{"id":67260,"date":"2023-10-06T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-06T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/uncategorized\/learn-the-backstroke-breathing-technique\/"},"modified":"2023-10-06T10:39:03","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T08:39:03","slug":"learn-the-backstroke-breathing-technique","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/training-technique\/learn-the-backstroke-breathing-technique\/","title":{"rendered":"Learn the backstroke breathing technique"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>One of the distinctive things about <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/training-technique\/the-backstroke-how-to-swim-belly-upwards\/\">backstroke swimming<\/a> is that your breathing is not really affected by the water: we swim with our stomachs facing upwards and we decide when we want to breathe, there is no danger of swallowing water due to bad timing.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>But that does not mean you can breathe whenever you like.<\/p>\n<h3>Technically speaking the right time to breathe is:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Inhale:<\/strong> during the recovery phase of one arm<\/li>\n<li><strong>Exhale:<\/strong> at the end of the recovery phase of the other arm.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arenasport.com\/en_row\/equipment\/swimming-goggles.html\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-102354 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/backstroke_breathing_blog_800_main.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"100% height=\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/backstroke_breathing_blog_800_main.jpg 800w, https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/backstroke_breathing_blog_800_main-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/backstroke_breathing_blog_800_main-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>It is important to breathe out quickly and forcibly,<\/h3>\n<p>because you will not float so well if you breathe out slowly during the pull phase of the first arm stroke.<\/p>\n<p>When we breathe out our chest increases in size as our lungs expand (without affecting our body weight). <strong>This, in turn, makes us float better.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It should be pointed out that it is only<strong> our upper body that floats better<\/strong> as the centre of our body volume shifts towards our head causing our feet to sink slightly.<\/p>\n<p>This means <strong>you should avoid \u201cinflating\u201d your lungs to the maximum,<\/strong> always trying to keep your breathing under control in accordance with amount of air you breathe in and the rate at which you do it.<\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arenasport.com\/en_row\/equipment\/swimming-caps.html\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-102360 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/backstroke_breathing_blog_800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100%\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/backstroke_breathing_blog_800.jpg 800w, https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/backstroke_breathing_blog_800-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/backstroke_breathing_blog_800-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/h3>\n<h3>Here are some useful drills for learning how to control your breathing:<\/h3>\n<p><strong>1.<\/strong>\u00a0Swim the backstroke with one arm only<strong>,<\/strong> breathing in during the recovery phase and breathing out during the pull.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2.<\/strong>\u00a0Swim the backstroke breathing normally for one complete stroke and then not breathing at all during the next stroke.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3.<\/strong>\u00a0Swim the backstroke breathing steadily, first making two complete arm strokes very slowly and then two strokes very quickly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>4.<\/strong>\u00a0Swim the backstroke, pausing for 2\u201d in your arm stroke when your recovery hand is out in front of your face; at this point hold your breath for the 2\u201d pause and then get back into both your stroke and ordinary breathing pattern.<\/p>\n<p><b>5.<\/b> Over very short distances (12-15 m): swim the backstroke with a very high breathing rate (hyperventilation). Make sure you do not breathe in too much air.<\/p>\n<p><strong>6.\u00a0<\/strong>Swim the backstroke with very slow arm strokes, dividing your breathing-in pattern into 3\u00a0phases:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>when you hand comes out of the water<\/li>\n<li>when it is extended in front of your face<\/li>\n<li>when it is about to enter the water<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>and also your breathing-out pattern into 3 phases (same routine as above).<\/p>\n<p>Breathing incorrectly and <strong>poor distribution of the CO<sub>2<\/sub>\/O<sub>2<\/sub>ratio<\/strong> (carbon dioxide\/oxygen) <strong>results in incomplete metabolite distribution around the body,<\/strong> inevitably causing you to tire more quickly.<\/p>\n<p>But that is no problem for us: we have drills to teach us how to avoid making these mistakes \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the distinctive things about backstroke swimming is that your breathing is not really affected by the water: we swim with our stomachs facing upwards and we decide when &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1372,"featured_media":102354,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10090],"tags":[12891,12916,12554,12835,12524],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.14 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>backstroke<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In backstroke there is no danger of swallowing water due to bad timing. But that does not mean you can breathe whenever you like! Tips &amp; exercises\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/training-technique\/learn-the-backstroke-breathing-technique\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"backstroke\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In backstroke there is no danger of swallowing water due to bad timing. But that does not mean you can breathe whenever you like! Tips &amp; exercises\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/training-technique\/learn-the-backstroke-breathing-technique\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The arena swimming blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/arenawaterinstinct\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-06T07:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-06T08:39:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/backstroke_breathing_blog_800_main.