Bi-lateral breathing
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thehitman posted 2 years ago.
How about just practicing on sighting?
I've tried practicing bilateral breathing, without a whole lot of success. I'll continue to do so, but its no big deal to me. In races, I strictly breath on my left side, and sight every once in a while.
Good luck in 2006.
thehitman
“Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” Mark Twain
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blueraider_mike posted 2 years ago.
Hitman,
Have you done an IM swim? If so, did you feel fatigued by breathing just on one side? Or have you done a congested mass swim and was it a problem only breathing on one side.
I am probably gonna take your advice. My only concern was I have never done a mass swim with 2000 other swimmers and wanted to be able to breathe, probably making too much of this.
2935
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1357 days
Anton posted 2 years ago.
I've tried to bi breath for years but can't seen to get it flowing as I do breathing on one side.
Took swim clinics,worked with a former college swim coach...no dice. Can't do it.
So I happily left side breath too and work on my sighting skills...and it works for me.
My IM swims are at 1:20 and 1:24 and my other swims I usually get out of the water mid pack...which is fine with me. No stress, no mess.
Left side breathers unite!
"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?" - Vincent Van Gogh
My Blog: http://agingsuperhero.blogspot.com
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jmchina posted 2 years ago.
I was having trouble breathing on my left so my coach had me swim a 5x1000 only breathing on the left. Well, I don't have problems breathing on both sides anymore. It was quite barbaric, but also effective.
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1385 days
Tikal Dog posted 2 years ago.
TI! TI! and TI!!
I couldn´t even breath on 1 side before!!!
It takes practice!!! But I am sure everyone can do it.
when I trained for my first tri was when I first tried bilateral breathing and it sure was confusing a t first.
But it is easier to do 3 strokes left breath 3 strokes navigation+breath, 3 strokes right breath, bis bis bis.
Bilateral breathing helps you A LOT when swimming straight in open waters is the theme. And believe me you would hate to loose direction to those damn buoys.
Practice Practice and Practice. I can´t tell you how much water did I drink at the begining during training, but later on you it WILL pay off.
Hyperactive Trifueler!!!! (I refuse to let the status go :p)
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thehitman posted 2 years ago.
blueraider_mike wrote:
Hitman,Have you done an IM swim? If so, did you feel fatigued by breathing just on one side? Or have you done a congested mass swim and was it a problem only breathing on one side.
I am probably gonna take your advice. My only concern was I have never done a mass swim with 2000 other swimmers and wanted to be able to breathe, probably making too much of this.
No, I haven't done an IM, but I've done some mass starts.
I don't know whether bilateral breathing helps with overcoming fatigue --- it was my impression that its main benefit is to help even out your stroke.
One other thing - although I don't breath bilaterally; that doesn't stop me from turning my head to the right whenever I want (as if to breath), and getting a siting in that direction. Actually, its much easier than siting ahead; but doesn't necessarily give me the view I need.
thehitman
“Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” Mark Twain
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blueraider_mike posted 2 years ago.
I am a T1 convert. Its T1 that has enabled me to do tris. I do the drills on both sides but when it comes to swimming, I cannot breathe on the right. I have in the past just rolled to sweet spot on the right - but that aint gonna work in a race.
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1383 days
vanjames posted 2 years ago.
Bilteral breathing is worth the time it takes to learn. Don't stress about doing your whole workout "bilaterally" try incorporating small sets, say 25-50m until you can go longer.
I typically swim breathin one sided in my races but being able to switch sides when need be to avoid sun, fists, waves etc is a bonus for your confidence.
4480
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1633 days
kylie posted 2 years ago.
I personally am not an experienced enough swimmer to know the benefits of bilateral breathing from a pure swimming standpoint. However, if you can already say that this has become a mental thing for you, it seems like a great one to conquer to build confidence and get rid of that one extra little jitter race morning. The last thing you need is extra worry as you wait for an IM start...
477
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1332 days
geochuck posted 2 years ago.
Bilateral breathing is a great way to balance the stroke, breathing on the left side for a distance then breathing on the right side for a distance is also a good training thing but in a race I only breathe on the left, as when swimming a course that is bouyed the bouys have always been on the left. But I can breathe each side equally well and breathe on the right when needed for instance to keep an eye on competition, in rough water if i don't get air, yes and even when a fist or two come flying.
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Dkidd posted 2 years ago.
I too say TI swim drills, they go step by step so it's a gradual process which you will eventually form as a habit.
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1629 days
trimedic posted 2 years ago.
At first I wasn't able to do it either but now I prefer to breath bilaterally. I think that it helps a lot for siting as well as for when the water is choppy and coming at you from one side or the other. If you have the ability to breathe on either side you can face away from the water coming in. And if you are swiming in a lake, around the outer edge, you can site on the edge of the water rather than allowing yourself to go swimming off into the middle because siting is difficult with those dang boueys.
