It took me two years. Finally, there is a great tip: lie all the way on the water, like on a bed, be completely flat including your head. Breathe every two strokes. A completely relaxed inhale, just a sip of air. Most of the exhale while the head turns for the next inhale. The exhale is completely light, relaxed and doesn't go all the way but reserve some air. Again a light relaxed inhale sip of air. Relaxation is the key
Agree, ‘relax’ is a great tip. I was doing breaststroke and got ‘stuck’ behind a slower swimmer. So I relaxed my movements a bit, expecting (and aiming) to go like half the speed. But surprisingly I was still moving at like 90% of the speed. This made me have a rethink: first try to get that smooth, relaxed flow and then slowly start to push more, instead of trying to optimize every part separately at full power.
Don’t know if this will help anyone but a few things that really helped me were: Ignoring the advice/preconception that you should breathe every 3 strokes -if your stroke rate is slow (and maybe even if it isn’t) that could be far too long. Breathe every 2 just make sure you ora practise it going both ways. Practise floating in streamline a LOT so you feel and learn to trust your balance point and how that is affected by how much air is in your lungs. This stopped me over kicking which is something that spikes your HR quickly. If you’re balanced you can swim smoothly without using your legs much at all. Last thing that helped me was thinking of breathing very quietly but from bottom of lungs esp the in breath. I was told ‘ swim to your breath’ not the other way round. This really helped me. 🤷🏻♀️
Hope this helps, I learnt to swim as an adult, in 3 months my adult coach got from an exhausted 50m to 800m. I did this through a drill called swimming back to superman and incorporating breathing tips like in this vid . That is start in zombie position/super man position with both hands in front, completely relaxed floating. You can do a light flutter kick nothing drastic. Take one stroke (keeping the other hand in front) then back to this super man position. Then take another stroke then back to this super man position, incorporate breathing as well. This got me completely relaxed in the water (before that would get very anxious and tense up which also leads to exhaustion as beginners), could focus on my breathing (like the vid above) also learnt to keep my non stroke hand in front quadrant and avoid the wind mill situation. I wasnt breaking any records with this drill but gave me the confidence that I could swim non stop and progress to a more faster stroke.
I can swim from 1000-1500 meter sessions but I stop every 50 meters for a 10-30 second break. I am going to try these breathing techniques on my next pool session. I think I am taking in too much air when I come up for air. I breathe every 2 strokes predominately to my left side so I will also try to incorporate right side breathing.
When I leaned to swim as a kid I remember being told to take a big breath in. It’s good to get the adult tips here. Furthermore the advice about relaxing your body makes sense. I’ve seen other people at my local pool gliding through the water and now I feel like I’m let in on some of their secrets. Can’t wait to try this advice out! Thanks
Have been so grateful finding this site, lots and lots of great content and helping me towards my silly decision to sign up for a half ironman last year and try and sort out the swim side.
Thank you for saying about open water. I've been doing instinctively these adjustments since I mostly practice in open water and now it's really hard to get back to pool conditions especially in terms of head turning. Since I'm used to open sea now I inhale too much air in the pool because I'm used my face to go up more than necessary and I end up stopping from aerophagia 🤦🏼♀️
Thanks for fine explanation about freestyle swimming ,I am 81 yrs old only breast stroke I know well , I just started free style after started seeing your videos and fine explanation. Thank you 🙏
Thanks for this! I think my biggest issue is tension. The first 25 yards is fine then I start to overthink if I'm doing it right and get very tense and winded. It's only for freestyle, as I can do breast stroke--for what feels like--forever. I took up swimming because my son joined a swim team and i figured i might as well swim while he has practice. I got some tips from his coach to do some drills with a kick board and supplement with fins. It's been about 2 months. I am an avid surfer, have competed in amateur longboard events, but swimming is something I just never did aside from being able to swim and tread for survival. (Side note: my paddle strength has improved since beginning swimming!) I can do an easy 100 yards with fins on, but when I take them off I can only do 50 yards and then need a break. I just learned the flip turn, it's not perfect but it's what helped me improve to doing 50 yards without a break and 100 yards with fins, no breaks. In fact, I think I can keep going farther with fins. So is it my legs? I breath bilaterally, every 3rd stroke. I've tried every 2nd but it's too soon. Or maybe it's not?
