Swim with Ease: Tips for Breathwork in Swimming

POOLSIDE REFLECTIONS ON BREATHE AND SWIMMING

It’s the middle of summer in Australia, so what a perfect time to write about the best ways to breathe and swimming! I’m going to take you on a little journey through my own experience with swimming and share some insights I’ve discovered as I’ve been wading through breathwork and the ripple it’s been making in my life.

When I was a child, between the ages of 9 and 12, I was advised by my doctor that swimming could be beneficial for my bronchitis. Every winter, I was reminded to take my puffer and to be cautious about getting too cold because I’d start coughing. Too much exercise would also lead to shortness of breath and sometimes trigger the bouts of wheezing and coughing. Moments like these, would really knock the wind out of me.At that age, I remember thinking to myself: “How would swimming be any different to other activities?”.

I started taking swimming lessons. I vividly remember the teachings on swim stroke, freestyle, breaststroke and backstroke in a 25m pool. Learning felt like an achievement, but still, swimming always left me feeling tired and exhausted. I also recall the intense cravings for crunchy, salty hot chips after swimming lessons and sessions swimming laps at the pool.

One of my swimming instructors once told me that I was fit because I was incorporated in one of the higher-ability swimming groups. But looking back, between the ages of 9-12, I was short on breath inside and out of the pool. I thought that swimming wasn’t for me as I thought it was boring. I felt the exhaustion from swimming was too much and I didn’t feel good afterwards. My chest would hurt, my muscles would be aching and I felt cold for hours. Gosh, I disliked the cold water so much!

I started looking for excuses not to be in the water and eventually, I stopped. I cut swimming and all forms of movement and play in the water, out of my life from 13 until I became a parent.

In my late 20’s, I went back to the pool for the first time in years and after swimming just one 50m lap, I felt absolutely knackered. At the time, I had been skateboarding for years and had a consistent practice in Wing Chun, Meditation and Yoga. I considered myself active and fit, so this would’ve been a breeze. However, I still couldn’t swim 50m without feeling exhausted afterwards.

WHAT WAS GOING ON WHILE BREATHING AND SWIMMING?

Being an article about breathing, perhaps by now, you may be starting to wonder what the connection between all of these things is? Swimming, the breathing difficulties, exhaustion, fatigue and crunchy and salty food cravings that I experienced. Perhaps you or someone you know might relate to some of these things too.

In many areas of our lives, our breathing is the first respondent. And, since breathing makes up for a lot of the foundations of who we are and how we express our lives, it’s a no-brainer to look at it through the lens of breathing and respiratory physiology.

THE TREND OF SWIMMING AND BREATHING

If you’ve read one of my previous articles on running and breathwork, then you’ll know about the importance of Nose Breathing and what it can do for your training and lifestyle.

To touch on the subject lightly, Nose Breathing can benefit you in some of the following ways:

• It humidifies, filters and conditions the air that we breathe for oxygenation,
• Increases Nitric Oxide into the body, which assists blood circulation,
• Increases aerobic threshold as it promotes control and composition,
• Improves overall health as breathing becomes more efficient, and
• Enhances performance as a result of raising stamina levels and better at oxygenating the muscles.

Learning to swim and breathe through my Nose has been one of the biggest processes of rewiring and relearning in my life. The same benefits that exist with Nasal Breathing and running on land exist in the water. 

It felt like a natural progression to learn to swim and breathe Nasally and I noticed the benefits straight away.

For the purpose of writing this article, I also researched the topic of breathing and elite swimmers to see whether they breathed through their noses. It came as no surprise to discover that the majority of them do breathe nasally!  

SWIMMING AND MOUTH BREATHING

From revisiting memories of my swimming lessons as a child and in more recent years, watching swimming lessons with my school groups and my own son, I have observed that many are taught to mouth breathe when swimming. While this seems like the set standard and a big trend in how the majority of people breathe when they swim, it may take some extra effort to unlearn old methods.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE BREATHE THROUGH OUR MOUTH FOR PROLONGED PERIODS?

Here are some of the main impacts relevant to Swimming:

LACTATE DEBT > FATIGUE AND EXHAUSTION

The moment that we open our Mouth to breathe, we over-breathe and operate from an Anaerobic Metabolic State. Our bodies draw energy in the absence of Oxygen and instead, draw it from Glucose in the blood and Lactic Acid. What can seem like a short-burst in energy, needs to be repaid in the form of “lactate debt”, which occurs when there is a short-term Oxygen supply after intensive exercise and excess Lactic Acid. What this translates into is muscular fatigue and exhaustion of the respiratory system, as well as the need to replenish Glucose levels, often coming in the form of sugar cravings.

