I am new to swimming and for me the hardest part is the breathing. Do you exhale in between the two breaths when your face is in the water or only on the third stroke?

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Swim, Forrest, Swim. Bike, Forrest, Bike. Run, Forrest, Run.

Exhale each time. You want (and have time to achieve) a full breath each time, even though you are breathing to successive sides, then holding one stroke.

Gary Sr.

GO!

I may not be new to swimming, but I am to editing.

Gary Sr.

does this really work when say swimming a mile?

As a former competitive swimmer, I can't seem to wrap my mind around this.

When would you suggest using this breathing pattern? On long open water swims? What about in a race, say a 500 freestyle? During masters practice?

Thanks.

Gary what's your experience with teaching this to novice / less experienced swimmers?

I can see that you manage to breathe 2/3 and hold a decent body position (at moderate pace) but it seems to me that for less proficient swimmers who know less about their body position / core it might be a recipe for disaster (the old snake / sagging mid section problems).

thanks.

Go...GO!

Sorry, I didn't catch your post earlier this year, so I'm still giddy that some one of your celebrity is giving ST swimming advice. I feel like I should be bragging to my friends, but the general(non-swimmer) populace doesn't understand...

My coach in college used to brag that he got to swim against you and Spitz during his career. He also talks about the Titanic a lot though, so you never really know what to believe.

lol breathing on the right then left immediately after, no thanks.

Gary Sr.,

As you know, the "see what I do to get more oxygen" should read "more ventilation" as one with normal gas exchange does not increase oxygenation (PO2) by simply increasing respiratory rate.
Any improvement in swimming with this "2:3" technique is not brought about by a change in respiratory physiology but rather swimming mechanics that are altered with the changed breathing pattern.

Regards,
Kevin

Looks like Finman´s swimming technique has come on a bunch.

Only kidding. I´ve been working on this technique since Mr Hall Sr. mentioned it in a previous thread. I find it particularly useful when I´m a bit out of breath after a flip turn - but that might have soemthing to do with my glacial flipturn technique.

One other bit of advice from Mr Hall Sr. that I have found particularly useful is the ´keep an imaginary orange between chin and chest´ to keep ones head down in the water.

I for one am particularly grateful that an international recoginized coach like GHs takes the time to give advice on a forum.

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´Get the most aero and light bike you can get. With the aero advantage you can be saving minutes and with the weight advantage you can be saving seconds. In a race against the clock both matter.´

BMANX

A lot of people have problems with any stroke that counts to 3 before breathing again, even the 2:3 stroke. In practice, I train only the 2 stroke, but do different sides each set. This way, I get my breath when I can and still have the ability to switch sides in competition.

To each his/her own. :-)

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Coach Pete from Joe Gold Endurance
coachjoegold@gmail.com
2010 Vermont 100 Ultramarathon: 28:09:15

Most folks on the forum can't race in Zoomers, and don't have a smooth enough stroke to accomplish what you are showing. As a fellow Olympian, I always promote a breathing pattern that is comfortable for the swimmer. Many prefer 2 stroke, and many struggle breathing bilaterally.

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http://theworldthroumyeyes.tumblr.com/

Dear Jeffsab,

This is not a technique for sprinting or shorter events, say 200 or less. I use this pattern now routinely on any swim over a 200. I am not aerobically very fit, but I can sustain a much better pace with this technique than I can with a normal 1:2 breath pattern. I particularly like it for open water, so long as a wave isn't coming from one side.

Gary Sr.

Dear Kevin,

If you truly believe that, then try breathing 20 to 30 times per minute on your all out run or bike. Increased ventilation does make a difference....and not in technique. Breathing in freestyle and butterfly are detrimental to body speed by increasing drag or slowing the stroke rate, or both.

Regards,

Gary Sr.

Dear IntheHunt,

One other thing on the exhale, when you do hold for one stroke (ie the third stroke), keep your breath in as long as possible, then do a forced fast exhalation prior to the next breath. When you alternate breath (one side then the other) you don't have time to hold your breath....just breathe, exhale, turn and breathe again. One of the hardest parts of this breathing pattern is also keeping your head down when you go from one side to the other.

Gary sr.

How does changing respiration rate not change oxygen uptake?

I remember Gary writing about this earlier (last winter maybe), and I certainly was skeptical. I have tried it though, and it seems to benefit my high-intensity swimming (anecdotal, of course).

While I'm not sure it helps much swimming 100s, it does seem to help a lot swimming hard 200s (under 3min sendoffs).

As for the physiology, the increased ventilation should benefit oxygen availability. it is not impossible that a swimmer would desaturate arterial O2 during hard swims, so the extra ventilation would help increase oxygen availability. Runners have been tested to desaturate at high intensity, and those guys (or gals) can breathe as much as they want!


A word of caution though - the first few times you try to breathe 2:3, you can get a bit dizzy. It took me a while trying this to do it without feeling nauseous. It seems to help to try during slow swims (where you don't have to move your head as fast to get to the other side).

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mckenzie

I get a Thought of the Day from a friend of mine and today's quote is particularly appropriate for this thread.

"Tradition should be a guide and not a jailer" Somerset Maugham

Gary Sr.

I just tried this and totally got a headrush...I think I imight stick to 1:2 for longer swims. This breath pattern might be better for those with really efficient strokes, but I know (being a newbie in the water) that my breath strokes are slower and less efficient than my non-breath as it brings my body out of balance and I lift my head too high. I'll give it another shot though, because I always seemd to feel oxygen deprived in the water, which makes me really erratic, and stressed and puts the heartrate through the roof! thanks for posting the vid!

Gary, have been using the pattern since you posted again about it a few weeks ago. Love it! Seem to be able to do my 2 mile swims a few minutes faster, and not as tired. I am sold.

Dave

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

I am firmly in this camp. However, my Olympic experience is limited to going around the country and telling people, institutions and motels that their 25 yd pool is not "Olympic Sized" just because someone saw an Olympian swim in a 25 yd pool once. It is a full time job.

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http://www.bobswims.com/

"If you didn't swallow water in your last open water race, you weren't racing"

I'm completely confused by the video. Can someone explain to me the breathing pattern.

It looks more like 1:1:2:1:1:2:1:1:2:1......