I appreciated the examples of drills/exercises (like the hang float). Would love to hear you talk about more drills for each part of freestyle as I find that when learning and teaching, drills are key to breaking things down and getting people out of their heads. Thanks!
62 year old learner here. I ended up with the opposite problem. I think I ended up hyper ventilating at the end of the length. So I started just letting my body breath naturally. I did this by focusing on other technique faults.
This was really well done. I like the calm and relaxed presentation as it is the state in which we should be training as well. I do primarily OWS on a local beach. Learning to breath efficiently and not panicking when the breath doesn't go as planned was a huge obstacle and I often would end up in a side/survival stroke just to get my air back in my lungs. But that was kind of the "ah ha" moment as well. In side stroke position I was breathing no differently than if I were out for a jog. So when in freestyle, I just rolled more and took a normal breath. I also always breathe on the side facing away from the swells and wind.
Swimming faster for less effort is the definition of efficiency. As a 62 year old beginner I measure my performance on stroke count per length, not time. As my technique has improved, the number of strokes needed to swim a length has decreased a lot (I use a GPS smart watch). I have noticed my speed, relative to other swimmers, is increasing. I still have no idea how long it takes me to swim a length.
Great comment, I've been enjoying front crawl again, but not breathing enough and taking too many strokes. I watched some other swimmers, one guy was slow and very vigorous 26 strokes to do 20m and an older guy in the same lane took 17 strokes per 20m and was significantly faster.
@danielmori501 The other measure I use is heart rate as a measure of energy expended. My rate used to be about 125 at the end of a 25m length. After expending huge amount of effort, my stroke count and heart rate are reducing as my technique improves.
This summer has brought great progress for me in swimming, but I still have to rest after each lap. Two weeks ago I started to practice breathing on the left for one lap and on the right for the next lap. Tomorrow I will practice the relaxation breathing style you teach in this video. On question: the swimmers in your video all seem to have their heads completely under water except for breathing. Aren't you supposed to have the crown of the head above water all the time ? Thanks !
Nice to meet you. Hello. I was taught that it is better to hold your breath after inhaling, but is it better to keep exhaling? Please give me some advice.
Regarding breathing every 2 or 3 strokes - does it depend on the pace? I found I have to choose one over another depending if I try to sprint (then every 3) or to swim more 'flowing' (then 2, because strokes are slower). Is it OK, or I understand it wrong?
I am a beginning triathlete who can run and cycle for many k's and several hours, but until recently struggled to chain 50's together. After slowing down, relaxing and calming my breathing I can finally swim 100's no problem. I'm still slow, but I no longer hate pool.
I couldn’t swim more than 100m 6 weeks ago without being completely gassed. Yesterday I just swam my first 1000m continuously. Still a lot of work to do on form but the breathing has gotten immensely better.
I’m the same, except I breath to the left. When I teach the children swimming they automatically turn the head. They make the choice. After years of swimming the same way our bodies develop muscle memory. I am trying to develop right side breathing and I am going to work on what drills I can do to assist with the change because at the moment I am weak on the right side. I hope that help with answering your question.
Finally someone who accepts the fact that bilateral breathing is fine ... Honestly as a swimmer that has learned with bilateral and has a very hard time unilaterally breathing I really find it annoying that so many people are like "unilateral is the only way". Yes I definitely see the advantages of it but in the end it's a question of what works well and I personally lose a LOT of time on two stroke breathing since I tend to have an unbalanced style with it as I've mostly learned three stroke. It works for me very well and I find it irritating and annoying for everyone wanting to tell me it's so much better than bilateral, bilateral just works better for me personally, mostly because I've been swimming like that ever since I was like 6, so why the hell should it change ... Generally I'd say very good advice, I'll need to keep an eye on the breathing style eventually cos I feel like I could find a bit there still to make it a bit more relaxed breathing
What an amazing swim communicator this creator is. I feel bad he has to use the “Head on a skewer” analogy in breathing. Maybe there is a ballerina/music box analogy that can be made instead.
