Bilateral Breathing (Read 1181 times)

I’m not much of a swimmer… more appropriately, I am a recreational swimmer. One of my goals is to start competing in triathlons by next summer, so I have started to hit the pool in preparation. I have a lot of work to do over the next year. I read an article this evening I found very interesting. http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=13763&sidebar=14&category=swimming I normally breathe on the right side every time. After reading this article, I am going to practice my technique and transition toward bilateral breathing. I am about to join a swim program, and I have joined a biker’s club… where’s the best place to get information for triathlons?

I usually just breathe on my left side, but last week i started doing bilateral, or alternating breathing left and right every 3 strokes. I think it is good to help give you an even stroke and balance. But when I do speed training, I can only breathe on my leftside. Good for you on planning to do a triathlon! I recommend cross training, especially swimming! I did my first triathlon last year. 2 years ago I couldn't swim at all. Since you can run a marathon, a triathlon will be a breeze! Ocean swimming is a wonderful experience! The only downfall about triathlon racing is the cost of the bike, wetsuit and gear involved, but once you have invested you get good use out of the equipment.

That's great you could find a second hand bike. To start slow and gradually buy the other items you need sounds smart. I recommend joining some ocean swim lessons to practice your swimming before you do the actual olympic distance triathlon race. Swimming in the ocean and in the pool is completely different, also you have to be able to swim head up at times, so that you can navigate and swim toward the buoys, also to stay on the swimming course. I think that by next summer you will be ready to do a race for sure. I spent one year preparing for my first triathlon. I will go do my second race at the same course in this June. Following that, I plan to do two ocean swim races 1,500m, 2,500m this summer, then an almost half ironman distance race 2,000m swim, 100km bike and 20k run in September. Doing a triathlon is much easier than a running a full marathon, because you use different muscle groups for shorter periods. Be sure to let the forum know how your triathlon training goes. I think more runners should swim!

I recommend cross training, especially swimming!

I miss swimming The gym I belong now doesn't have a pool (Gold's Gym, but it's only $35/ month). Swimming is such a great no impact workout.

Went to the pool today and tried to predominantly breathe on my left side (I normally breathe on the right side every time). I was exhausted after every lap and had to start switching up my breathing. I would swim a length where I breathe on the right side every fourth stroke, and then breathe on the left every stroke on the length back—the length back was 10x harder. I couldn’t believe how big of a difference it made… Thanks for the site, Corb. I checked it out today and already found a lot of useful information. Thanks for all of the advice, everyone!

My recommendation is to use a buoy between your legs, then you can relax more easily and concentrate on breathing bilateral. I hope my English is correct here, it's called a buoy? I agree that it does feel really strange to breath on the side that you aren't used to. Lately, I am breathing bilateral on warm-ups and during easy swims, but not for my fast swims.

Thanks Trishie for the English check, I aprreciate it! By the way, they didn't have a pool at the location I went to either. Here the gym membership fee, daytime, monday to saturday is $53 USD converted from japanese yen. One more reason why I recommend swimming is for strengthening your upper body which will help improve your running form. To run at a faster speed, you need good running form. I am still working on mine.