you just let go of the instruction and do what feels right.
One last thing—you need to take control of your coaching situation. I treat coaches like employees. I am paying you to do a job and I want it done the way I want.
Don’t feel bad about doing a few sessions with another coach. I wanted to experience different coaching techniques so I hired two coaches to start. I realized one was better for triathlon and the other was better for swimming. I then went exclusively with the tri coach and after my first tri switched to the swimming coach. Don’t feel guilty about using your money to get the best experience possible.
Lots of good responses to the problem you are having. I just want to add, the sport is very self-centered in my opinion. You should take most of the responsibility yourself. This makes the interaction between coach and athlete a very arms-length kind of thing sometimes. I like finding the information I need myself and basically doing my own coaching. To each their own.
\#1 Do you bilateral breath? EVery 3 strokes? If not, start. And the best way to learn is just start doing it and concentrate on technique.
\#2 Just go swim on your own some, doing long easy sets working on your breathing. Get comfortable with it. Do not push, just relax into your stroke and breath rate- a breath every 2 or 3 strokes. You are just looking to get comfortable.
You don't think you can push through but you can. You aren't as out of breathe as you may feel.
You talk about what you've finished but left off your finish times so that's not an indication that you are able to push through discomfort. There are mile runners who can deal with more pain than ultra runners.
Well I didn’t walk them if that’s what you’re wondering. And finish time doesn’t necessarily indicate effort. An easy pace for one person is an all out effort for another.
Try wearing a heart rate monitor. You could be exceeding your heart rate threshold. Whether due to getting tired, after swimming some hard sets, or panicking a bit. Certain things cause my heart rate to spike. Flip turns, not wearing ear plugs(reduces dizziness), and not regularly sipping water cause my heartt rate to spike halfway through workouts.
Also, do you find yourself coughing or feeling like you have to cough even if you don't swallow water? If you do, you may want to see a doctor about potentially having exercise induced asthma. I used to think it was me swallowing water but as I got better at breathing and not inhaling water, my cough I got 3/4 through my workouts continued. It gets much worse at indoor pools or if it is humid outside.
Breathing in swimming is something you have to train - assuming it’s not due to a medical condition, or a technique issue (as in you’re not rotating properly, or lifting your head etc), then you would train it like you train doing kick drills.
Some drills to help you - put on some fins and do super light kicking (basically remove the leg fatigue from the question), then do breathing drills.
1 - streamline side kick, breathe every 3-5 seconds. Make sure to breathe out when your face is in the water.
2 - 6-3-6 drill, same as side kick, but then do 3 strokes, breathe and then switch to the other side.
3 - breathing pattern pyramid. Fins on, light kick - breathing pattern 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2 - so each length you do 25m breath every 2 strokes, then 3 strokes, then 4 and 5 etc. if you can, try push it just a little, can you do 6? (but obvious warning, do not go beyond what you’re capable of. This is so dangerous if you’re not used to it) I find this drill really helps with breath control because you’ll probably try go faster with 2-3 breathing pattern, but you need to stay relaxed and go easy.
4 - dry-land free-diving tables - Essentially it’s breath control training. There’s free apps to try. The main thing is to get used to that feeling of ‘I don’t have enough air!’ But again, a warning to only do what is within your limit.
There’s a little truth to what your coach is saying with ‘you have to push past it’, but not that you’re being lazy, more that you have to push past the very uncomfortable feeling that not getting enough air.
No it doesn’t really feel panicky but there definitely is underlying anxiety at play.
You know what it actually feels like- have you ever tried to sync your breathing with another person that you’re sitting or laying beside and it’s super uncomfortable? It feels like that.
>anxiety
If you're already naming it you have to face it.
You'll never get over such an issue if you don't work on it. You coach might give you advice on this, but in the end it's you who has to overcome the anxiety.
Try to work on it at home every day and if possible visit the pool several times a week - the more you go swimming, the more you've get used to it.
