Breathing

[robbonser57]

This is my second day with the Concept2 E, and so far I'm enjoying it. I've had no problem rowing for 30 minutes, except for one question concerning my breathing. I still have a bit of a belly (5' 8" 190 lbs) so that if I exhale during the stroke, and inhale on the recovering I can't catch a full breath with my legs to my chest. I've changed my breathing, but in the long run I'm not sure that it's the best thing to do.

Any suggestions, until I lose the 20 lbs in, say, 2 months?

Thanks,
Rob

[bepah]

I wouldn't worry about it now. Your body will tellyou when to breathe. As you get more experience on the erg, you will fall into a rhythm. In fact, you may have several breathing rhythms depending on the force you are exerting.

Good luck and congratulations for joining this elite group of athletes!

[Bob S.]

This is my second day with the Concept2 E, and so far I'm enjoying it. I've had no problem rowing for 30 minutes, except for one question concerning my breathing. I still have a bit of a belly (5' 8" 190 lbs) so that if I exhale during the stroke, and inhale on the recovering I can't catch a full breath with my legs to my chest. I've changed my breathing, but in the long run I'm not sure that it's the best thing to do.

Any suggestions, until I lose the 20 lbs in, say, 2 months?

Thanks,
Rob

Several coaches, including olympic gold medalist Xeno Mueller recommend inhaling on the drive and exhaling on the stroke. this is contrary to the usual weight-lifting practice, where it is common to exhale when the effort is expended, but it makes sense in terms of rowing. Forward movement of the arms and shoulders during the recovery tends to compress the chest, whereas the backward movement of the drive allows for chest expansion.

Actually, breathing while rowing gets to be rather complex when you are changing stroke rates and effort levels. At a really intense level of effort and a low stroke rate, many will take 2 or even more breaths for each stroke.

Bob S.

[Citroen]

Since breathing in and out is something that comes naturally and you can't avoid doing it your best bet would be to just go with the flow. When your lungs are full, breathe out. When your lungs are empty, breathe in.

You'll be able to row while doing that process without too much trouble or concentration needed. When you fall off the machine rest a while then restart the rowing. Eventually the time you're rowing will increase and the time you're lying down recovering will decrease.

[robbonser57]

This is one of the main reasons why I purchased the concept 2; you all looked like a great, supportive group to sweat with!
Thanks for the input.
Rob

[Carl Watts]

It is very hard to change what your body wants to do as breathing is typically something you don't have to think about.

At training pace I find the 1:1 works well. inhale on the drive and exhale on the recovery.

At race pace it changes to 1:2 and I inhale on the drive but get an extra quick breath on the recovery and have exhaled again by the time you get to the catch.

Have also read that your supposed to exhale during the drive and I have tried it but it doesn't work for me as still trying to breathe in while your becoming crunched up at the catch just doesn't work.

I would be interested in other techniques if your currently going faster than me !

[Bob S.]

Have also read that your supposed to exhale during the drive and I have tried it but it doesn't work for me as still trying to breathe in while your becoming crunched up at the catch just doesn't work.

Carl,

As I sort of implied in my post, it is a common resistance exercise practice to exhale while moving against the resistance and it is typically done in weight lifting. I think that a lot of rowers pick that up from their weight lifting habits. I agree with you that trying to inhale as you come up to the catch is not good - but lot of us have that as an ingrained habit. I have tried to change - as recommended by Xeno - but old habits die hard. I doubt that those who say that you are supposed to exhale on the drive have any sound basis for that. Do you remember where you read that? I am sort of curious about that, since there are obviously good arguments against it, including your own comment - as well as the what I mentioned about expansion of the chest with the arms and shoulders pulled back.


Bob S.

[RBFC]

Carl,

I'm not going quite as fast as you, but I've done a fair amount of other high-exertion activities. I've just started rowing (as an individual discipline, not just CrossFit combinations) and I've paid attention to my breathing rhythm. At race pace, I tend to exhale at the end of the drive AND when completely crunched at the catch. So, I'd say that a 2:2 rhythm is what's currently working for me. Yes, one of the breaths in may be slightly less than the other, etc., but it's the exhale at the compressed position that really seems to help.

Of course, I still have a great deal to learn. I deeply appreciate your efforts to post so much good information.

Lee

[Carl Watts]

I did find something on the net that said from a purely biomechanic point of view that your supposed to stick with the "Weightlifting" technique, however it just doesn't work for me.

I remember I questioned the whole thing a couple of years ago but after much searching the net there was no definative answer until I saw Xeno Muller on the water rower discussing breathing in a you tube video and thats about as close as I got.

I used to do weights but nothing heavy and certainly nothing even close to competition level so I guess I never needed to focus on the breathing although I remember always pushing hard and exhaling on the bench press so maybe that was wrong ?

