I'm no expert, but someone on here (Eric or Jason?) said something about swimming being about "getting comfortable with being uncomfortable."

The breathing thing was really hard for me too when I started, I was accustomed to hard efforts running or biking where I could just pant as hard as I wanted. You just can't do that when you're swimming, and it can be really uncomfortable. If you do it long enough though, you'll probably work through it.

The other thing that might help, at the risk of being chastised by the super swimmers & coaches: try getting a tempo trainer. I'm guessing (wildly) that your turnover rate is pretty slow. Swimming with a higher turnover will do two good things - you'll get to breathe more often and you'll be swimming faster. It seems strange, but sometimes the tendency to stretch out / pause between strokes on the extension seems to delay the next breath.

ymmv....

How do you breathe? Every other arm stroke (i.e. always on the same side, but every time that arm goes by), or every three strokes, four, ? It is worthwhile to practice every three strokes so that you get comfortable breathing on either side... if you're like me and get set doing it only one way, it can take decades to break the habit and 'learn' the other side.

Breathing out is more important than breathing in... exhale underwater so you maximize your air intake when you turn your head.

Developing good swim technique is usually quicker if you do multiple short sets with breaks inbetween as opposed to one long drag of a couple of kilometers. The intensity during the shorter interval will enable you to build better swim technique, then you recover in the breaks. Improvements in form usually fade as you get tired - so make sure that you get enough rest between your intervals that you can reset your form.

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Less is more.

Thanks benjpi! Could be. But is it normal that the sensation (uncomfortable breathing) continues after getting out of the pool? :) At the moment it's been two hours since I got home from my swimming session and I can still feel it in my lungs. It feels like some kind of pressure inside the lungs. One day I ran home from the swimming hall and I felt like something was restricting my breathing during the run. Normally I never feel that way during running.

Maybe lactic acid from the swim?

It could be an allergic or asthmatic reaction to the pool, the water, the chlorine. Or it could be something else far more serious. It does not sound like a training problem, it sounds like a medical problem so I would get some medical advice, before you do more training. The feeling of "breathing through a straw" is not one to ignore. I sure as heck don't want that feeling 1/2 mile from shore in a race. So go get competent medical advice. Seriously.

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This sounds like exercise induced asthma (EIA). Does "uncomfortable breathing" mean "restricted breathing", as you described like breathing through a straw?

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"Go yell at an M&M"

I've tried many ways of breathing. I've paid particular attention to exhaling properly. When my mouth enters the water I start exhaling and steadily exhale until it's time to inhale again. Whether I push all the air out when exhaling or not doesn't seem to matter once the problem develops. The depth of inhalation doesn't seem to matter either.

Of course, the most likely explanation for all of this is that I'm just not that good and also not used to the discomfort of swimming. Maybe there's also some psychological factors at play.. caused by having to keep your face underwater most of the time. Which is new to me.

Anyway, I'd love to get a handle on this. To know what the problem is. Then I could work to solve it!

Yes, "restricted breathing" is probably the best way to describe it. When you inhale it feels like some kind of extra pressure in the lungs. But it doesn't mean I can't get air. I get enough air to run at an easy pace. No problems there. But the issue here is that there's an extra sensation in the lungs that isn't normally there. And it is linked with the swimming.

Ox - I run after swimming almost every day and I think I have kinda sorta felt the way you are describing. My experience is that this only happens when i'm really, really tired, e.g., after a really long, hard swim workout, and then I feel like i am gasping for breath for the first 3 min or so of running, but after that my breathing settles down but i'm still just running really slowly. My thought is that my body is trying to tell me that 'hey, we've gone over the line here and we should stop now...', and so usually i only go 2-3 miles on the run and call it a day. In sum, i think the "pressure in your lungs" that you are feeling may just be fatigue from doing an exercise (swimming) that you are not used to doing.

I never get the "breathing through a straw" sensation while swimming but that is prob b/c i've done so much of it and am extremely comfortable swimming.

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Yeah, it could be that since I'm a beginner almost every session is pretty hard and those feelings result from that.

I think a possible way to test this idea, is to take my wetsuit to the swimming hall (first swim in it ever). Assuming the wetsuit makes the swimming easier, I should be able to avoid the problem. If that happens, it must be that my technique is just so bad that it takes a huge toll on me every time.

Look up EIA. Some people get enough air, some people get insufficient air: it depends on how much your throat closes up. The latter folks need a couple of inhalers: one prior to exertion that can prevent onset of EIA, and a different one for when it hits (or is about to hit). I used to get it after bike criterium raced in hot, humid conditions; my friend (an outstanding distance swimmer) used to get it during bike rides and would be lying gasping on the ground.

Take this seriously.

