| Breathe Both Ways |
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| by Diet Detective Editorial Staff | |
| Friday, 07 July 2006 | |
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Look both ways to breathe (it’s called bilateral breathing), and you may find yourself with more breath to spare. When you're ready to take your freestyle swimming to the next level, one of the first advanced techniques to master is bilateral breathing-turning your head both right and left to inhale instead of the same side every time. The key is to breathe every third stroke (right, left, right-breathe; left, right, left-breathe) instead of every other arm stroke. Doing this requires more breath control, but it also makes you more efficient because you spend more time pulling water while in your most aquadynamic position: with your head down. It's also easier on your neck and lets you see what's going on all around you, which is especially useful in open water. "The trick is learning to clear the surface of the water on your weak side, because your neck is not used to turning on that side," says Jane Katz, Ed.D., swimming expert and coauthor of Swimming for Total Fitness (Doubleday, 1993). Make sure you keep your eyes open as you breathe, she suggests, and practice first on land, then standing in chest-deep water and finally walking in chest-deep water to get the hang of it. Once you do, you probably won't ever want to go back to regular breathing.
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  written by KevinB, January 28, 2008
How can I master swimming in open water when the water is murky and I need to pick my head up? I find myself almost coming to a stop to see where to go...
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