WHITEFACE TURNS 50 - Adirondack Sports & Fitness

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4 Adirondack Sports & Fitness SWIMMING BILATERAL BREATHING From: Donal Fagan Date: January 29, 2008 11:40am Last week, while I was doing the 5 x 50 freestyle, I happened to switch between “breathe alternate sides” and “25 breathe left, 25 breathe right.” Though I swam with the same effort, breathe alternate sides was always a few seconds faster. From: Grant Hall Date: January 29, 2008 12:07pm This is still true for me as well. My conclusion has been that I have still not completely mastered a perfectly executed, seamless breath. From: Richard Skerrett Date: January 29, 2008 12:23pm In my limited experience, I would say that while breathing alternate sides is highly benefi cial, breathing to one side on odd lengths and the other side on even lengths may be even better. Further, although I haven’t established it with certainty I think that I swim better breathing to the “wrong” side. Perhaps not faster yet, but with a more effi cient stroke. I must do some timed tests to compare them. From: Donal Fagan Date: January 29, 2008 1:26pm I did some timed 500s a few years ago. Even though I feel better breathing left, or alternating breathing side by 25, I was fastest breathing exclusively to the right. I never timed alternate breathing for a full 500, though. I’ve only managed that once or twice. From: Terry Laughlin Date: January 29, 2008 10:49pm This is an excellent series of observations on the different choices one has for breathing bilaterally. My introduction to bilateral breathing came after I had “retired” from competitive swimming at age 21 to begin coaching. Where Winter and Family Fun Come Together! Over 50 years of skiing in your backyard! • Affordable Lift & Tubing Ticket Rates • 95% Lights & Snowmaking Coverage • Terrain & Tubing Parks & Fun Events Where life is a journey Washington County Tourism Association 888.203.8622 • washingtoncounty.org On my fi rst practice as a coach, I noticed that nearly my entire team of 15 college men had lopsided strokes. The left-breathers swung wider on recovery on the left side and the right-hand stroke crossed the centerline. The right-breathers did the opposite. After pondering what I’d seen that evening, I decided to experiment with “wrong side breathing” the next day. The next day I instructed the team to breathe on their less natural side throughout our 800-yard warm-up. Instantly nearly everyone was far more symmetrical in their stroking. Being a new coach, I wasn’t exactly sure why or what the effect of that might be, but I was pretty sure that “practicing symmetry” would be good for their swimming. Thirty-fi ve years later, I’m also pretty sure that most probably felt awkward and swam slower during that warm-up though they looked better. From that day I became a believer in bilateral breathing during practice though I didn’t insist on it during races. I was still swimming a bit myself at that time (I didn’t resume regular training for another 17 years) and I began breathing alternate sides. Breathing to the right felt awkward, but I kept at it. For the next 25 years my bilateral breathing was mostly alternate sides – every 3, 5 or 7 strokes. As I approached my 50th birthday, I became dissatisfi ed with the fact that my right-hand catch never felt as good as my left. I understood why. For my fi rst ten years of swimming, a period when I gave little thought to technique, I’d developed many bad habits. Several – poor alignment and “collapsing Hours: Tue 3:30-10/adult night, Wed/Thu 10-9, Fri 10-10, Sat/Sun 9-6 Mon closed except holidays Hours change during holiday weeks Off NY Rte 40, Easton (near Greenwich) – Only 30-40 min from Saratoga & Albany (518) 692-7337 • willardmountain.com by Terry Laughlin catch” on my right side – were related to my being a left-breather. My other side had never developed bad habits so it was “virgin.” In my late 40s I decided to breathe mostly to my right for a year or two, to somewhat compensate for breathing exclusively left for my fi rst 10 years as a swimmer. It was challenging at fi rst, because it felt unnatural. Breathing alternate sides, even for 20-plus years, had not exposed me to the sense of full-time awkwardness one gets from breathing hundreds of times in a row to one’s less natural side. But my alignment and catch on both sides were unquestionably better when I breathed only to the right. Consequently I had immediate, measurable gains in effi ciency, taking one less stroke-per-length in 25-yard pools and two to three less in 50-meter pools. I didn’t time myself too much in the beginning, but I was probably a bit slower. I was comfortable with what I was sure would be a temporary sacrifi ce in speed, because concentrated right-breathing seemed the only way to reeducate my right hand to an effective catch. Which is precisely what occurred – my right hand is still not quite as “patient” as my left, but it’s dramatically better than before. I take an estimated half-million freestyle strokes a year. A quarter-million of those strokes – all those I take with my right hand – feel markedly more effective now than eight years ago because I spent a year or two breathing mainly to my right, followed over the past six years, taking a roughly equal number of breaths to each side. 30th Anniversary! PHOTO COURTESY OF TOTAL IMMERSION SWIMMING This year I’ve resumed breathing more often to the left, my original side. Why? Because I’m still unquestionably faster when I breathe left, but after so many years of “remedial” breathing I’m now a much more effi cient swimmer whichever side I breathe on. Try These Exercises in “Examined” Bilateral Breathing � Swim three rounds of “4 x 50” freestyle. Rest for fi ve or more deep, slow “cleansing” breaths between 50s – or choose an interval that allows at least 15 seconds recovery between 50s. Rest for a minute between rounds. � In each round, swim one 50 of each: breathe to your left for the entire 50; breathe to your right for the entire 50; breathe to your left for 25 and your right for 25; and breathe bilaterally (every three strokes) for the entire 50. � On the fi rst round just count strokes for each 50. On the second round, time yourself for each 50. On the third round, calculate your Swim Golf score for each 50 (add strokes + time in seconds). Are you more effi cient (fewer strokes) with one breathing pattern than others? Are you faster with one breathing pattern than others? Are you more effective (lower golf score) with one breathing pattern than others? Terry Laughlin (totalimmersion.net) is head coach and founder of Total Immersion Swimming in New Paltz. This article is excerpted from his next book, O2 in H2O: A Guide to Better Breathing Skills, a companion to Total Immersion’s latest DVD, O2 in H2O: How to Breathe (Better and Easier Than Ever) While Swimming. THE RUNNIN’ OF THE GREEN (ISLAND) 30th Anniversary! Four-Mile Road Race & Kid’s Fun Runs Saturday, March 8 at 10am (Snow date: March 15) Village of Green Island, Legnard-Curtin American Legion Hall, 35 Cohoes Ave Presented by Hudson-Mohawk Road Runners Club, Adirondack Association USATF, and Village of Green Island Entry Fees – Pre-race: HMRRC member $10; Non-Member $12 All Applications received after March 5 or day of race $15 Application – HMRRC.COM • T-shirts to first 400 runners in main race Kids’ Fun Runs – $1 race day only (main race at 11:30am – 200m, 400m, 1M) Awards – Top 3 M/F runners. Top 3 in 5-year age groups. Top 10 age-graded runners. USATF (must have 2008 USATF number): Top 5 M/F in Open division; top 3 M/F in 5-year age groups in Masters (40+). Team: Top 3 USATF-registered open/masters, male/female teams. Race Director – Ken Skinner: kennyskin@earthlink.net HMRRC Grand Prix & Adirondack Association USATF Championship Race New HMRRC & USATF policy: No headphones or iPods worn/listened to in race
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