I’ve tried everything with my breathing and I’m getting nowhere. I’ve tried every combination of air in/air out. I find this whole ‘you’ll be able to swim 100 lengths like you’re just out for an evening stroll’ just laughable
I'm 49 and just got back into swimming after 20s years. I'm loving it once again. Just a funny side note- I wonder how the lifeguards would react to me doing that "Hang float" 😅.
Would love to hear about the latest breathing techniques: nasal breathing that has proven so successful in running and other land based activities. How about swimming??
Thanks for posting! Any specific tips on switching from unilateral to bilateral breathing? I’ve been swimming for 6 months and I have trouble rotating to breathe on my left (non-dominant) side
Same here. I think it helps to go back to basics and practice with a kickboard and fins, just breathing on that side without using your arms. That's what I am working on.
I can easily swim 1000 m with pullbuoy while I struggle for 200 m using legs! What’s wrong with my freestyle? I was used to compete in 800 m race when I was young! And now I feel as I can’t swim freestyle anymore😢
I take the point about 20/80 breathing but viewers should not copy the style of the video swimmers. Head is often TOO low IMO so they have to lift as well as turn. One swimmer's head goes right under the water. This is not good FC In another the swimmer brings his (right) elbow behind his back when breathing. etc. etc.
For triathletes, do you recommend swimming every 2 to get more air in and cut down on the energy expenditure? Or is bi lateral breathing king? Is it race dependent?
Yes, breath every 2 for the most part. Obviously you’re gonna have to change things sometimes when the behavior of the water changes or if you don’t want to overuse one side.
Are you a beginner? Get our 7-day beginner email series to swim further and easier: members.effortlessswimming.com/7-day-beginner
It took me two years. Finally, there is a great tip: lie all the way on the water, like on a bed, be completely flat including your head. Breathe every two strokes. A completely relaxed inhale, just a sip of air. Most of the exhale while the head turns for the next inhale. The exhale is completely light, relaxed and doesn't go all the way but reserve some air. Again a light relaxed inhale sip of air. Relaxation is the key
Great tip thank you Boris
Agree, ‘relax’ is a great tip. I was doing breaststroke and got ‘stuck’ behind a slower swimmer. So I relaxed my movements a bit, expecting (and aiming) to go like half the speed. But surprisingly I was still moving at like 90% of the speed. This made me have a rethink: first try to get that smooth, relaxed flow and then slowly start to push more, instead of trying to optimize every part separately at full power.
Breathe every 3 strokes. What's really good training is for relaxed swimming in slow motion, breathing every 5 strokes.
Great tip Boris- I'm going to practice this in the pool today!
Thank you❤ great tips and clear info
Don’t know if this will help anyone but a few things that really helped me were:
Ignoring the advice/preconception that you should breathe every 3 strokes -if your stroke rate is slow (and maybe even if it isn’t) that could be far too long. Breathe every 2 just make sure you ora
practise it going both ways.
Practise floating in streamline a LOT so you feel and learn to trust your balance point and how that is affected by how much air is in your lungs. This stopped me over kicking which is something that spikes your HR quickly. If you’re balanced you can swim smoothly without using your legs much at all.
Last thing that helped me was thinking of breathing very quietly but from bottom of lungs esp the in breath. I was told ‘ swim to your breath’ not the other way round. This really helped me.
🤷🏻♀️
"if you're gasping for air after your first lap" man i'm gasping for air halfway through my first lap
Yeah, especially bad with Asthma!
@koshiiimeowi also have asthma, but i can comfortably swim 1000m in one go. Just continue practising and youll get there.
Hope this helps, I learnt to swim as an adult, in 3 months my adult coach got from an exhausted 50m to 800m. I did this through a drill called swimming back to superman and incorporating breathing tips like in this vid . That is start in zombie position/super man position with both hands in front, completely relaxed floating. You can do a light flutter kick nothing drastic. Take one stroke (keeping the other hand in front) then back to this super man position. Then take another stroke then back to this super man position, incorporate breathing as well. This got me completely relaxed in the water (before that would get very anxious and tense up which also leads to exhaustion as beginners), could focus on my breathing (like the vid above) also learnt to keep my non stroke hand in front quadrant and avoid the wind mill situation. I wasnt breaking any records with this drill but gave me the confidence that I could swim non stop and progress to a more faster stroke.
