Hey everyone,
I've been practicing a swimming method for the past year or so which I've found has really enhanced my ability to be relaxed underwater. I'd like to share it here and ask for your feedback on what you think is happening here and what risks you think might be involved.
First off, I'm a PFI certified level 1 freediver.
I do this swim training in the pool roughly 5 times a week, in the mornings. Since I'm often without a freediving buddy, I don't do breath holding or extensive underwater swimming. I am not competitive, I focus on relaxed slow breathing prior to beginning, and I honor my urge to breathe. What I do is take a breath, swim roughly 5 meters at about a meter of depth, and then surface for a breath. I take roughly one breath every ten seconds, and cover about 5 meters swimming in each breath. So I cover a 25 meter length in about 4 or 5 breaths on average. I focus on relaxed swimming and blowing a small stream of bubbles out until I feel the need to surface. I don't push myself for greater times and am really very relaxed about how I approach this.
I do this mainly because I've found that the slow exhalation combined with relaxed swimming really seems to feed my cardiovascular system. I am more relaxed, and my breath feels more free throughout the day. This combined with the benefits for my spine (I have significant scoliosis) have made this exercise important to my daily routine.
I am concerned, however, about doing this in a pool without a certified freediving buddy. Even though this isn't breath holding and is not really that different from swimmers who do slow sets of 6 or 8 strokes between breaths, I am aware that there are some risks. I've gotten to know many of the members of my local pool, so they at least have some awareness of what I'm doing in the pool.
I'm curious what your thoughts are about all this, and about the science of it. Again, I'm elongating the out-breath to about 10 seconds and taking a single breath in between. Since I'm doing this continuously, I imagine there is an increase in CO2 happening, and a decrease in O2 to a certain point. But 10 seconds is not that long between breaths, so I'm not sure if I'm really taking significant risks of SWB. I have noticed that my tolerance for being underwater has increased quite a bit. I'm hoping to get more info from more experienced water folk.
Thanks,
Mark
I've been practicing a swimming method for the past year or so which I've found has really enhanced my ability to be relaxed underwater. I'd like to share it here and ask for your feedback on what you think is happening here and what risks you think might be involved.
First off, I'm a PFI certified level 1 freediver.
I do this swim training in the pool roughly 5 times a week, in the mornings. Since I'm often without a freediving buddy, I don't do breath holding or extensive underwater swimming. I am not competitive, I focus on relaxed slow breathing prior to beginning, and I honor my urge to breathe. What I do is take a breath, swim roughly 5 meters at about a meter of depth, and then surface for a breath. I take roughly one breath every ten seconds, and cover about 5 meters swimming in each breath. So I cover a 25 meter length in about 4 or 5 breaths on average. I focus on relaxed swimming and blowing a small stream of bubbles out until I feel the need to surface. I don't push myself for greater times and am really very relaxed about how I approach this.
I do this mainly because I've found that the slow exhalation combined with relaxed swimming really seems to feed my cardiovascular system. I am more relaxed, and my breath feels more free throughout the day. This combined with the benefits for my spine (I have significant scoliosis) have made this exercise important to my daily routine.
I am concerned, however, about doing this in a pool without a certified freediving buddy. Even though this isn't breath holding and is not really that different from swimmers who do slow sets of 6 or 8 strokes between breaths, I am aware that there are some risks. I've gotten to know many of the members of my local pool, so they at least have some awareness of what I'm doing in the pool.
I'm curious what your thoughts are about all this, and about the science of it. Again, I'm elongating the out-breath to about 10 seconds and taking a single breath in between. Since I'm doing this continuously, I imagine there is an increase in CO2 happening, and a decrease in O2 to a certain point. But 10 seconds is not that long between breaths, so I'm not sure if I'm really taking significant risks of SWB. I have noticed that my tolerance for being underwater has increased quite a bit. I'm hoping to get more info from more experienced water folk.
Thanks,
Mark