Breathing patterns on slides vs static

[Tdva3]

After 4 years on a stationary erg, I recently bought slides and have been transitioning to them. One of the adjustments I'm trying to make is relaxing through the recovery on every stroke and allowing the tension of the slides to return the front end of the machine for the catch without intervention on my part. Part of this is finding a breathing pattern that emphasizes that rhythm and helps me focus on that aspect of the stroke. My instinct, it seems, is to breathe out during the recovery and intake early in the stroke. I'm guessing this is because as my body compresses, the instinct is to release from the lungs and this also helps prepare and brace through the trunk. But I'm wondering about the effectiveness and efficiency of that pattern. For those with experience both on and off slides, just curious how you think about breathing patterns - differently or more or less the same? I would think that the higher SR on slides and the technical differences might have others adjusting breathing patterns as well. Thanks! -taylor

[Ombrax]

Two things:

1) What was your breathing pattern on the static?

2) The most common for me (static only, I've never used slides) is to exhale on the drive (typical of most exercises, where you exhale on the effort) and another breath and a half on the recovery. (the half is the intake just before the drive) Of course on very easy paddling one breath is enough, in on the recovery and out on the drive.

[mict450]

Don't have slides, but I do erg on a dynamic. I'm not conscious of how I breathe, but I surmise I do it like Ombrax wrote, viz: exhale on the drive, inhale on recovery.

[Sakly]

Static only, but my breathing is more like yours, Tdva3.
Inhale at finish, exhale at recovery, drive phase. Compression after inhale is very uncomfortable for me, so I avoid it.

[p_b82]

static only here as well; and one single breath strokes, it's in during the drive and out during the recovery - same as for Sakly's reasons; I find compressing to the catch with full lungs uncomfortable. (probably because I am a diaphragm breather not chest and my extra weight around my gut makes that worse)

once it gets to a higher ratio than 1:1; I tend to put the extra breath during the recovery as well, so I'm almost always at the catch about to take a breath.