Breathing

[grahamcawood]

I recommend using 2 breaths per stroke at a 1:1 work:recovery ratio, ALWAYS, on the erg and the water.Out at the catch, and the release. Light work = small breaths. Use a stroke rate of 25+.
1.You will establish a rhythm suitable for all work rates.
2.Breathing in for the catch is difficult with the stomach compressed by the thighs.
3.Several small breaths are probably cheaper than one full breath.
4.65% to 80% is the maximum use of lung capacity by experts when working hard.
5. One breath can't compete with two cheap 50% breaths.
6 We can use between 7 and 16% of our energy breathing, and guess which muscles can hijack this energy first.

Try this for perhaps 50 hours before deciding yea or nay.
In my case it has become automatic,and comfortable, for my daily 8ks.

[left coaster]

I've been using 2 breaths per stroke since a couple weeks into using the erg. Like Captain Watts first post, a full exhale on the recovery, full inhale as I drive and a second quick breath at the transition from drive to recovery.

That said, I have done many rows where I needed to release my breathing from the confines of the stroke rhythm and to just suck air as fast as I can. Usually during a 'kick' sprint at the end of a longer piece. At first my gut seemed to be in the way, but it either got smaller or I just figured out how to breath. I used to row a 5k warmup back when I was a gym rat, funny thing, I can't remember thinking about breathing at all. I do remember seeing a few 18:xx type times but didn't think of it as being important as I was 'just warming up'.

I've lifted many heavy things, too many, the blast of a power drive in a lift is much more intense than the drive of rowing for anything beyond 100m. It's easy to switch breathing around and I have no concerns about blowing blood vessels in my brain doing it. Holding your breath on a dead lift, well, perhaps not a good idea.. breathing in just seems impossible.

[EFMAX]

This is the way I approach breathing while rowing.

Breathing is as much a part of your technique as the rowing action is in itself. The way the brain works is like this, if you breathe through your nose, the brain behaves normal, especially if your heart rate is under 100bpm.

The moment you start to raise your heart rate, the brain has to decide if this is because you are in trouble or not and if you then start breathing in through your mouth, the brain snaps into another gear, it starts to divert blood to what it considers the more important organs, like your heart, your lungs and your legs.. but this all has a down side, it is called Lactic Acid and the delivery of any enhanced performance at this stage is limited (determined by your level of fitness).

What this all means is that if you start breathing through your mouth when you do not “really” need to you, you will burn out much faster than you need to. Most sports people will talk about the “burn” and in this case it usually means that something is starting to hurt. Never forget the body always thinks you are stupid and will try to protect itself from your stupidity… so you will feel your heart and lungs “burning” or telling you to slow down or stop.

So when you row, try this – imagine you a bicycle pump or a set of bellows… and then imagine your arms are that pump or those bellows… as you bring your hands close to your chest, suck air IN… and you move your hands away from your chest, push the air OUT… and do this in a smooth and linear fashion.

Get this mind-set into your thinking.! Now imagine rowing very slowly. As your legs push away (drive) and as your hands start bringing the bar towards you (catch) BREATHE IN THROUGH YOUR NOSE, nice and steady, then as you push the bar back out and your feet start coming towards the monitor (recovery), BREATHE OUT THROUGH YOUR NOSE.

This is how my breathing goes: -

(1) Steady rowing, nice and easy up to about 65%-70% of your max heart rate – you breathe in through your nose and breathe out through your nose.

(2) Rowing at a pace up to about 70%-80% of your max heart rate – you breathe in through your nose and you breathe out through your mouth.

(3) Rowing at a pace that is up to your maximum heart rate (you should have an idea of what this is at some stage of your rowing career – either by a full on test or something that is recommend) – you change from breathing in through your nose to breathing in through your mouth and out through your nose but as the pace quickens or you are in an all out sprint – THEN and only THEN do you switch to breathing in through your mouth and out through your mouth.

You cannot change the hard wiring of your brain, it recognises breathing through your mouth as a danger/protection warning and primes your body to move quickly and out of danger. It does this by dropping loads of hormones into your blood stream and you cannot stop it from happening short of taking illegal drugs (not a smart move or recommended)… but basically you body is programmed in such a way that even with a good lactic acid tolerance level, you will fail in your attempts to maintain high burst of energy output once the brain has given the body the signal to release these extra hormones in to your system.

What this now means is if you start breathing in and out through your mouth when you do not need to, you impair your rowing abilities massively… get it right and you will improve them massively. Furthermore the breathing technique above helps you to coordinate your legs with your arms and this all aids towards better efficiency.

Note: At the point of breathing through your mouth, usually your rowing technique has gone out of the window in an all out sprint mode.

[jackarabit]

EDMAX writes:

. . . you change from breathing in through your nose to breathing in through your mouth and out through your nose. . .

Seizing control of an autonomic activity I understand; not good to hyperventilate under water! Also productive to optimize timing of inhalation to reinforce core and/or avoid restriction of belly breathing given that humans aren't wheel-back hounds. I can see validity to the idea that filtering and warming the breath by nasal inhalation is desirable. I can see that inhalation by mouth provides a larger diameter, shorter intake offering the advantage of greater volume/time for high demand situations. Would the benefit from unfiltered, high volume intake (mouth) followed by restricted exhaust (nose) be to extend the duration of core stabilization? Certainly no reason to warm or filter the exhalation. Inquiring mind wants to know. Retaining hot air seems to me difficult, indeed much harder than blowing it!

[EFMAX]

EDMAX writes:

. . . you change from breathing in through your nose to breathing in through your mouth and out through your nose. . .

Seizing control of an autonomic activity I understand; not good to hyperventilate under water! Also productive to optimize timing of inhalation to reinforce core and/or avoid restriction of belly breathing given that humans aren't wheel-back hounds. I can see validity to the idea that filtering and warming the breath by nasal inhalation is desirable. I can see that inhalation by mouth provides a larger diameter, shorter intake offering the advantage of greater volume/time for high demand situations. Would the benefit from unfiltered, high volume intake (mouth) followed by restricted exhaust (nose) be to extend the duration of core stabilization? Certainly no reason to warm or filter the exhalation. Inquiring mind wants to know. Retaining hot air seems to me difficult, indeed much harder than blowing it!

I have never previously thought about the filtering theory you mention, for me, it just allows me to maximise my power delivery in the latter stages of any distance I am doing.. The link between lactic acid and its build up is connected with the way the body reads the amount of air being taken on board and this is an understandable link thus why it is possible to burn out before you have completed your intended distance.

[jackarabit]

http://www.normalbreathing.com/index-CP-normals.php

Discussion of the role of the nasal and sinus passages as a reservoir of carbon dioxide necessary to promote desrable status of blood oxygenation, vascular dilation, and general health.

[left coaster]

nasal breathing under exercise load has always been difficult, if not impossible, for me. I have a deviated septum and my nostrils collapse when I'm trying to inhale strongly through my nose. In the end I just get anoxic which is not the desired outcome...

Perhaps I'll try this with some breath-right strips to see if they help. I finally retrained myself to breath through my nose while sleeping a few years ago, it works most of the time but it seems I may sometimes get some apnea as I will occasionally wake up with a headache (every few weeks it seems). Strangely, eliminating all sources of gluten makes this a lot better. It might just be an outcome of reduced carb intake though, still haven't nailed it down 100%.