Yes a forceful exhale, but there are different things folks do to inhale. Most newbies try to get in a full breath, like they would running or cycling, so unmetered breathing. In swimming it is quite important to get you head back down ASAP and I see too many taking too long to get that full breath in. I played around with it a lot over the years, and found that even just a super quick inhale pretty much fills the lungs. And I can tell that from the exhale, as it seems almost the same as if you held your head up and gulped a full one.
And as waverider pointed out, sometimes you can even hold it for just a bit, but of course he is quite advanced and a front pack pro swimmer type. And yes distance swimmers do have a bit more time to get it all done, but it still is an imperative to get it done with proper timing. And I also learned the floatation thing, but as I said earlier, Gary Hall seems to think getting all that air out in the down position is also a benefit as it releases tension on the water to have those bubbles travel down the center of your body…
I have not heard of this, but this is an interesting idea. Does Hall cite any evidence or info (scientific, anecdotal, or otherwise) that he knows of that shows/indicates/proves that exhalation air and/or bubbles running down one’s centerline underwater decreases drag?
I watched a video he did on this, and if you think about it, it has some merit I believe. We try so hard to get bubbles off the hand so that we can get a 100% grip on the water. And we know that aerated water has much less purchase, so makes sense if you have air under your body, it has less drag in the water..
He really looks at the tiniest science for swimming, and seems to come up with many of the newer developments that eventually become mainstream. I would love one day to get down to one of his camps, imagine there is a lot of free speed I could gain from his findings…
I have been working on doing bilateral recently and breathing more to my offside just to add another skill when needed
I find it when I am breathing every two I don’t have any problem taking a breath then doing breath hold then doing the forceful exhale and inhale. But this only works really well for me on my preferred right hand side.
In order to do bilateral breathing, I need to be constantly exhaling underwater I haven’t quite got this one down yet and I’m still working on it. If you said to me go and swim 500 m easy doing bilateral breathing I’m not sure that I would be able to do it yet so I still need to figure out the best way to do the breathing under water.
To work on this I am taking two breaths to one side then doing a bilateral then two breaths to the other side continue.
But something I like about doing bilateral and alternative breathing is that if you are just swimming easy and want to shut your brain off you can kind of make patterns on the laps. Up lap doing this breath pattern, coming back doing this. Change it a lap later to do your bilateral a bit further down the pool etc
I change up breathing patterns when doing long swims to keep track of laps. Something like odds to the left, evens to the right etc. Makes it easier to keep track and less boring.
Again, people are giving “answers” without understanding the parameters of the question.
Is 4:45 per mile or km, and for what distance? I’m guessing the latter. What is 1:40 a measure of? 100scy? 25scm? 50lcm? Is it a pace for a 200 or for a 1000 or a 1500?
Is the poster a he or a she? How long has the poster been swimming, and what has been their progression?
What is their swimming technique like? Without seeing them in the water (as nobody who has answered here has seen them in the water), I would guess that the poster has a lot of drag that requires a lot more effort than an efficient swimmer, and so uses a lot more oxygen than an efficient swimmer might. Equivalent to an efficient swimmer trying to hold a sprint pace for a non-sprint distance.