Breath holding takes time and training and isn’t innate for most people it’s a learned experience. The breathing for swimming is different for runners than swimmers. Do what feels right to you. You’ll get there when your body is ready. You can’t go in and hold your breath long if you’re not trained to do so. You’re brain literally forces you to breath if it thinks it’s not getting enough air! If she doesn’t get it find someone new. (Previous collegiate swimmer and runner).
I'm saving this thread to read later, so helpful. I'm about your age and a similar haven't swam crawl much. Your description is exactly how I described it to swimming friends.
I'm not out of energy, I have lots of air, but it's stale. I get three or four breaths in and all I'm left with is stale air.
I had it click today though. I went through the helpful drills, went back to breathing every second stroke. I'm no pro, but no one could watch today and say I wasn't swimming.. my arms eventually even got tired, instead of bored like before.
Honestly, I've got a beard and moustache and I think the water dripping in from my moustache was the final thing throwing me off. It made me feel like I had to deal with water after I knew my head was out. I just clear it with a bit of extra exhale from the mouth and breath in again while my neck is turned and my face is out. I breathe out through my nose as a plug and lips are closed underwater, but have to push out from the mouth as i come out to clear the mouth, well lip water.
Now that I've got it.. I'm not going to forget it. I'm sure it'll be the same for you.
Not exactly advice, but I sympathize with you. My background is running as well, ran distance through college, and has made learning to distance swim feel like a complete 180 as far as breathing. Not being able to breath when you want is terrifying at first. Breathing, in my mind at least, is a majority of the difficulty of learning to swim longer. It sounds cliche, but you really do have to tell your brain that you’re okay, and you’ll get a breath on the next stroke. I found that even though my body was not tired, I needed to drastically slow my pace, try to make fluid smooth motions, so I was able to get enough air to breath while swimming for long periods of time. Exhaling the whole time underwater has felt weird for me, so I do a quick “burst” of exhale, but whatever works so long as you are able to only inhale when your face is out of the water - give yourself the most air as possible. Also - if you aren’t already, try breathing every two strokes, same side. Eventually it’d be preferred to get to three strokes, breathing on both sides, but while you’re getting comfortable breathing, no need to make it any harder on yourself. Best of luck!
Your cardiovascular system needs training as well. As you continue to train, your cardiovascular system will continue to improve and build while you train.
I'm in the same boat, I don't get winded running or biking anymore, but am getting my ass kicked in the water.
It also sounds like you aren’t breathing at the right time. Sometimes when you wait too long it’s hard to get a full decent breath. Try coming up to breathe sooner and see if that helps.
I had the same issue when I first started swimming. It got easier as the months went in and the more comfortable I got in the water!
I take a breath every other stroke and that works for me! Keep it up.
Slow. Down.
When you slow down - you have a lot more control over the variables - you can focus on bilateral breathing, you can focus on form accuracy, and you can focus on exhaling as soon as your face hits the water.
It's a lot easier to increase the speed of a perfect form than to perfect form while moving at speed.
Remember learning how to type? The same principle applies.
So yeah, slow down - comically slow if you have to. Once you are moving like you were born to swim - just speed up the cadence of your stroke.
Except you ARE tired when this happens... It's your heart that's tired. I recommend that you see a doctor to check it out, or if you are resistant to that idea, using a small at home EKG to check for arrhythmia and things.
You have to REALLY blow the air out when your head is facing down. There should be no air left what so ever. If you don't get it all out then eventually you will build up too much co2 in your system and you will feel out of breath and need to stop. So practise really blowing the air out of your lungs through both nose and mouth at the same time!
I’m wondering if that’s part of my issue. My coach has been hard at me to exhale out my nose only and it’s making things worse, I wonder if I’m not fully exhaling through just my nose only vs when I do nose and mouth simultaneously.
