Patrick John McCrann | Athlete. Author. Coach.

With winter upon us, motivating to get to the pool is extra tough. Face it, the mere thought of bundling up, getting packed, getting in the car, getting into your suit, getting WET, getting dry, bundling up, getting back in the car, and coming home is…well…enough to make you want to eat glass. Unfortunately, swimming is one of those things that you need to do a lot in order to see improvement. Or is it???

There are quite often some key barriers to swim improvement, and a quick tweak can make a huge difference. Here’s one I love to share with my athletes and I’ll now share with you: fix your breathing.

The Test

Traditional swimming has you taking a breath, then exhaling as you merrily swim along. A nice feeling for sure, but not the best use of that precious air. Take this test the next time you swim:

> Take a breath and float face down in the water, arms and legs fully relaxed.

> Option One: Slowly exhale your air out and see what happens.

> Option Two: After swimming back up and gasping for air, this time hold your breath.

Notice a difference? Now imagine how much you are sinking every single time you exhale as you swim. Most folks are swimming up as well as swimming forward, effectively doubling their workload. Let’s get this tidied up ASAP…

The Hack
You will want to focus on holding your breath, in your belly, while you swim. Here’s how it plays out in the stroke: Take a breath and hold it in your belly. Continue stroking. When you are about to take your final stroke before beginning the roll to your breathing side, forcefully exhale into the water. As in blow lots of bubbles. This will ensure that as you roll to breathe, you have empty lungs waiting for air. This also helps to reduce the amount of time that you are moving in the water without air in your lungs.

Key Points:

> Hold your breath in a relaxed manner.

> Exhale forcefully into the water.

> Note increased speed with zero extra work.

Those of you familiar with yoga will find this a simple extension of what you are used to doing in class. Others might struggle a bit. Either way, it’s a super easy way to improve your swimming experience. And you can even practice it on the way home from work…it might make that crowded train a bit more bearable!