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"arena coaches\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@arenapeople\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@arenapeople\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"arena coaches\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/training-technique\/learn-the-backstroke-breathing-technique\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/training-technique\/learn-the-backstroke-breathing-technique\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"arena coaches\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/91c21c5610edd50a7a1df7dd9794cc76\"},\"headline\":\"Learn the backstroke breathing technique\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-06T07:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-06T08:39:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/training-technique\/learn-the-backstroke-breathing-technique\/\"},\"wordCount\":446,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"backstroke\",\"beginners\",\"breathing\",\"intermediate\",\"technique\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Training &amp; Technique\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/training-technique\/learn-the-backstroke-breathing-technique\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/training-technique\/learn-the-backstroke-breathing-technique\/\",\"name\":\"backstroke\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-06T07:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-06T08:39:03+00:00\",\"description\":\"In backstroke there is no danger of swallowing water due to bad timing. But that does not mean you can breathe whenever you like! Tips & exercises\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/training-technique\/learn-the-backstroke-breathing-technique\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/training-technique\/learn-the-backstroke-breathing-technique\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/training-technique\/learn-the-backstroke-breathing-technique\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Training &amp; Technique\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/training-technique\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Learn the backstroke breathing technique\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/\",\"name\":\"The arena swimming blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"arena\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/LOGO-ARENA-VERTICAL-POSITIVE.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/LOGO-ARENA-VERTICAL-POSITIVE.png\",\"width\":380,\"height\":268,\"caption\":\"arena\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/instagram.com\/arenawaterinstinct\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.it\/arenawaterinstinct\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/arenapeople\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/arenawaterinstinct\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/arenapeople\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/91c21c5610edd50a7a1df7dd9794cc76\",\"name\":\"arena coaches\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7e23921d09b844f921940782248c6faf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7e23921d09b844f921940782248c6faf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"arena coaches\"},\"description\":\"Swim coaches, trainers and experts will give you all kinds of tips for performing at your best in both training and races.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/author\/arenacoaches\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"backstroke","description":"In backstroke there is no danger of swallowing water due to bad timing. But that does not mean you can breathe whenever you like! Tips & exercises","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/training-technique\/learn-the-backstroke-breathing-technique\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"backstroke","og_description":"In backstroke there is no danger of swallowing water due to bad timing. But that does not mean you can breathe whenever you like! Tips & exercises","og_url":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/training-technique\/learn-the-backstroke-breathing-technique\/","og_site_name":"The arena swimming blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/arenawaterinstinct\/","article_published_time":"2023-10-06T07:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-10-06T08:39:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/backstroke_breathing_blog_800_main.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"arena coaches","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@arenapeople","twitter_site":"@arenapeople","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"arena coaches","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/training-technique\/learn-the-backstroke-breathing-technique\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/training-technique\/learn-the-backstroke-breathing-technique\/"},"author":{"name":"arena coaches","@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/91c21c5610edd50a7a1df7dd9794cc76"},"headline":"Learn the backstroke breathing technique","datePublished":"2023-10-06T07:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-06T08:39:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/training-technique\/learn-the-backstroke-breathing-technique\/"},"wordCount":446,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#organization"},"keywords":["backstroke","beginners","breathing","intermediate","technique"],"articleSection":["Training &amp; Technique"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/training-technique\/learn-the-backstroke-breathing-technique\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/training-technique\/learn-the-backstroke-breathing-technique\/","name":"backstroke","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-10-06T07:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-06T08:39:03+00:00","description":"In backstroke there is no danger of swallowing water due to bad timing. But that does not mean you can breathe whenever you like! Tips & exercises","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/training-technique\/learn-the-backstroke-breathing-technique\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/training-technique\/learn-the-backstroke-breathing-technique\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/training-technique\/learn-the-backstroke-breathing-technique\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Training &amp; Technique","item":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/training-technique\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Learn the backstroke breathing technique"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/","name":"The arena swimming blog","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#organization","name":"arena","url":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/LOGO-ARENA-VERTICAL-POSITIVE.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/LOGO-ARENA-VERTICAL-POSITIVE.png","width":380,"height":268,"caption":"arena"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/instagram.com\/arenawaterinstinct","https:\/\/www.pinterest.it\/arenawaterinstinct\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/arenapeople","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/arenawaterinstinct\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/arenapeople"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/91c21c5610edd50a7a1df7dd9794cc76","name":"arena coaches","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7e23921d09b844f921940782248c6faf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7e23921d09b844f921940782248c6faf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"arena coaches"},"description":"Swim coaches, trainers and experts will give you all kinds of tips for performing at your best in both training and races.","url":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/author\/arenacoaches\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67260"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1372"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67260"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102437,"href":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67260\/revisions\/102437"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}