Keep Calm And Just Breathe - Try These Exercises To Improve Your Swimming!

With the current global situation and the uncertainty that this brings for many people, it is likely that you are feeling anxious and worried about what the future holds. We appreciate that managing and dealing with this stress can be a challenge for many people especially if they are experiencing a nationwide lockdown. Regular breathing exercises to maintain a level of calm and set your thoughts for the day is a great way to manage anxiety and stress. Not only do these breathing exercises help your anxiety but they can also help you to improve your swimming technique whilst you can't be in the pool deck.

Breathing is the underlying cause of many stroke flaws, that is why we put such an emphasis on it in all our training plans on the Swim Smooth Guru. We have an array of drills that work on your breathing technique, including sink downs, 6/1/6 and the 6/3/6 drill. The timing and exhalation control required in these drills means they are perfect for improving your breathing in the water.

But those drills aren't very useful when you don't have access to a pool - which is the situation we are all facing at the moment. So in this blog post we are going to show you some breathing exercises that you can do from the comfort of your own home whilst you are in isolation. These exercises have been adapted from common swimming drills that we do in our Perth squad and are a great way to develop your breath control in the water. Whilst we can't be in the water to practise these, you can definitely develop better control and awareness of your breath out of the water, which will pay dividends when you finally return to the pool.

Do these exercises for around 10 minutes every day.

Find a place where you can sit comfortably and quietly without interruptions.

Repeat each exercises 4 times.

1) Take a deep breath in and a deep breath out

2) Breathe in for 3 seconds and breathe out for 3 seconds

3) Breathe in for 5 seconds and breathe out for 5 seconds

4) Breathe in for 7 seconds and breathe out for 7 seconds

5) Breathe in for 3, out for 3, breathe in for 5 and out for 5, breathe in for 7 and out for 7, breathe in for 5 and out for 5, breathe in for 3 and out for 3.

Completing these exercises 3 times a week, will develop your awareness and control of your breathing, an excellent skill for those wanting to develop their swimming stroke further!

Let us know how you get on with these exercises!

Swim Smooth!