Swimming: Why You Shouldn't Hold Your Breath and How to Breathe Properly

Should I hold my breath while swimming?

No, you should generally not hold your breath while swimming. Proper swimming technique emphasizes continuous, rhythmic exhalation underwater followed by a quick inhalation above water to optimize oxygen delivery, remove carbon dioxide, and maintain efficient body mechanics.

The Core Answer: Why You Shouldn't Hold Your Breath

Holding your breath while swimming, often an instinctive reaction for beginners, is counterproductive and potentially detrimental to both performance and safety. Optimal swimming relies on a continuous, coordinated breathing pattern that supports the body's physiological demands during exercise.

The Physiology of Breathing While Swimming

Understanding the body's respiratory mechanics is crucial for appreciating why proper breathing is paramount in swimming.

• Oxygen Delivery and Carbon Dioxide Removal: Your muscles require a constant supply of oxygen to produce energy (ATP) through aerobic metabolism, especially during sustained activity like swimming. Simultaneously, carbon dioxide, a waste product of metabolism, needs to be efficiently expelled. Holding your breath restricts oxygen intake and causes carbon dioxide to build up in the bloodstream.
• Respiratory Muscles and Efficiency: The diaphragm and intercostal muscles work to facilitate breathing. Rhythmic breathing maintains the efficiency of these muscles, preventing fatigue and allowing for sustained effort. Holding your breath creates tension and can lead to inefficient muscle use.
• Blood Pressure and Cardiovascular Strain: The Valsalva maneuver, which involves exhaling forcibly against a closed airway (as in holding your breath), significantly increases intrathoracic pressure. This can temporarily reduce blood flow to the heart and brain, followed by a surge in blood pressure upon release, placing undue strain on the cardiovascular system.

The Detrimental Effects of Breath-Holding

Consciously or unconsciously holding your breath while swimming has several negative consequences:

• Reduced Oxygen Supply (Hypoxia): Limiting oxygen intake starves working muscles, leading to premature fatigue, muscle burning (due to anaerobic metabolism), and impaired cognitive function. Your brain and muscles simply don't get the fuel they need.
• Increased Carbon Dioxide Buildup (Hypercapnia): As carbon dioxide accumulates, it triggers a strong, often uncomfortable, urge to breathe. This can lead to panic, disrupt your rhythm, and make it harder to relax in the water.
• Elevated Blood Pressure (Valsalva Maneuver): As mentioned, this maneuver can cause spikes in blood pressure. While generally safe for healthy individuals during short, intense efforts, prolonged or repeated Valsalva maneuvers can be risky for those with underlying cardiovascular conditions, potentially leading to dizziness, lightheadedness, or more serious cardiac events.
• Impaired Buoyancy and Body Position: Your lungs act like natural buoyancy aids when filled with air. Holding your breath keeps your lungs full, which might feel like it helps you float, but it often causes the chest to rise too high, pushing the hips and legs down. This creates drag, reduces streamlining, and makes it harder to maintain an efficient horizontal body position. Proper exhalation allows for a more stable, horizontal alignment.
• Decreased Performance and Endurance: Fatigue sets in faster without adequate oxygen. Your stroke rate and efficiency will suffer, and you won't be able to maintain your pace or cover as much distance. Coordination can also be compromised.
• Increased Risk of Shallow Water Blackout: In extreme cases, hyperventilating before holding your breath (a dangerous practice sometimes used by competitive freedivers, but never recommended for lap swimming) can reduce the urge to breathe. This can lead to a sudden loss of consciousness due to critically low oxygen levels in the brain, especially dangerous underwater.

The Correct Approach: Rhythmic Exhalation and Inhalation

The cornerstone of efficient and safe swimming is continuous, rhythmic breathing.

• Exhale Underwater: As soon as your face enters the water, begin to slowly and continuously exhale through your nose and/or mouth. This should be a controlled, steady release of air, clearing your lungs of carbon dioxide. By exhaling fully, you create space for a fresh, full inhalation.
• Inhale Quickly Above Water: When it's time to breathe, rotate your head just enough to get your mouth clear of the water. Take a quick, deep breath, filling your lungs completely. Then, return your face to the water and immediately resume exhalation.
• Breathing Rhythm and Coordination: The exhalation-inhalation cycle should be synchronized with your stroke mechanics. For freestyle, this typically means exhaling during the arm recovery phase underwater and inhaling as your leading arm extends forward and your body rotates to the side.

Benefits of Proper Breathing Technique

Adopting correct breathing habits unlocks significant advantages for swimmers:

• Enhanced Oxygen Uptake: Continuous exhalation and efficient inhalation ensure a steady supply of oxygen to your working muscles, delaying fatigue and promoting aerobic endurance.
• Improved Carbon Dioxide Expulsion: Regularly expelling CO2 prevents its buildup, reducing the uncomfortable urge to breathe and allowing for more relaxed, sustained swimming.
• Optimized Buoyancy and Body Alignment: Exhaling underwater helps maintain a flatter, more streamlined body position, reducing drag and improving hydrodynamic efficiency.
• Increased Endurance and Performance: With better oxygen delivery and less physiological stress, you can swim longer, faster, and with less effort.
• Reduced Cardiovascular Strain: Avoiding the Valsalva maneuver minimizes unnecessary stress on your heart and blood vessels.
• Better Relaxation and Focus: A consistent breathing rhythm promotes a meditative state, reducing anxiety and allowing you to focus on technique rather than gasping for air.

Practical Tips for Developing Good Breathing Habits

If you're accustomed to holding your breath, retraining takes practice:

• Practice Exhaling Fully: Stand in shallow water or by the wall. Submerge your face and practice blowing bubbles consistently until all the air is out. Repeat this until it feels natural.
• Rotational Breathing Drills: For freestyle, practice drills that emphasize body rotation alongside head rotation for breathing. This helps integrate breathing into the natural flow of your stroke.
• Consistency is Key: Make a conscious effort to breathe properly during every lap. It will feel awkward at first, but with repetition, it will become second nature.
• Seek Expert Coaching: A certified swimming instructor or coach can provide personalized feedback and drills to correct breathing habits and refine your overall technique.

Conclusion: Breathe for Performance and Safety

In summary, holding your breath while swimming is a suboptimal and potentially dangerous practice. For both performance enhancement and safety, embrace a continuous, rhythmic breathing pattern that involves exhaling fully underwater and inhaling quickly when your mouth clears the surface. This fundamental principle of swimming ensures your body receives the oxygen it needs, efficiently removes waste products, and maintains optimal body position, leading to a more enjoyable, efficient, and safer swimming experience.