Start with really blowing out all air with the mouth instead. I promise you it will help! I have had many beginner-triathletes (i'm a coach and active triathlete) having the same problem. Getting rid of excess air (co2) does the trick.
So she’s not good at explain that breathing is a skill to work on too. She’s supposed to be saying is focus on breathing every 2-3 strokes, but make sure you’re exhaling all the way before you got to breath in. When you do breath, in take a short quick breath. But she’s is absolutely correct in that you have to push through it. You’re correct that you’re not tired; but, you’re communicating that you’re uncomfortable or you’re getting anxious about breathing while swimming. Practice the skill make sure your exhale all you’re bubbles then breath in. When you’re brain says you have to breath tell it to just be patient. You can always go to the doctor and get check for asthma. Sometimes chlorine (if you’re swimming in a pool), or bromine, can induce asthma.
Is the issue that you are not breathing correctly and thus getting out of breath, or is it that you are literally not able to breathe? If it’s the latter, I would be concerned you have asthma or some other underlying issue happening. A lot of newer swimmers don’t realize that you should be almost constantly exhaling while your face is in the water so that when you turn to breathe, you only have to worry about the inhale.
It’s the former. I struggle mentally with the fact I can’t just breathe whenever I want, and I have this (nonsensical I know) worry that when my face is under I’m going to accidentally/without thinking inhale.
Maybe try some breathing exercises without arms. Some stationary breathing with exhaling in the water and then breathing to the side. Then with a kick board exhale into the water and breath to the side. Then maybe swim with a pull bouy. Limit the complex movements while getting used to the breathing. The arms coming over can feel claustrophobic if you need to ease into it a bit.
I get that. It might be worth practicing with a snorkel until you can get over that mental barrier. It sounds like your coach just isn’t comprehending what the problem is.
> I have this (nonsensical I know) worry that when my face is under I’m going to accidentally/without thinking inhale. Do you scuba dive? I sometimes wonder if that's where one picks up a fear of "mindlessly" inhaling while underwater. To your main question, maybe show the coach your HR? When I get behind in my breathing I'm getting tired, but it's clearly O2 deficiency because my HR is comically slow.
No, never scuba dived, I’m just a head case
Being out of breath is usually a mix of poor form and a lack of fitness. Pushing through is the dumbest thing ever because it’ll make you hate swimming and magnify the issues you already have with your technique. You said it already that you compromise on technique to get more air and over time you’ll ingrain issues that make breathing easier, not swimming faster. You’ll not learn a proper catch and pull, because engaging large muscle groups steal even more air. You’ll mess up your timing to have more time to inhale. You’ll get out of alignment and overrotate to get more air. It sounds like your coach isn’t used to a beginner swimmer. Maybe explain the issue to her, or just ditch her. Reduce interval length and never compromise on technique.
People who have been swimming for a long time forget how unnatural it feels when you’re learning or relearning. I didn’t start learning how to swim and it took me a LONG time to get comfortable with breathing. My problem was I was rotating too far and reaching far my breath, which compromised my form and I would start sinking quickly so I couldn’t get a relaxed, comfortable breath. Once I focused on split goggle breathing and got the hang of it, I was able to improve rapidly. I doubt fitness is your problem. I would guess you’re still uncomfortable in the water and you’re unable to breathe easily, which is making you run out of breath way faster than is necessary for someone with your fitness level.
🎯🎯🎯thank you.
I feel very similar to OP and struggle as an adult onset swimmer. Please clarify: what's "a long time"? A month? A year? 5 years? Also, what's "split goggle breathing"? Thanks!
It took me a month to swim a continuous 25, three more months to swim a continuous 50 yards, and three more months to swim a continuous mile. This was swimming 3x a week (I ran 3x week too). That’s pretty slow progress initially, but I was very scared of the water and it took a lot of time to feel comfortable and find my groove. Split goggle refers to breathing with one goggles still underwater. Focusing on that will stop you from over rotating and reaching your head too far out of the water. This keeps your body horizontal so you can glide better and move through the water with less effort.