It took a little bit of work but if you force yourself to be a little uncomfortable at first you will get the technique down. Eventually it will be second nature.
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995 days
bigbuba0 posted 2 years ago.
I learned how to breath to both sides after breathing to the right for my first ten years of competative swimming. And after 2 1/2 years of practicing I still will not breath to the left during a race because i'm slower when i do. Basically breathing to both sides has helped my stroke become balanced, so when I race breathing to only the right does not have a negative affect on me. My advice to you is to swim warm up breathing every 3 strokes (alternate side breathing as I like to call it). I did this for an entire summer and still do it to this day over 2 years later. For the first month I would get very dizzy and get a headache, but worked my way through it. Eventually it will not become a hassle and don't worry about doing it during a race. I've seen many world class athletes that during races only breath to one side (micheal phelps being one of them).
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thrasher153 posted 2 years ago.
Hey everyone. I am completely new to this, but I've always wanted to do a triathlon. I never realized there was one shorter than ironman. I found a triathlon near home while I was looking for a 5K onlin. I can run decent, or so I think. I can ride a bike in a straight line. I just never really learned to swim well. I can swim, I just can't freestyle and breathe at the same time. I have recently tried it in a pool and just don't feel comfortable. I will definitely keep working on it. My question is...Since I just want to complete the triathlon, would I be completely laughed at if I were to breast stroke the entire way, and how much slower would I be. It is a 1000yd swim, 19mi bike, 4 mi run. I apologize if I offend anybody. Thanks for the help.
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geochuck posted 2 years ago.
A friend of mine was beaten in a 4000m open water swim by a person doing breaststroke, he was happy that he finished the swim even though the breaststroker beat him.
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kylie posted 2 years ago.
if your goal is to finish, then use any stroke you want :) I think it's admirable just to get out and do one, and if you find you like it, then you can deal with getting faster (if that is a goal of yours).
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1401 days
RV posted 2 years ago.
When I started doing Tri's I used the side stroke. It actually wasn't too slow - I had middle of the pack swim splits, and was fairly well rested coming out of the water. That being said, I worked really hard on learning freestyle - wanted to be more competitive. However, Any stroke that gets you through the swim is fine. And all it takes is some dedicated effort and time to improve your swim. Good luck!
RV
It takes a long time to get good. - Scott Molina
Slow is smooth; smooth is fast. - Rich Strauss
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Riverbrady posted 2 years ago.
It's more fun, and more important, to get out there. My first two Triathlons I sidestroked the entire swim...a fast sidestroke, but one nonetheless.
"Care more than others think is wise, risk more than others think is safe, dream more than others think is practical, expect more than others think is possible."
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thrasher153 posted 2 years ago.
Thanks for the help. I felt much more comfortable in my last swim. now I need to work on my endurance and stamina. I swam one length freestyle, then one length breastroke because I could not do a full lap freestyle. I'll keep working. Thanks again.
4911
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1715 days
beads1985 posted 2 years ago.
Use Duct tape to prevent yourself from breathing to your comfortable side and you will be forced to learn to breathe on the other side. Then take off the duct tape and do bi-lateral drills.
Nothing to it, but to do it
4911
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1715 days
beads1985 posted 2 years ago.
Okay, forget the duct tape,
but do drills to work on your bi-latereral breathing. I am doing that now.
I am quite sucky at breathing on the left but it helps me roll from one side to another which helps even out my stroke.
If you get to the event and you aren't comfortable breathing bi-laterally breathe however you can that is comfortable.
I made it thru IM Florida breathing only to my right in 1:22.
The sun was even in my eyes, I just wore tinted goggles. :D
Nothing to it, but to do it
OK, I am about to begin my "official" IM train for IMCDA. I feel confident I will complete the swim comfortablly in around 1:20 to 1:25 very relaxed; however, I CANNOT breathe on both sides. I have drilled and drilled and it is not happening for me.
Everytime I breathe on my right, my left extended arm immediately goes down to push me up to catch a breath. What's even worse is I lose momentum and thus speed because I lose form. If my left arm is straight, when I roll, I may be balanced but I have sunk thus no way to gulp anything be water. Its too cold to jump in OW with a wetsuit to see if my balance would be better, all of my work has been in the pool. Despite this on my right, on my left I roll easily, my left arm is extended - its easy.
Question:
Is it worth focusing on being able to learn to breathe on both sides? This is becoming a big time "mental" thing for me. What happens if the lake has chop? What happens if someone is punching me in the face from my left side. I swam a 1/2IM with a mass start and didn't have a problem with only breathing on my left side.
Appreciate your thoughts...