[Bob S.]

I did find something on the net that said from a purely biomechanic point of view that your supposed to stick with the "Weightlifting" technique, however it just doesn't work for me.

I remember I questioned the whole thing a couple of years ago but after much searching the net there was no definative answer until I saw Xeno Muller on the water rower discussing breathing in a you tube video and thats about as close as I got.

I used to do weights but nothing heavy and certainly nothing even close to competition level so I guess I never needed to focus on the breathing although I remember always pushing hard and exhaling on the bench press so maybe that was wrong ?

Well, the bench press (as well as pushups that I do on a regular basis) are just the opposite movement as rowing, so exhaling on the bench press lift would be consistent with inhaling during the rowing drive.

I must admit, I have no idea how I breath while doing pushups. I have never paid attention to it. Citroen's advice that it will just come naturally and that you should just go with the flow is no doubt the best way to go. But now that I have thought about it, I will probably screw up my next pushup session (some time later today) because I will be thinking about my breathing instead of concentrating on the exercise.

Bob S.

[truth1ness]

I did find something on the net that said from a purely biomechanic point of view that your supposed to stick with the "Weightlifting" technique, however it just doesn't work for me.

I remember I questioned the whole thing a couple of years ago but after much searching the net there was no definative answer until I saw Xeno Muller on the water rower discussing breathing in a you tube video and thats about as close as I got.

I used to do weights but nothing heavy and certainly nothing even close to competition level so I guess I never needed to focus on the breathing although I remember always pushing hard and exhaling on the bench press so maybe that was wrong ?

Carl, do you have a link to that video where he talks about his breathing specifically?

[truth1ness]

I've been been breathing weightlifting style (full lungs at the catch, brace, and exhale on drive) and tried the xeno style once yesterday but the thing that bothers me with it was I feel like my back had less support. The main reason lifters hold the breath is to keep pressure in the torso which acts like a natural support/buttress for the spine. Plus with inhaling you need to relax your abs somewhat which I felt made it a bit more unstable during the swing. I feel like with holding or exhaling your contracting abs help brace your back through the drive and swing. I'll play with it more as I might just not be used to it yet, but I'm wondering if you noticed anything similar with this style of breathing. With this inhale on the drive method are you lungs completely empty at the catch or are you still continuing the exhale from the recovery?

[Bob S.]

I've been been breathing weightlifting style (full lungs at the catch, brace, and exhale on drive) and tried the xeno style once yesterday but the thing that bothers me with it was I feel like my back had less support. The main reason lifters hold the breath is to keep pressure in the torso which acts like a natural support/buttress for the spine. Plus with inhaling you need to relax your abs somewhat which I felt made it a bit more unstable during the swing. I feel like with holding or exhaling your contracting abs help brace your back through the drive and swing. I'll play with it more as I might just not be used to it yet, but I'm wondering if you noticed anything similar with this style of breathing. With this inhale on the drive method are you lungs completely empty at the catch or are you still continuing the exhale from the recovery?

If you just Google Xeno breathing, this is the first hit:

http://indoor-rowing.blogspot.com/2008/ ... owing.html

[sylco]

I am revisiting this thread as breathing patterns are now a new concern of mine since I am recovering from a rib stress reaction (or fracture ).

I believe that the rib stress was probably caused by overtraining, some nutrition deficiency, but also by improper breathing. I had a tendency to shallow chest breathing and I think this could have caused much stress on the rib cage during rowing since it is also under stress from muscles that perform the drive. When I resumed to training about a week ago, I have tried to breathe more through the diaphragm and it does feel much less tension is applied to my chest. One problem though, since I normally inhale near the end of the recovery, at the catch, my quads are in the way of the abdomen full extension. I was looking at going with the Xeno breathing pattern, but inhaling on the drive feels very unnatural and it does not seem that expending the abdomen offers as good of a support when you need good core stability for the drive.

Trying a few variations, I have found that by inhaling at the very beginning of the recovery (rather than near the end) so that my abdomen and chest have expended by the time I am at the catch and exhaling most of the air near the beginning or the middle of the drive (rather than near the end) does seem to work very well. But I am only rowing at about 50% power since the rib is still a little painful, so I wonder if this pattern would work well at full rowing strength and higher cadence. It might also be problematic when one needs to add an extra short breathing cycle.

If anyone is already using this pattern, or is willing to try it, I would be interested in hearing the results.

[Gettingold]

I spent a little time experimenting with inhaling on the drive with mixed results. I found I immediately improved my time and the rowing was easier for the first number of strokes. Maintaining a rhythm however became increasingly more difficult. Still...I feel this method warrants more time, given the obvious benefits.