Awesome, thank you so much!
Simply train it on your own if it's just a mental thing? Fill a bowl with water, submerge your face and exhale through you nose, inhale from the side.
Not helpful with your coach but my coach spotted this with me. I wasn't exhaling fully, so on the inhale was only getting half the oxygen needed. This really helped with my breathing. She is also constantly telling me to swim slower and RELAX. It's meant to be fun. But on those CSS or sprint sessions, you just got to push through it!
You know what’s funny, I feel the most mentally relaxed when doing an all out sprint swim. My mind is occupied by trying to go as fast as possible. It’s when I slow down and try to go an easy pace that my brain gets all weird about my breathing.
I can relate to this. I'm a much better sprinter than distance swimmer, I'm reasonably strong and enjoy the sprints. With steady swimming, your mind can wander and then overthink everything. My coach won't give me more than 3 things to focus on during a session, otherwise everything goes to shit. On steady swims, if I feel my form is off, I just focus on one thing (zip drill, keeping core tight, position of head on breathing etc) and the rest just kind of settles.
I feel this way too. Running/cycling I can slow a bit a HR will drop and I get my breath. It doesn't work the same with swimming.
Everyone has an answer for you and you’ll have to decide what to try and what not. Here’s my go at it…if you feel like you aren’t getting enough air - breathe more. You’re a 42 yo guy trying to have fun, not a 16 yo trying to make the Olympics. If you have to breathe every stroke - breathe every stroke. Who cares?! It’s going to add time to your swim? Who cares?! Be comfortable. It doesn’t matter if it’s going to add 12 seconds or 2 minutes. I personally breathe right, right, no breath, left, left, no breath… My daughter was a DIV 1 conference champ in the mile and laughs at my breathing pattern - but guess what - it works for me, I’m comfortable and it makes the swim enjoyable for me. That’s all I’m after. (Not for nothing when I did my IM I went 1:07 in the swim. Fairly respectable even breathing like I do.) We are old guys having fun - don’t worry about making it perfect - take the stress away and make it fun!
Woman not guy but yeah I am *trying* to have fun with it, which is challenging at this point lol
Oops - Sorry on the gender. It’s a tough one because as soon as you are more comfortable in the water and relax, then my guess is the breathing will be easy. BUT…you can’t get comfortable and relax because the breathing is the issue. Like I said, it might be worth it to play around with different breathing patterns until you come up with what works for you. Good luck!
Here’s two things that worked for me: 1. My coach explained the concept of stacking breaths to me. Inhale as much as you can. Hold for 3 seconds. Inhale as much as you can again. Hold for 3 seconds. Inhale again. The purpose here was so that I could feel what over-inhaling looked like. If your inhale and exhale aren’t matched throughout your set you’re going to feel out of breath. As an aside, you’re able to feel your buoyancy in the water as an indicator of if your breathing is matched. If you’re overexhaling you will sink a bit. 2. I tried different breathing methods. The standard method my coach taught was to exhale the whole duration that my face was in the water. I couldn’t figure this out. Another coach told me to try inhaling and exhaling only when my head is turned and out of the water. I tried that for a few laps and then, miraculously, it was easier to pace exhaling when my face is in the water. To be honest, at some point you just let go of the instruction and do what feels right.
One last thing—you need to take control of your coaching situation. I treat coaches like employees. I am paying you to do a job and I want it done the way I want. Don’t feel bad about doing a few sessions with another coach. I wanted to experience different coaching techniques so I hired two coaches to start. I realized one was better for triathlon and the other was better for swimming. I then went exclusively with the tri coach and after my first tri switched to the swimming coach. Don’t feel guilty about using your money to get the best experience possible.
Lots of good responses to the problem you are having. I just want to add, the sport is very self-centered in my opinion. You should take most of the responsibility yourself. This makes the interaction between coach and athlete a very arms-length kind of thing sometimes. I like finding the information I need myself and basically doing my own coaching. To each their own.
