Breathwork for outdoor swimmers

Breathwork coach Edele Daly from B Well Fitness Club, shares two breathing exercises that will benefit outdoor swimmers – one for calming pre-event nerves, and another for preparing for cold water immersion

You can affect your nervous system response in a matter of minutes, simply by changing your breathing rate. Here breathwork coach Edele Daly from B Well Fitness Club, shares two breathing exercises that will benefit open water swimmers – one for calming pre-event nerves, and another for preparing for cold water immersion.

Breathing exercise before a swimming event

Swimmers’ nerves prior to an event are in a state of ‘fight or flight’, which is the sympathetic nervous system.

You may think, ‘Well isn’t this a good thing for competing?’. Well, in one way yes, but best to hold off the sympathetic nervous system until it is needed during the event.

Prior to the event, it’s best to have a more balanced nervous system. Being in ‘fight or flight’ for too long beforehand can exhaust the athlete before the event has even begun. It causes the heart rate to elevate, your breathing to become faster, hence more workload on the body and more energy being used and wasted. It’s best to conserve as much energy pre-event so that during the event the body has the best energy reserve possible.

The best type of breathing practice I would recommend for this scenario is Water Breath, which will help balance the sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system.

How to do Water Breath

Water Breathing is simply performed by taking 4 deep breaths in through your nose, filling your belly with the breath to the front back and sides (360° breathing) and exhale through the nose for a count of 4. Repeat 10 sets.

Water breathing is a relaxing balancing breath but it wont lower the nervous system too low. Pre-event you wouldn’t want to take it too low into ‘rest and digest’ (the parasympathetic nervous system) as this would ultimately have a negative effect on performance. It’s all about balance.

Breathing exercise for entering cold water

The best type of breathing for those about to enter cold water is what we call ‘Whiskey Breath’.

When an individual enters cold water the body will go into shock and a faster pace of shallow breathing as the body tries to conserve energy. Your body will be triggered into a state ‘fight or flight’. To bring your body back to a more calming parasympathetic nervous state and make the experience more enjoyable, the Whiskey Breath can work wonders.

Our nervous system is automatic, and breathing is connected to the same nervous system however breathing can be controlled unlike the automatic nervous system. So in short, breathing can help fool the nervous system to calm down even when it is in a state of shock, like when being submerged into cold water. Think of it like a remote control for your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system.

How to do Whisky Breath

The Whiskey Breath is performed by taking 4 deep breaths in through your nose and expanding the belly with the breath. Try not to let the chest rise – send the breath down deep into abdomen. Then exhale very slowly for a long count of 8, again through the nose if you can, or the mouth if more comfortable, letting the whole body relax on each exhale and focusing only the breath and the counts. This will take your mind off what is about to happen and what is happening when submerged, and help you remain calm and become present and grounded. We recommend 6-10 sets prior to submerging and continuing the focused Whiskey Breath throughout the submerge.

B Well Fitness Club is a health, fitness and wellness studio based in Killarney, Co. Kerry. Find out more at bwellfitnessclub.com