Swimming/Breathing Physiology

[19MIKE]

Swimming/Breathing Physiology

During my pool swim workouts, while performing the crawl, I’ve been experimenting with different breathing patterns. One technique that I’ve been working on involves “fooling my body” into thinking that it’s still in the inhalation phase of breathing even though my face is fully in the water….let me explain.

After rolling on my side to get a breath, I ‘continue breathing’ as my face enters the water by drawing in a controlled amount of water into my mouth.

My throat is closed of course, but the action of smoothly drawing water into my mouth causes my chest to continue to expand to it’s fullest before beginning to exhale. I try to take one long deep 'breath', part air, part 'water'.

I think this causes the following:

1. My lung capacity increases, especially in the upper regions even though I’m not actually breathing air.
2. I’m more relaxed.
3. My buoyancy shifts forward due to the increase in air in my upper, upper chest.
4. I can usually get six strokes comfortably on one breath, 2-3 while taking water in, 2-3 while exhaling before my next breath.

Although there is probably no practical application outside of the pool (constantly bringing seawater into you mouth might not work out to well) I was wondering if there are similar training techniques out there.

I mentioned this to the local swim coaches and felt that I was pretty much brushed off. I don't think that they experimented with it enough.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Jimbo]

After rolling on my side to get a breath,


You are doing it wrong.

Especially in a pool, your eyes should be looking toward the opposite wall. Your forward momentum will cause a small bow wave that will actually create a negative space between your head and your shoulder. You should only be turning your head a small distance to breathe, not 'rolling on [your] side'.

If you are anywhere near West Hartford, go to Cornerstone Aquatics Center (or Swim Center One in Simsbury) and get some help on your stroke.

[Jimbo]

I mentioned this to the local swim coaches and felt that I was pretty much brushed off. I don't think that they experimented with it enough.


I just finished reading your post (I stopped at the part I quoted above) and have to give the swim coaches credit for hearing you out. I'm not sure I even understand what you are trying to describe, but it sounds ludicrous. I reiterate my recommendation that you get some professional instruction on your stroke.

[OfficeSloth]

Although there is probably no practical application outside of the pool (constantly bringing seawater into you mouth might not work out to well) I was wondering if there are similar training techniques out there.

I mentioned this to the local swim coaches and felt that I was pretty much brushed off. I don't think that they experimented with it enough.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.


I worked as a lifeguard in So Cal and swam competitively up into my early 20's. Until moving to GA I pretty much spent the majority of my free time in the water. I have never heard of anything like what you are describing. Maybe you're a trend setter, but I agree with Jimbo, find yourself an instructor and learn how to do it right. Your workouts will be happy that you did.

[sarc88]

The mechanics of chest expansion are pretty much dependent on 2 things:
1) Diaphragmatic excursion - the distance your diaphragm travels as it pulls gas into the lungs
2) Relative atmospheric pressure - the relative ATA you build in the chest to the ambient pressure, which is usually expressed as 14.7psi (1 ATA) at sea level. This affects the volume of each inflation of the 300million alveoli in your lungs.

Bringing water into your oral cavity won't help you accomplish either. It sounds like you're getting a sensation, but most likely imaginary.

Your urge to breathe is controlled by the amount of CO2 you are generating. As that CO2-rich blood crosses the chemoreceptors in your carotid sinuses, the Ph level of your blood stimulates your urge to off-gas the excess CO2 - by breathing harder. When you exercise, you make more CO2, thereby feeling the need to breathe faster/deeper.

Once you experience that urge, you begin to move your diaphragm faster and further. Think of your diaphragm as the plunger in a syringe - you pull the plunger back, creating a negative pressure in the syringe, thereby filling the space with your solution. When you inhale, your diaphragm sucks a negative pressure - if your mouth is open, that negative space will fill with gas (air). Holding water in your mouth with your throat closed stops that process.

There are a few variables, like altitude, or the use of a snorkel device, which creates a "dead" space in your respiratory Tidal Volume - but they don't seem to be in play here. With respect to you and your training, I feel you're fooling yourself, not your body.

[19MIKE]

Jim, Res...I know it sounds pretty kooky, I was just playing around and trying to find various ways of dealing with the endless laps.....not my idea of fun.....but hey, trying to get a wrestler to swim smoothly is almost like watching wrestlers play basketball.:biggrin:

I have come a long way though. I've been swimming 3-4x per week for the past 4+ year and can do an mile in about :35 minutes (@ 51 yrs) and I think that my technique is 'decent'.

(Jim, I will look into your suggestion on the Hartford area program . I'm about an 1 1/2 away in Fairfield County but I do get up that way).

I was thinking more along scrc88's line of 'Diaphragmatic excursion' and if it's possible to manually increase lung capacity, (like taking a really deep breath on land until you can't inhale anymore) while you're performing the crawl.

Traditionally in the crawl it seems that once your face hits the water, thats it....time for the exhale to begin. You can only get so much air (although I'm sure you'll tell me that's all you need if your rhythmic enough).

I know breath holding competitors and competitive deep (skin) divers use certain techniques....I was wondering if a deep breathing technique on a more rhythmic scale (such as the one I described) would work and would help with O2 efficiency.

