Hold Your Breath While Swimming
Holding your breath under water takes getting used to, especially if you’re running through your oxygen stores quickly by swimming vigorously. To hold your breath while swimming, follow these instructions.
Contents
Steps
- Practice in cold water. Human exposure to cold water slows the heart rate, reducing oxygen consumption.
- Breathe slowly and deeply before taking in and holding a breath. This will rid your lungs of poor-quality air before you attempt to hold your breath.
- Hold air in your nose. If you have a tendency to breathe out through your nose to keep water from getting up it as you swim underwater, learn to hold the air there instead, as this will use oxygen more efficiently. Start by filling your lungs with air, pressing your tongue to the roof of your mouth to close the back of your throat, holding your breath, and lowering yourself straight down into the water; since the air in your nose will have no place to go, it will block the nostrils, making the water unable to enter. Once you’re comfortable with this, practice tilting your head underwater. The closer your head gets to being horizontal, the likelier the air bubbles are to pop out; however, there is quite a bit of leeway with this, so learn your boundaries. When you’re comfortable holding your head at the right angles, practice swimming that way. Only when your lungs begin to tire or you need to tilt your head further (such as when diving downward or doing a flip) you should blow air out your nose
- Release air slowly. Jetting out a sudden burst of air makes you likelier to release more than necessary. Whenever you need to take the pressure off your lungs, release air slowly; this will provide relief without wasting your oxygen supply.
- Hold your breath for as long as you can while being still. The more you move, the more oxygen you consume, so get comfortable holding your breath for long periods while remaining motionless before trying to do it while swimming. Exhale slowly as necessary.
- Hold your breath while swimming, gradually increasing your speed. Start by kicking off of the edge of the pool and allowing the momentum to carry you as you hold your breath. The next time, combine this momentum with your own efforts to build up your stamina. Finally, learn to build up your own momentum while holding your breath, which takes the most energy.
- Lose weight. If you’re serious about swimming, shed a few excess pounds to become a more efficient breather. The bulkier your fat stores, the more oxygen you will use.
- Do cardio. A strong heart with a low resting heart rate will use less oxygen. For fast results, do interval training, which is simply alternating between low- and high-intensity activity (ex. 10-minute stints of jogging or brisk walking interspersed by 2-minute sprints). This is not only an especially effective way to improve heart health and endurance, but also takes effect much faster than other forms of cardio.
- Increase your lung capacity. Larger lungs can hold more air and therefore more oxygen, making you able to hold your breath for longer. Read How to Increase Your Lung Capacity for more information.[[Image:Hold Your Breath While Swimming Step 9.jpg}}
Tips
- Don’t hold your breath while swimming above water. If you’re swimming half over and half under the water (such as in choppy waves or while doing the butterfly stroke), periodically exhale through your nose while it’s submerged and inhale when it’s exposed to the air, taking care not to do this rapidly or you may hyperventilate. If you’re swimming competitively, practice extending the length of time between breaths, as taking them can slow you down.
Warnings
- Don't hold your breath as long as you can. Find your breaking point and learn how to come up for air before then. Otherwise, you will end up struggling and may take a gulp of water in a panic.
- If you have never attempted this before, do it under the supervision of someone who is capable of pulling you out of the water should you lose consciousness. Hyperventilating before swimming can cause what is known as shallow water blackout and can cause you to drown.
