Why Am I Exhausted After Swimming 50m!?

Are you struggling to swim further than 50 meters? Often this doesn’t make any sense - you might be able to run for 2 hours or cycle for 4 hours. You’re fit. So why does 50m of swimming leave you totally exhausted?! Well, you’re not alone. And the answer may surprise you so keep watching!

Intro 0:00
Why is swimming so hard? 0:46
The Main Reason 1:32
Holding Your Breath 3:15
Exhaling Too Much 3:55
Rushing 4:39
Too Much or Too Little 5:15
Other causes 7:00
Overkicking 7:17
Swimming Too Hard 7:52
Poor Balance & Sinking Legs 8:36
High Head & Slow Hands 9:02

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[arkafon]

Thank you for your "permission" to breath on just one side on 2 strokes! Switched today and was able to easily swim laps without a break, whereas just a day before I was gassed out at 1 lap doing the 3-stroke breathing. I've been swimming 3-4 days a week since Jan, but my technique and lung capacity is simply not there yet to "swim like the pros". Today was actually enjoyable and I am finally confident I can start working toward clearing that 1000m mark in one go!!

[robertlebo]

Two years ago, I could barely make it to the other side of the 25 meter pool. When I did get there, I clung to the edge as if it was the last life preserver on the Titanic. I watched hundreds of You Tube videos, and the ones that really helped me improve were the Ocean Walking or Ocean Crawling. Long story short, I now swim 3 days a week : 2 miles, 3 miles, and then 4 miles, with a day off in between. I have sacrificed speed for distance. I swim a very slow 50 minute mile. But at age 72 I am thrilled to be able to swim 4 miles without stopping except for some water. I breathe every two strokes and always on the left side. I do VERY LITTLE kicking. Little tips/secrets I have picked up along the way include “Barbie hands” position; thumb touching hip then shoulder each stroke; not spending the time I have left on earth to learn how to flip turn; and not being embarrassed or ashamed that I am the slowest swimmer in the pool. I focus on being streamlined and stretching/reaching arms way out front to keep my legs up. I really like my time in the pool, and especially like it when someone in the changing room asks me “how far today” and I say 4 miles, and some buffed 25year old hotshot speeder quit after 30 lengths.

[paulmcilwraith]

As a 59 year old learning to swim properly, my biggest obstacle is the breathing part. Excellent video, thank you very much

[zmli]

hi GTN, i am the guy who can cycle 100 km or run a marathon but struggle to swim 50 or 100m without being out of breath. I tried working on each aspect of my technique (catch, pull, timing of kick, body rotation, head level when breathing, etc) but to no effect on my distance. Then i discovered it was my breathing: not so much about exhaling when head is in the water, but more about exhaling completely in the water. To attain complete exhalation in the water, i lengthened my glide & lowered by arms cadence to give myself more time to exhale completely in the water. My pace is reduced of course, but i can now comfortably swim sets of 400-500m no problem.

[ktech]

Great video, 4months ago I couldn't do 50m. I got a coach who specialised in Total Immersion method. I now can do 1.2km non-stop. Now working on improving speed. It was 90% technique 10% fitness. Pretty much everything you mentioned above I was doing wrong.

[kautzz]

Spot on! A year ago I could barely do 50m without a pause. Worked on my breathing (especially exhaling and switching to 2 stokes), dialed down my legwork to -10000 and it helped immensely. Still perfecting it, but 2000m in one go ain't a problem today. Now slowly starting to get into breathing every 3 strokes.

[TheGnumpen]

Watching this to get prepared for tomorrow. Going back to swimming after 11 years. Already super excited!

[UltraMegaSandwich]

So glad you mentioned breathing every 2. There's such a weird dogma in swimming that you have to breathe every 3. I have always breathed every 2 unless sprinting or in competition.