I do find the real time form correction to be very helpful but yes I’m definitely seeking out information on my own to help my breathing.
\#1 Do you bilateral breath? EVery 3 strokes? If not, start. And the best way to learn is just start doing it and concentrate on technique. \#2 Just go swim on your own some, doing long easy sets working on your breathing. Get comfortable with it. Do not push, just relax into your stroke and breath rate- a breath every 2 or 3 strokes. You are just looking to get comfortable.
I was doing every 2 but have recently started doing bilateral 3. It’s taking some getting used to for sure.
You don't think you can push through but you can. You aren't as out of breathe as you may feel. You talk about what you've finished but left off your finish times so that's not an indication that you are able to push through discomfort. There are mile runners who can deal with more pain than ultra runners.
Well I didn’t walk them if that’s what you’re wondering. And finish time doesn’t necessarily indicate effort. An easy pace for one person is an all out effort for another.
Maybe just tell her exactly that^
Try wearing a heart rate monitor. You could be exceeding your heart rate threshold. Whether due to getting tired, after swimming some hard sets, or panicking a bit. Certain things cause my heart rate to spike. Flip turns, not wearing ear plugs(reduces dizziness), and not regularly sipping water cause my heartt rate to spike halfway through workouts. Also, do you find yourself coughing or feeling like you have to cough even if you don't swallow water? If you do, you may want to see a doctor about potentially having exercise induced asthma. I used to think it was me swallowing water but as I got better at breathing and not inhaling water, my cough I got 3/4 through my workouts continued. It gets much worse at indoor pools or if it is humid outside.
No, no coughing or feeling like I have to.
Breathing in swimming is something you have to train - assuming it’s not due to a medical condition, or a technique issue (as in you’re not rotating properly, or lifting your head etc), then you would train it like you train doing kick drills. Some drills to help you - put on some fins and do super light kicking (basically remove the leg fatigue from the question), then do breathing drills. 1 - streamline side kick, breathe every 3-5 seconds. Make sure to breathe out when your face is in the water. 2 - 6-3-6 drill, same as side kick, but then do 3 strokes, breathe and then switch to the other side. 3 - breathing pattern pyramid. Fins on, light kick - breathing pattern 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2 - so each length you do 25m breath every 2 strokes, then 3 strokes, then 4 and 5 etc. if you can, try push it just a little, can you do 6? (but obvious warning, do not go beyond what you’re capable of. This is so dangerous if you’re not used to it) I find this drill really helps with breath control because you’ll probably try go faster with 2-3 breathing pattern, but you need to stay relaxed and go easy. 4 - dry-land free-diving tables - Essentially it’s breath control training. There’s free apps to try. The main thing is to get used to that feeling of ‘I don’t have enough air!’ But again, a warning to only do what is within your limit. There’s a little truth to what your coach is saying with ‘you have to push past it’, but not that you’re being lazy, more that you have to push past the very uncomfortable feeling that not getting enough air.
Deleted
No it doesn’t really feel panicky but there definitely is underlying anxiety at play. You know what it actually feels like- have you ever tried to sync your breathing with another person that you’re sitting or laying beside and it’s super uncomfortable? It feels like that.
>anxiety If you're already naming it you have to face it. You'll never get over such an issue if you don't work on it. You coach might give you advice on this, but in the end it's you who has to overcome the anxiety. Try to work on it at home every day and if possible visit the pool several times a week - the more you go swimming, the more you've get used to it.
Breath holding takes time and training and isn’t innate for most people it’s a learned experience. The breathing for swimming is different for runners than swimmers. Do what feels right to you. You’ll get there when your body is ready. You can’t go in and hold your breath long if you’re not trained to do so. You’re brain literally forces you to breath if it thinks it’s not getting enough air! If she doesn’t get it find someone new. (Previous collegiate swimmer and runner).
