I was swimming this morning and stumbled across something that I cannot explain. I was doing intervals of 200s (freestyle/drill/freestyle/drill, etc). When I freestyle I breathe on my right. I read somewhere that a good balance drill is to breathe on the left for a set. I have been doing this "drill" of forcing myself to breathe on my left. After a several weeks, it did not feel as uncomfortable as it did at first, but I did not think anything of it. I still felt more comfortable breathing out of my right. Today, I timed each of my 200s and found that when I breathed on my left side, I was not only 20 seconds faster than my normal right side 200 interval, but I also was doing it with a HR 5 - 6 beats lower.
The breathing part (i.e. actually getting a good strong breath) does not feel as good on my left, but my stroke definitely feels easier. I never realized the time difference until today.
Any thoughts?
The breathing part (i.e. actually getting a good strong breath) does not feel as good on my left, but my stroke definitely feels easier. I never realized the time difference until today.
Any thoughts?