Absolutely 🎉
Yassss!!! I tried this and I can attest how relaxed my body feels versus exhausted and wanting to come up to gasp for air. ❤
As a 60 year old just learning to swim, thank you! I will try this, I’m finding learning the breathing and putting it altogether frustrating.😊
I can swim from 1000-1500 meter sessions but I stop every 50 meters for a 10-30 second break. I am going to try these breathing techniques on my next pool session. I think I am taking in too much air when I come up for air. I breathe every 2 strokes predominately to my left side so I will also try to incorporate right side breathing.
When I leaned to swim as a kid I remember being told to take a big breath in. It’s good to get the adult tips here. Furthermore the advice about relaxing your body makes sense. I’ve seen other people at my local pool gliding through the water and now I feel like I’m let in on some of their secrets. Can’t wait to try this advice out! Thanks
Cheers from Mexico City
Coach!!! All your tips work
Exactly what I need. Thank you a bunch!
It would be very nice if you could do this type of video but in the flip turn context.
Fuck thr flip turn bro
Buoyancy. Thank you for that kind description. I definitely have more buoyancy now than when younger. :-)
Thank you for reigniting my love of swimming!
Thank you… good clear instructions which will help me for sure 🙏🏻👍🏻
I'm looking forward to breathing correctly in my next swim👏'Kia ora bro', from New Zealand
Very helpful, thank you! I've been following all of these advice for the past couple of weeks and I'm already doing much better.
Thank you, that was super informative and well done! I'll do your drills today ☺️
Great video, currently having issues breathing while swimming, gonna try it on my next swim ❤😅
Have been so grateful finding this site, lots and lots of great content and helping me towards my silly decision to sign up for a half ironman last year and try and sort out the swim side.
Great advice. I wish my coach had explained this to me when I started swimming.
Thank you for saying about open water. I've been doing instinctively these adjustments since I mostly practice in open water and now it's really hard to get back to pool conditions especially in terms of head turning. Since I'm used to open sea now I inhale too much air in the pool because I'm used my face to go up more than necessary and I end up stopping from aerophagia 🤦🏼♀️
Such good advice. I wish I knew this earlier
Love this swimming clip. WELL DONE
why was the back of my neck so sore after my first swim in a long time- now I know- thank you!
Thanks for fine explanation about freestyle swimming ,I am 81 yrs old only breast stroke I know well , I just started free style after started seeing your videos and fine explanation. Thank you 🙏
Just tried practicing the gradual exhale-big exhale technique on land and it made me lightheaded lol
Thank you for advices ❤
Thank you so much
Thanks for this! I think my biggest issue is tension. The first 25 yards is fine then I start to overthink if I'm doing it right and get very tense and winded. It's only for freestyle, as I can do breast stroke--for what feels like--forever. I took up swimming because my son joined a swim team and i figured i might as well swim while he has practice. I got some tips from his coach to do some drills with a kick board and supplement with fins. It's been about 2 months. I am an avid surfer, have competed in amateur longboard events, but swimming is something I just never did aside from being able to swim and tread for survival. (Side note: my paddle strength has improved since beginning swimming!) I can do an easy 100 yards with fins on, but when I take them off I can only do 50 yards and then need a break. I just learned the flip turn, it's not perfect but it's what helped me improve to doing 50 yards without a break and 100 yards with fins, no breaks. In fact, I think I can keep going farther with fins. So is it my legs? I breath bilaterally, every 3rd stroke. I've tried every 2nd but it's too soon. Or maybe it's not?
Excelente. Muy bien explicado el tema de la respiración. Saludos desde Argentina 🇦🇷🏊
Thank you for detailed explanation.
Thanks for this, really clear. Appreciated!