DEHYDRATION AND POOLSIDE FOOD CRAVINGS

Breathing through the Mouth for prolonged periods of time leads to dehydration. When your body is dehydrated, it craves Salt because Salt helps to regulate the Water and Potassium levels in your body. Salt also helps to keep Water in your Body. That helps to explain why Hot Chips are such a popular poolside food!

ACTIVATION OF SNS 

Another interesting point to consider is that breathing through your Mouth engages the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS), which activates the Fight or Flight reflexes. Higher levels of adrenaline and cortisol released by the body have the potential to raise levels of anxiety. Crunchy foods may also help to regulate and relax the these emotions because the act of chewing and crunching helps release tension in the jaw, face and neck.

TIPS FOR MAKING THE SWITCH TO NOSE BREATHING WHEN SWIMMING

Perhaps one of the primary reasons why mouth breathing is the norm in swimming is to prevent water going into the nose when swimming. If you’re starting to make the switch, you may find this happening to you and one of the things that has really helped me, is taking a short exhale with the Nose right before you need to take a breath.

SWIM STROKES AND BREATHWORK

Different strokes focus on different things, so your breathing practice can change and adapt to match what you’re practising with your swimming and breathing. As you prepare to make the switch, here are some tips to help you get started in integrating some breathwork into your own swimming practice:

1. Firstly, from learning to be comfortable in the space in between breaths, I find that there isn’t really a need to be breathing bubbles a great deal whilst underwater. I find that breathing bubbles regularly, is like exhaling (underwater) as soon as you’ve inhaled (above the water). Learn to be breathe low, less and slow, in the water and pause in between breaths when you can.
2. Breaststroke is probably the easiest stroke to start swimming and breathing nasally. There’s a pretty simple rhythm of moving the arms and legs simultaneously while under water, then coming up for a quick breath. Concentrate on using your nose to breathe when you surface or you might even like to stay under the water and do several strokes before you come up to breathe. If you find water entering your nose, exhale through your Nose quickly before coming up.
3. In, freestyle it is usually taught to make two or three strokes before taking a breath. This is a swim stroke where the arms and legs move in succession and can be move quite fast. This stroke can be difficult to breathe nasally when at high speed because if the arms are moving fast and you’re breathing every 3 strokes, then you might over-breathe. What I’ve found helpful, is to extend out the space between breaths when swimming Freestyle, where you swim. In this way, doing as many strokes as you feel comfortable with before taking a short and sharp exhale to clear the nose of any water, then turning slightly to take a breath in through your nose. Body position and technique here, will play a big role in succeeding to breathe nasally.
4. If you are breathing from your nose, with breaststroke and freestyle, you may even find that you can cover a greater distance in less amounts of breaths. Another point to consider is that when you take time to breathe, there’s the tendency that you are also breaking your stroke. Your stroke stops when you take a breath, so think about the economy of motion here when you are swimming.
5. When swimming Backstroke, you could focus on your breathing and focus on Box Breathing while swimming. Inhale for 5 seconds through the nose, pause for 5 seconds, exhale through the nose for 5 seconds, followed by another pause for 5 seconds and repeat.

Any form of breathwork that you do outside or inside the pool, that gets you comfortable with breath holding and being in the space between breaths, will most definitely be helpful for your efficiency in your breathing and swimming ability.

RIPPLING REFLECTIONS

Through daily experimenting and practice, I rediscovered my love for water in a truly authentic experience. Swimming has become like play, where I now play breathing games to see how many strokes I can do before taking a breath or breath hold and walk along the perimeter of the poolside or see how far I can swim on one breath (breath holding alone near water is highly discouraged because of its risks and hazards, never breath hold alone in the water or near a body of water).

I’m certain that with increased conscious and deliberate breathing in your practice, you too can find efficiency in your stroke and breath, where you’ll find new ways to enjoy swimming, while consciously improving your breathing, lung capacity, cadence and chemistry.

Swimming is in essence aquatic, moving breathwork… and what a tsunami of potential there is awaiting you from within and all around your watery depths!

By Nathan Ho