Sarc, it not so much the sensation of the water entering my mouth as much as using that 'draw' to increase the 'pull' in my chest. It's like taking a 'normal' deep breath then adding that extra little bit at the end.

Anyway, I'd be interested to see if anyone else would experiment with this.

[stllearnin]

Traditionally in the crawl it seems that once your face hits the water, thats it....time for the exhale to begin. You can only get so much air (although I'm sure you'll tell me that's all you need if your rhythmic enough).

Not true at all. You can hold your breath while swimming the crawl and I'm sure a lot of the competitive swimmers on here will confirm that just because you turn your face into the water doesn't mean you should start exhaling IMMEDIATELY. I was always taught to exhale just before I need to take a breath.

[past]

Not true at all. You can hold your breath while swimming the crawl and I'm sure a lot of the competitive swimmers on here will confirm that just because you turn your face into the water doesn't mean you should start exhaling IMMEDIATELY. I was always taught to exhale just before I need to take a breath.

Yeah, I mean if you take 5 strokes/breath (good swimmers do), then immediate exhalation with contact is perhaps the worst thing to do.

[sarc88]

I'm very familiar with the techniques used by apneic divers, and they're NOT related to swimming. They rely on 200% relaxation, no exertion and no water in their mouths. In fact, even mobilizing the diaphragm creates more CO2 than they want to deal with.

Swimming the way you describe (freestyle laps) is simply exercise in terms of your respiratory requirement (CO2 offgas) - its not special, except that the face is submerged in fluid 70% of the time. The horizontal posture and fluid support dont change your requirement to offgas the CO2 you create at the metabolic level as you perform ANY kind of work.

I'm also a dedicated swimmer from a very young age. I taught diving medicine and diving physiology at NDSTC, and was a career Combatant Diver. If you think your idea has merit, try running with a closed throat and water in your mouth. Or rowing, lifting, sparring, etc - with water in your mouth.

We all find ways to liven up those laps, bro. You simply cannot inflate your chest further with a closed airway. Thats like saying you can inflate a balloon further after you've tied it off. The alveoli only inflate with air in them. That air is delivered via the mouth, pharynx, trachea, bronchii, and bronchioles. Close them off - no inflation, no expansion.

Keep swimming! Your dedication and physiological experiments make me want to get in the pool tonight - no shit.

[19MIKE]

I'm very familiar with the techniques used by apneic divers, and they're NOT related to swimming. They rely on 200% relaxation, no exertion and no water in their mouths. In fact, even mobilizing the diaphragm creates more CO2 than they want to deal with.

Swimming the way you describe (freestyle laps) is simply exercise in terms of your respiratory requirement (CO2 offgas) - its not special, except that the face is submerged in fluid 70% of the time. The horizontal posture and fluid support dont change your requirement to offgas the CO2 you create at the metabolic level as you perform ANY kind of work.

I'm also a dedicated swimmer from a very young age. I taught diving medicine and diving physiology at NDSTC, and was a career Combatant Diver. If you think your idea has merit, try running with a closed throat and water in your mouth. Or rowing, lifting, sparring, etc - with water in your mouth.

We all find ways to liven up those laps, bro. You simply cannot inflate your chest further with a closed airway. Thats like saying you can inflate a balloon further after you've tied it off. The alveoli only inflate with air in them. That air is delivered via the mouth, pharynx, trachea, bronchii, and bronchioles. Close them off - no inflation, no expansion.

Keep swimming! Your dedication and physiological experiments make me want to get in the pool tonight - no shit.

Sarc,
I too am a fellow diver (small potatoes compared to you) and was an avid spearfisherman (free diving)...so I was always trying to find ways to get the most out of my lungs.....fill up more, stay down longer.

Like everyone else, I practiced deep relaxed breathing on the surface and tried packing in as much air as I could (which always felt like the 'upper regions' of my chest expanded, almost to the clavicle).

The premise of my thought process is that we humans normally (without exercise) exhale approximately 14% oxygen (to 5% CO2)....so during the many hours spent face down doing laps, I was just thinking of ways to utilize that extra air.

I know that once the breath is in the body, it's in a 'closed circuit'. However, in experimenting with this technique, I found that perhaps this 'closed circuit' could be fooled.

If you open your mouth and draw in (air or water) then the diaphragmatic process seems to be still in play, and it's like you can force air into the upper reaches of the lungs just like you do when your getting ready to free dive.

Hence more O2 utilized.

I don't do this all the time, but enough to keep things interesting and to see how far I can go. I started doing it with the pull buoy to get comfortable.

Plus, when you get the rhythm down, I think that your buoyancy moves forward a bit.

Your point about running with a mouth full of water is to me what happens when you hold your breath (even for a count or two) while swimming. I was looking for a way to keep the circuit flowing in a more natural way....if a little water gets sucked into your mouth but the diaphragmatic pull still works, then you've been able to continue to 'fill up the tank' using that extra O2.

I know that my idea is unorthodox, but perhaps you could humor me and try it out! :biggrin:

[wilcoxj12]

Yeah, I mean if you take 5 strokes/breath (good swimmers do), then immediate exhalation with contact is perhaps the worst thing to do.

It's not always most efficient to breathe every 5th stroke (in freestyle/crawl). Breathing every other stroke can be very efficient and easier, particularly in long-distance.