Great explain.. thanks
thx
Thank you god🙏🙌🩷💛 bless you
Hi from Italy , instead of hang floats we do vertical jumps , its called (ritmo respirazione)
I appreciated the examples of drills/exercises (like the hang float). Would love to hear you talk about more drills for each part of freestyle as I find that when learning and teaching, drills are key to breaking things down and getting people out of their heads. Thanks!
Adorei a dublagem automática... muito bom o conteúdo, boas dicas, me ajudou muitooooooo hehe gratidão.
Video magnifico, stupendo, pieno di consigli utilissimi. Mi sono iscritto volentieri
62 year old learner here. I ended up with the opposite problem. I think I ended up hyper ventilating at the end of the length. So I started just letting my body breath naturally. I did this by focusing on other technique faults.
This was really well done. I like the calm and relaxed presentation as it is the state in which we should be training as well. I do primarily OWS on a local beach. Learning to breath efficiently and not panicking when the breath doesn't go as planned was a huge obstacle and I often would end up in a side/survival stroke just to get my air back in my lungs. But that was kind of the "ah ha" moment as well. In side stroke position I was breathing no differently than if I were out for a jog. So when in freestyle, I just rolled more and took a normal breath. I also always breathe on the side facing away from the swells and wind.
Perfect info but why that in- and out zoom effect?
♥️♥️♥️👏👏👏👍👍👍
Swimming faster for less effort is the definition of efficiency. As a 62 year old beginner I measure my performance on stroke count per length, not time. As my technique has improved, the number of strokes needed to swim a length has decreased a lot (I use a GPS smart watch). I have noticed my speed, relative to other swimmers, is increasing. I still have no idea how long it takes me to swim a length.
Great comment, I've been enjoying front crawl again, but not breathing enough and taking too many strokes. I watched some other swimmers, one guy was slow and very vigorous 26 strokes to do 20m and an older guy in the same lane took 17 strokes per 20m and was significantly faster.
@danielmori501 The other measure I use is heart rate as a measure of energy expended. My rate used to be about 125 at the end of a 25m length. After expending huge amount of effort, my stroke count and heart rate are reducing as my technique improves.
8:53 THANKS !! Trying this next session 1 length left next length right . Genius
I can’t 3 stroke breathe , it’s too soon .
This summer has brought great progress for me in swimming, but I still have to rest
after each lap. Two weeks ago I started to practice breathing on the left for one lap and on the right for the next lap. Tomorrow I will practice the relaxation breathing style you teach in this video.
On question: the swimmers in your video all seem to have their heads completely under water except for breathing. Aren't you supposed to have the crown of the head above water all the time ? Thanks !
Nice to meet you. Hello. I was taught that it is better to hold your breath after inhaling, but is it better to keep exhaling? Please give me some advice.
no way i can practice hang floats without scaring all the lifeguards at my community pool 😅
You sound funny af with 0.50x speed
What shape do you make with your mouth when taking a breath in
Might want to let the lifeguard know before you practice hang floats!
Yes please! 😂
Is that ok if I breathe every four strokes? My preferred side of breathing is the right. Thanks for your video!
Regarding breathing every 2 or 3 strokes - does it depend on the pace? I found I have to choose one over another depending if I try to sprint (then every 3) or to swim more 'flowing' (then 2, because strokes are slower). Is it OK, or I understand it wrong?
Little sips of air aren't enough for me, if I don't breathe I'm going to die! I'll give it a try tomorrow though!
I am a beginning triathlete who can run and cycle for many k's and several hours, but until recently struggled to chain 50's together. After slowing down, relaxing and calming my breathing I can finally swim 100's no problem. I'm still slow, but I no longer hate pool.
I couldn’t swim more than 100m 6 weeks ago without being completely gassed. Yesterday I just swam my first 1000m continuously. Still a lot of work to do on form but the breathing has gotten immensely better.
@Penguinlemonade I think it goes to show no matter how useless you think you are at something, time and practice will see you through. We can do it 💪
how come I can breathe to my right but I can't breathe to the left properly?
I’m the same, except I breath to the left. When I teach the children swimming they automatically turn the head. They make the choice. After years of swimming the same way our bodies develop muscle memory. I am trying to develop right side breathing and I am going to work on what drills I can do to assist with the change because at the moment I am weak on the right side. I hope that help with answering your question.