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"Go yell at an M&M"

No fish, but a couple ideas to give or take:
1. Check your pacing. See if those times that you are doing 2k relaxed is much different than when you are gassed at 200m. Pace clock, watch, whatever. You can probably go forever at 2:00/100m, but might feel otherwise if you are doing 1:40/100m. If anything slow it way down and see if it helps.
2. My lungs would hurt a bit once in awhile (minimal to your deal), and if I focused on my belly it helps. Belly breathing vs. chest seemed to relax and allow better airflow and less uncomfortable feeling building up. This may be why you feel it after you are done, a bit tired/sore in the lungs.
3. Tempo trainer as someone mentioned is a good one. Try picking up turnover, or switching breathing to one side to get more breaths and see if either help.
4. Does the time you can do 2k come when you've been swimming for awhile (maybe your 3rd or 4th session of a week?). I've found the more frequently I've been in the water the more likely this is, versus coming off some days away it usually sucks.

Lastly, as someone mentioned, I wouldn't let it linger. Good luck.

Thanks! I will look into that.

This happens to me when I am fatigued or dehydrated.

I've been a swimmer for 17 years and never had a problem with breathing until I went to college and didn't keep up with my sleep/hydration as much as I should have. I knew that it wasn't related to my stroke or breathing pattern while swimming. Like you said, it feels like breathing through a straw, especially over longer sets swimming or while running at any pace faster than easy. At first I thought it had something to do with sinuses/congestion, and I was also tested for asthma. Neither of these seemed to truly describe what I was feeling. I started keeping track of my sleep and fluid intake and pinpointed the days with the breathing troubles to the days I was most tired and dehydrated.

Usually a day off and getting a mix of water and electrolytes helps. Consuming a small amount of caffeine (like half a cup of coffee) prior to a shorter workout also seems to work for me. However, I would still recommend seeing your doctor just to rule out anything else. It gave me peace of mind more than anything knowing that I don't have asthma and don't need to keep an inhaler on deck just in case.

Do you do flip turns in the pool? Sounds a little strange but I've only really started to get more comfortable with my breathing after I started working on flip turns in a 25m pool. it does something to you mentally when you're on your 8th rep of a set of 100's and you are screaming for air coming in to the wall and push yourself into another flip turn.

Thank you! An interesting point you made about dehydration. The one thing I haven't been doing during my swim sessions is drink anything. I've figured that since I'm usually only doing 60 minutes I don't need it. Well, I will do some tests with rehydration as well.

The amount of sleep is also an interesting point. You see, I think pretty much every "good" session has been on Saturday mornings when I tend to sleep a lot..

Yeah, I need to rule out EIA. I get that.

No, I don't do flip turns. I've postponed adopting them because I thought I want to get my swimming technique down first and since you won't be doing turns during a triathlon... :p

I actually did try flip turns on one session to see if it made any difference. Maybe it needs some more work then.

Asthma

I see a few people have mentioned Exercise Induced Asthma. One of my swim buddies suffers from that anytime he pushes to hard towards the red line (as he puts it). Once it happens he's pretty much done for the day. Like someone else said, it sounds medical so I would try and rule that out first.

Funny how you didn't respond to darkspeedworks. I agree with him. It doesn't sound normal. I would take the smart advice and get checked out by a dr.
it could be asthma as stated, but it could be more serious, as dsw suggested, especially if it is more frequent than being able to swim easy.

Let's put it this way...
My knee hurts a lot when I run. I can only run half a lap to a full lap at the track before I need to stop. But some days I can run 2 or 3 miles without it hurting. What should I do?

Seriously, go get checked out and update us later.

I don't mean to hijack this thread but here I go. Hopefully it'll contribute in some way.


I've been experiencing a chronic shortness of breath since late December. I feel like my normal, at rest breathing isn't supplying enough air. To compensate, every minute or so I attempt a deep breath. Unfortunately I'm unsuccessful in about 4 out of every 5 deep breaths. It's a hard feeling to describe during these failed attempts; I definitely can't breathe in anymore but I feel like my lungs aren't full of fresh air. Those, rare, successful breaths feel like nirvana though sometimes I notice a wheeze.

No I haven't been to a doctor but yes I'll schedule an appointment tomorrow. After seeing this thread I read up on EID and I'm not convinced; it's an ongoing struggle rather than battling episodes triggered by exercise. If anything I notice it less while working out, maybe because I'm focusing on other pains.

Both my brother and father have asthma but neither are currently athletic. My dad has a daily inhaler as well as a rescue. I've never exhibited symptoms.

I'd appreciate any thoughts. Webmd says I have cancer.

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Stress. Seriously. Been there, done that. Anything in particular bothering you lately?

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"Go yell at an M&M"

I am amazed when folks will come onto ST with issues that many clearly think might be serious, but so few have gone to the doctor?
Why? I know men are worse than women, but boy if I have something that gets me worried, the first person I call is my doc,
not get onto social media and try to get opinions.

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Yeah. New group at work with more responsibility. Studying for my PE in April.

You sure it's stress? I kind of wish it was asthma, it sounds easier to manage.

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Support cancer research with the world's longest annual charity bike ride.
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Ironic coming from the guy who thinks he has the right opinion on all matters. Thanks for your contribution.

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Support cancer research with the world's longest annual charity bike ride.
Texas 4000 for Cancer
Austin, TX to Anchorage, Alaska
http://texas4000.org/