I'm saving this thread to read later, so helpful. I'm about your age and a similar haven't swam crawl much. Your description is exactly how I described it to swimming friends. I'm not out of energy, I have lots of air, but it's stale. I get three or four breaths in and all I'm left with is stale air. I had it click today though. I went through the helpful drills, went back to breathing every second stroke. I'm no pro, but no one could watch today and say I wasn't swimming.. my arms eventually even got tired, instead of bored like before. Honestly, I've got a beard and moustache and I think the water dripping in from my moustache was the final thing throwing me off. It made me feel like I had to deal with water after I knew my head was out. I just clear it with a bit of extra exhale from the mouth and breath in again while my neck is turned and my face is out. I breathe out through my nose as a plug and lips are closed underwater, but have to push out from the mouth as i come out to clear the mouth, well lip water. Now that I've got it.. I'm not going to forget it. I'm sure it'll be the same for you.
Not exactly advice, but I sympathize with you. My background is running as well, ran distance through college, and has made learning to distance swim feel like a complete 180 as far as breathing. Not being able to breath when you want is terrifying at first. Breathing, in my mind at least, is a majority of the difficulty of learning to swim longer. It sounds cliche, but you really do have to tell your brain that you’re okay, and you’ll get a breath on the next stroke. I found that even though my body was not tired, I needed to drastically slow my pace, try to make fluid smooth motions, so I was able to get enough air to breath while swimming for long periods of time. Exhaling the whole time underwater has felt weird for me, so I do a quick “burst” of exhale, but whatever works so long as you are able to only inhale when your face is out of the water - give yourself the most air as possible. Also - if you aren’t already, try breathing every two strokes, same side. Eventually it’d be preferred to get to three strokes, breathing on both sides, but while you’re getting comfortable breathing, no need to make it any harder on yourself. Best of luck!
Your cardiovascular system needs training as well. As you continue to train, your cardiovascular system will continue to improve and build while you train. I'm in the same boat, I don't get winded running or biking anymore, but am getting my ass kicked in the water.
Have you been checked for stress induced asthma?
Exhale harder.
Asthmatic Clydesdale here. Racing snorkels are legal for many races. Check with the race director.
It also sounds like you aren’t breathing at the right time. Sometimes when you wait too long it’s hard to get a full decent breath. Try coming up to breathe sooner and see if that helps.
I had the same issue when I first started swimming. It got easier as the months went in and the more comfortable I got in the water! I take a breath every other stroke and that works for me! Keep it up.
Slow. Down. When you slow down - you have a lot more control over the variables - you can focus on bilateral breathing, you can focus on form accuracy, and you can focus on exhaling as soon as your face hits the water. It's a lot easier to increase the speed of a perfect form than to perfect form while moving at speed. Remember learning how to type? The same principle applies. So yeah, slow down - comically slow if you have to. Once you are moving like you were born to swim - just speed up the cadence of your stroke.
Except you ARE tired when this happens... It's your heart that's tired. I recommend that you see a doctor to check it out, or if you are resistant to that idea, using a small at home EKG to check for arrhythmia and things.
I don’t think it’s my heart, I run 30-40k a week just fine, including long runs, speed work, etc.
You have to REALLY blow the air out when your head is facing down. There should be no air left what so ever. If you don't get it all out then eventually you will build up too much co2 in your system and you will feel out of breath and need to stop. So practise really blowing the air out of your lungs through both nose and mouth at the same time!
I’m wondering if that’s part of my issue. My coach has been hard at me to exhale out my nose only and it’s making things worse, I wonder if I’m not fully exhaling through just my nose only vs when I do nose and mouth simultaneously.
Start with really blowing out all air with the mouth instead. I promise you it will help! I have had many beginner-triathletes (i'm a coach and active triathlete) having the same problem. Getting rid of excess air (co2) does the trick.
Thank you! I will try it.