|
Bilateral Breathing:
Should you Breathe to Both Sides?
Source: Kevin Koskella
One of the most common wonders of the swimming world is, should you use
alternate-side, or bilateral breathing?
Throughout my swimming career, I had always breathed to my right side
only until a year ago. Why? Because breathing on my left side felt awkward
and uncomfortable! This is the reason why most swimmers will breathe only on
one side.
Last year I had an experience that made me change my ways. I was getting
a massage and my therapist noted that my left lat muscles (back) were much
more developed than my right. Putting two and two together, I realized that
years of right side only breathing in the pool had caused me to use these
muscles on my left side far more than my right as I was balancing with my
left arm while sucking air into my lungs!
The answer to the question is yes, you should use bilateral breathing, if
you’re not already. The main reason is that it will balance out your stroke
(as well as create symmetry in your back musculature!). The problem with
breathing to one side only is that it can make your stroke lopsided. In a
one-hour workout, you may roll to your breathing side 1,000 times. A
lopsided stroke can become permanent in a hurry after practicing this for a
while!
The benefits to breathing nearly as often to one side as the other are
that using your "weak" side more frequently will help your stroke overall,
and you’ll lose your "blind" side. If you are an open water swimmer, the
later benefit will help you check for landmarks, avoid chop, or keep another
rough swimmer from splashing water in your face (or punching you in the
nose!) as you breathe.
The way to obtain these benefits is to practice bilateral breathing as
much as possible. Often in my evening group I will have swimmers breathe
every 3 or 5 strokes as part of a drill or warm down. But by no means should
this practice be limited to drill sets or long warm downs! It will feel
awkward at first, sure. But the awkwardness is easier to deal with than you
may think. Regular practice of rolling to both sides to breathe will remedy
this before you know it.
Some tips on how to practice bilateral breathing while keeping it
interesting:
1. Breathe to your right side on one length and to your left on the next.
That way you get the oxygen you need but still develop a symmetrical stroke.
2. Breathe to your weaker side on warm-ups, warm-downs, and slow swimming
sets.
3. Experiment with 3 left, 3 right or 4 left, 4 right until you find a
comfortable pattern
Keep the goal in mind each week of breathing about the same amount to one
side as the other over the course of any week of swimming. Most of all,
enjoy your swim and don’t get too hung up on being exact!
|
