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Breathe up technique
- Thread starterMatt84
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
, There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
Hey Matt, there is a ton of info here you can find with the search button. look up "breathe up" or similar.
Its a little hard to answer your question too because it depends on your style, warm up vs no warm up etc. There are quite a few different schools.
try this basic recipe:
-arrive at pool 45 mins before your top at least
-spend about 15 mins totally relaxed by the side of the pool, lying down, breathing slowly with your diaphragm. the breathing style should be slight, enough to have your heart slow down but not so slow that you feel hungry for air. only diaphragm, a hand on your stomach helps
- hop in the water and do a max static, i personally would only count 10 contractions here (but thats me)
- breath up on your back, diapgram only, for 4 mins or so, do another max to 15 or so contractions
- breath up another 4 mins, and take the next one to 25 contractions (again, thats just me)
- you should see your 1st contraction later every atempt, like 2:00, 2:45, 3:30
- hop out of the pool, be careful not do get cold. dry your face and hair. llie down and breath again, only diaphragm
- hop back in 3 or for mins before your top time (max. start time) don't wet your face
- remove your hood, feel cold around your head and face (no goggles ideal)
- at about t - 30 seconds do your final exhale, a full inhale, some packs (i don't) and turn
the rest is another story.
i'm crap at pool stuff though, so don't listen to me, there are some world champs here who have written nuggets of very good info. Keep searchin'
Its a little hard to answer your question too because it depends on your style, warm up vs no warm up etc. There are quite a few different schools.
try this basic recipe:
-arrive at pool 45 mins before your top at least
-spend about 15 mins totally relaxed by the side of the pool, lying down, breathing slowly with your diaphragm. the breathing style should be slight, enough to have your heart slow down but not so slow that you feel hungry for air. only diaphragm, a hand on your stomach helps
- hop in the water and do a max static, i personally would only count 10 contractions here (but thats me)
- breath up on your back, diapgram only, for 4 mins or so, do another max to 15 or so contractions
- breath up another 4 mins, and take the next one to 25 contractions (again, thats just me)
- you should see your 1st contraction later every atempt, like 2:00, 2:45, 3:30
- hop out of the pool, be careful not do get cold. dry your face and hair. llie down and breath again, only diaphragm
- hop back in 3 or for mins before your top time (max. start time) don't wet your face
- remove your hood, feel cold around your head and face (no goggles ideal)
- at about t - 30 seconds do your final exhale, a full inhale, some packs (i don't) and turn
the rest is another story.
i'm crap at pool stuff though, so don't listen to me, there are some world champs here who have written nuggets of very good info. Keep searchin'
Last edited:
I think this is an excellent topic and I was hoping to see more replies... maybe the champions prefer to keep their little secrets 
It's true that you can find a lot of threads already with these keywords, but most of them actually not really on topic so I thought it wouldn't hurt to spend a few words here.
Azapa is right in stressing that it's very subjective... a lot of what he wrote is ok for me too, but a few things are quite different so I quote from him with my comments in blue.
-arrive at pool 45 mins before your top at least
for training yes. for competition much earlier!
-spend about 15 mins totally relaxed by the side of the pool, lying down, breathing slowly with your diaphragm. the breathing style should be slight, enough to have your heart slow down but not so slow that you feel hungry for air. only diaphragm, a hand on your stomach helps
yes. it also helps me sometimes to do a littel dry static, without pushing, maybe more as a check than as a real preparation.
- hop in the water and do a max static, i personally would only count 10 contractions here (but thats me)
I do a short static ("short" is subjective of course), always the same duration, 1'30 contractions. In any case not a max!
- breath up on your back, diapgram only, for 4 mins or so, do another max to 15 or so contractions
I rest the same amount, do another static for a fixed amount, like 2' contractions. When I say contractions, they are very soft.
- breath up another 4 mins, and take the next one to 25 contractions (again, thats just me)
maybe, depending on how much time I have and how I am feeling.
- you should see your 1st contraction later every atempt, like 2:00, 2:45, 3:30
yes. actual time of 1st contraction varies of course.
