PE 103 5th

 Breathing—it comes completely naturally to
all of us. It is an activity that will function

without interruption or conscious thought
under the control of the autonomic nervous
system. When necessary, we can assume
conscious control in order to increase oxygen
supply while under stress or in a fight/flight
state of mind.
 Breathing is easy on the bike and run. While
there are a few tricks to rhythmic breathing in
both of these legs, you don't have to move
around and ask your surroundings
permission in order to get a breath. In
swimming, you do.
 Blowing bubbles underwater is a good
exercise for learning how to control your
breathing.
 Once you have good breathing control and
have also learned to float easily,
incorporating breathing into your swimming
becomes more straightforward.
From a beginner standpoint, the two most
important aspects of breathing in swimming
are becoming comfortable with:
1. Your face in the water while swimming

2. A rhythm to your breathing
Keeping your face in the water is step one, because
if you swim with your head up or your face out of
the water, your legs and hips will invariably drop. A
high-head/low-hip position requires you to push
more surface area through the water, creating
more drag. This makes it harder to swim because
there is more resistance. Imagine cycling with a
parachute attached to your back. This will force
you to take additional rest breaks in training or on
race day as your heart rate increases and you
cannot keep up with the oxygen demands of your
muscles.
There are different tricks to keeping your face
in the water. Be sure to have comfortable
goggles. Focus on looking at the bottom or
staring at the black line down the center of the
lane in the pool. If you experience anxiety
related to submersion, take a lot of rest breaks
and remember that as far as pool training
goes, you are never very far from the wall and
an exit. Private swim lessons and a lot of
practice will help.
Once you are comfortable keeping your
face/head in the water while swimming, you
need to figure out how and when to breath.
The critical action here is to begin exhaling
through your nose/mouth as soon as you
finish breathing in.
The major problem I see with beginner
swimmers related to breathing is that they hold
their breath while their face is in the water,
then tries to exhale and inhale very quickly
when turning to breathe. This results in a poor,
shallow breath and a quick buildup of carbon
dioxide in the lungs. Swimmers will have to
stop and take a break in training or roll over on
their backs to catch a few deep breaths in
racing.
You must exhale while your face is in the
water. So when you turn to breathe, your lungs
are mostly empty and ready to accept a fresh
breath of air. You do need to force the rhythm
a bit. You should forcefully exhale through
your nose/mouth as soon as you complete the
breath. There's no pausing. It is a constant
rhythm.
To help you get started, here are some general
tips on breathing while swimming:
1. Wear swimming goggles. Without goggles,
water can get into the eyes and irritate
them. Water in the eyes can also restrict your
vision, which can lead to anxiety. You can
minimize these problems by wearing
swimming goggles. As a result, you will
be more relaxed and can better focus on your
breathing.
2. There are several swimming strokes where
the head is submerged during the stroke cycle.
But, you should not hold your breath while the
head is underwater.
Exhale continuously in the water. Instead, you
should exhale continuously in water. If you do
this correctly, your lungs should be almost
empty when the head breaks through the water
surface to take the next breath.
You should breathe in quickly as soon as your
mouth is above the water surface. This should
be easy to do if you have previously emptied
your lungs in the water.
1. Go into the shallow water. Crouch down
until your head is underwater. Stay in this
position for a few seconds and then stand up.
2. This exercise is similar to exercise 1, except
that you blow bubbles through your nose when
your head is underwater.
3. This exercise is similar to exercise #2, but
now you blow bubbles through both your nose
and mouth.
4. Crouch down in shallow water until the
water surface is located between your nose and
mouth. Now, practice breathing in through
your nose above water and breathing out
through your mouth underwater.
5. Crouch down in shallow water until your face
is submerged. Start to blow bubbles. Grab the
edge of the pool and continue to blow bubbles
while getting into a horizontal position with the
face down. To get into a horizontal position,
you can use a relaxed flutter kick.
6. Bob up and down in shallow water so that
your head dips into the water and pops up
again. Breathe in when your head is above
water and breathe out when your head is
underwater.

PE 103 5th

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PE 103 5th

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 Breathing—it comes completely naturally to

all of us. It is an activity that will function

1. Your face in the water while swimming

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