I breath on both sides: every third stroke.
I’m exhausted after 25 meters, and I run 7 minute 8 miles
Finally someone who accepts the fact that bilateral breathing is fine ... Honestly as a swimmer that has learned with bilateral and has a very hard time unilaterally breathing I really find it annoying that so many people are like "unilateral is the only way". Yes I definitely see the advantages of it but in the end it's a question of what works well and I personally lose a LOT of time on two stroke breathing since I tend to have an unbalanced style with it as I've mostly learned three stroke. It works for me very well and I find it irritating and annoying for everyone wanting to tell me it's so much better than bilateral, bilateral just works better for me personally, mostly because I've been swimming like that ever since I was like 6, so why the hell should it change ... Generally I'd say very good advice, I'll need to keep an eye on the breathing style eventually cos I feel like I could find a bit there still to make it a bit more relaxed breathing
I agree with you. To me it’s just a matter of physics. It’s literally a pain in the neck to me to stick to just one side.
What an amazing swim communicator this creator is. I feel bad he has to use the “Head on a skewer” analogy in breathing. Maybe there is a ballerina/music box analogy that can be made instead.
I’ve tried everything with my breathing and I’m getting nowhere. I’ve tried every combination of air in/air out. I find this whole ‘you’ll be able to swim 100 lengths like you’re just out for an evening stroll’ just laughable
I agree! Cannot understand why it is easy to exhale under water and swim relaxed when doing breast swim but not in crawl.
Took me 5 years to not feel panicked keep trying
I'm 49 and just got back into swimming after 20s years. I'm loving it once again. Just a funny side note- I wonder how the lifeguards would react to me doing that "Hang float" 😅.
Not allowed at most pools. Makes lifeguards uneasy and technically obligated to go for a save.
Would love to hear about the latest breathing techniques: nasal breathing that has proven so successful in running and other land based activities. How about swimming??
Not possible on the inhale, only the exhale. But preferred way of exhaling is mostly through the nose
Thanks for posting! Any specific tips on switching from unilateral to bilateral breathing?
I’ve been swimming for 6 months and I have trouble rotating to breathe on my left (non-dominant) side
Same here. I think it helps to go back to basics and practice with a kickboard and fins, just breathing on that side without using your arms. That's what I am working on.
Great tips, also thanks for confirming that I need to breathe in ABOVE the water :D
I can easily swim 1000 m with pullbuoy while I struggle for 200 m using legs! What’s wrong with my freestyle? I was used to compete in 800 m race when I was young! And now I feel as I can’t swim freestyle anymore😢
Your kick must be wrong then, when the kick is not efficient it really holds you back. Practice laps of kick until you get faster just kicking
I take the point about 20/80 breathing but viewers should not copy the style of the video swimmers. Head is often TOO low IMO so they have to lift as well as turn. One swimmer's head goes right under the water. This is not good FC In another the swimmer brings his (right) elbow behind his back when breathing. etc. etc.
For triathletes, do you recommend swimming every 2 to get more air in and cut down on the energy expenditure? Or is bi lateral breathing king? Is it race dependent?
Yes, breath every 2 for the most part. Obviously you’re gonna have to change things sometimes when the behavior of the water changes or if you don’t want to overuse one side.
Got my first 1 to 1 lesson this week after a year if learning crawl. Gone from zero to 25m but stuck there, breathing and leg kick the issues.
Happy for you darl . Keep it up your doing awesome
One breathtaking per 3d stroke= slow swimming, one breathtaking per 2nd stroke= high speed or average speed swimming
Please add Turkish subtiteles 🙏
I usually start my sessions gasping but by the end, I’m finally relaxed and even yawning 😂
please coach me. I'll travel to you.
and what does "kick on your back" mean bro?
facing up to the sky/ceiling and kicking with your arms in a streamline position
@EffortlessSwimming thank you sir
The best way to improve your swimming skills is to imagine yourself as a fish . It helped me swim so much better and faster ! Try it !