- hop out of the pool, be careful not do get cold. dry your face and hair. llie down and breath again, only diaphragm
- hop back in 3 or for mins before your top time (max. start time) don't wet your face
no no no! If I hop out it's the end for me.
- remove your hood, feel cold around your head and face (no goggles ideal)
for me it's best without hood too, but I do need goggles (I am very sensitive to chlorine, and I MUST know that I can watch the time if I want to).
- at about t - 30 seconds do your final exhale, a full inhale, some packs (i don't) and turn
For my max, I need 5 minutes preparation. 1 minute deep and "fast", like one breath every 10 seconds. Then 3 minutes very slow and shallow breathing. Golden rule is exhale 2x longer than inhale. Last minute get alive again, deeper breaths. Last 30 seconds 3 deep ones. Almost full exhale, full inhale, no packing. My statics are respectable when I don't chicken out.
Others?
It's true that you can find a lot of threads already with these keywords, but most of them actually not really on topic so I thought it wouldn't hurt to spend a few words here.
Azapa is right in stressing that it's very subjective... a lot of what he wrote is ok for me too, but a few things are quite different so I quote from him with my comments in blue.
-arrive at pool 45 mins before your top at least
for training yes. for competition much earlier!
-spend about 15 mins totally relaxed by the side of the pool, lying down, breathing slowly with your diaphragm. the breathing style should be slight, enough to have your heart slow down but not so slow that you feel hungry for air. only diaphragm, a hand on your stomach helps
yes. it also helps me sometimes to do a littel dry static, without pushing, maybe more as a check than as a real preparation.
- hop in the water and do a max static, i personally would only count 10 contractions here (but thats me)
I do a short static ("short" is subjective of course), always the same duration, 1'30 contractions. In any case not a max!
- breath up on your back, diapgram only, for 4 mins or so, do another max to 15 or so contractions
I rest the same amount, do another static for a fixed amount, like 2' contractions. When I say contractions, they are very soft.
- breath up another 4 mins, and take the next one to 25 contractions (again, thats just me)
maybe, depending on how much time I have and how I am feeling.
- you should see your 1st contraction later every atempt, like 2:00, 2:45, 3:30
yes. actual time of 1st contraction varies of course.
- hop out of the pool, be careful not do get cold. dry your face and hair. llie down and breath again, only diaphragm
- hop back in 3 or for mins before your top time (max. start time) don't wet your face
no no no! If I hop out it's the end for me.
- remove your hood, feel cold around your head and face (no goggles ideal)
for me it's best without hood too, but I do need goggles (I am very sensitive to chlorine, and I MUST know that I can watch the time if I want to).
- at about t - 30 seconds do your final exhale, a full inhale, some packs (i don't) and turn
For my max, I need 5 minutes preparation. 1 minute deep and "fast", like one breath every 10 seconds. Then 3 minutes very slow and shallow breathing. Golden rule is exhale 2x longer than inhale. Last minute get alive again, deeper breaths. Last 30 seconds 3 deep ones. Almost full exhale, full inhale, no packing. My statics are respectable when I don't chicken out.
Others?
I recently did my first static in competition and it felt really good. I did a few warm up statics on land, then did a 5 minute facial immersion, then wet static which went to just shy of my target. I then just relaxed for the last 8 or 10 minutes before my O.T. In the two minutes before my O.T. I moved into the lane, keeping relaxed breathing going (inhale for 2 seconds, hold for 1 second, exhale for 10 seconds, repeat). 1 minute before O.T. I reduced the exhale time to 5 seconds, at 30 seconds I did a few purges. Three big breaths in the last 10 seconds, and a couple of packs for future practice. It all felt really good. I think knowing beforehand what you want to do is a good idea, takes the stress out. I brought a sheet of paper in a ziplock bag which had all the times for what I would do in my 45 mins, so I didn't have to do any math or figuring. I left time to get into my wetsuit and also some extra time in case I needed it for something. That way I wasn't rushed and I could keep my movements slow and relaxed. It helps that my target was low, so I didn't need lots of time to do longer warm-up holds.