[WILDFOXRUNNING]

Awesome video Mark!
Albert here, a thing I started doing a while back and have stuck with it is:
During warm do 2x100m breathing every 3, and 2x100m breathing every 5. I know, it gets tough during the 5’s, but you learn to control the breathing better and best of all, when you go back to breathing every 3 or 2 it feels effortless. Couldn’t recommend to try it enough 💪🏻 happy swimming

[pablojimenez]

Swiming stressed also make you tired.
Everything star when you approach the change room, dress, take shower, put the goggles, enter the pool and start to swim in a relaxed way.
Doing a few pools in a relaxing style help before alternate styles and eventually increasin the frecuenci and speed
Then you will be surprise for how long you can swim without geting tired and enjoying it.
Swim like an open water long distance swimer, in a relaxed way
If you can swim hours without getting tired, then water is your best friend
Also, don't forget your strenght resistance traineng in the gym: 3 series of dumbell exercises, shoulders and backexercises, running, pull ups
Appropiate diet and rest,

[SWIMSMARTCOACHING]

Excellent post thank you. Probably 75% of struggling swimmers I see are trying to force all the air out of their lungs to "empty" them with makes them sinky, panicky and verging on hyperventilating so if you don't find "emptying" works for you, try exhaling a little more gently (with a little more forceful out through the nose as you turn to breathe). Breathe as naturally and calmly as possible relative to effort level.

[desroin]

What kept me back in the beginning was that unconscious sense of "drowning" (due to having your head submerged all the time in freestyle stroke). Friend of mine then took me to the 4.5m deep jumping section of the pool and we'd go diving there to get used to not being able to breathe freely. Really helped tbh

[janverbanck]

On another swimming channel, they pointed out that you should breathe out under water through the nose as this would lead to less CO2 buildup....I followed this advice and although I can't really explain the effect myself it helps me a lot. My distances improved significantly.

[iangraham]

Thanks to GTN I started swimming freestyle in Feb this year, and I was struggling just like Mark said. I have watched their YouTube channel diligently every week since and have now completed a 6 km (Pool) swim in 2 hours - not bad for a 65-year-old!
So many tips, ideas, and explanations for mastering the front crawl stroke - it's been just amazing! Thanks guys.

[theondebray]

One point: I've always taught pupils (and myself) when swimming front crawl to bring you arms forward LOW over the water, like an oar, so the weight of the arms isn't pushing your body down into the water. The opposite for back crawl, bring you arms high up in the air whilst bringing the power arm in the water as deep as poss for maximum stroke length. Also maximising effective stroke length in the water, not slapping the water either.

[ttitova]

I do not even know where to start to thank you for this video! I have wanted to try myself at triathlon for the past 5 years at least!
For that I had to learn how to swim, as I never learned how to properly swim before.

For that I have started swimming classes at he beginning of September. Yet, by the end of March I was still not able to swim more then 50 meters before I needed a break gasping for air. So the prospect of doing my sprint triathlon at beginning of June became very bleak.

I have started looking online for the swimming tips though. And the statement at the beginning of this video was a complete game changer. It really didn't make sense to me that I can cycle for hours, run for an hour, but cannot swim more then 50 meters.

The major mistakes that I had was actually kicking too hard and was trying to breathe every 3 strokes. Once I changed breathing for 2 and stopped kicking like crazy I have finally started to make an insanely fast progress.

I am so proud, that I have done my Winsor sprint triathlon in June. And I wasn't even tired! So really looking now to try an Olympic distance triathlon in my next one!

Thank you so much!!!

[levifromthehood]

In my case I know the answer with a 100% certainty: I can't swim :D

[ancliuin]

Again and again helpful tips from you guys. I cannot thank you enough!

[dgriley]

I used to swim competitively. Swam every so often for the last 10 years. I’ve always done training blocks breathing every 3, 5, 7, 9, 9, 7, 5, 3 and fitness wise in every other aspect seemed to be incredible and spike red blood cell count.

After watching this video and training today. I think that this practice was teaching me to hold my breath rather than breathe out properly!

Such a simple change and already made a huge difference, training with tumble turns seemed impossible, but today felt great.

[Tommy-zuvb]

This video couldn't have been timed better. I have started training for my first half-ironman, and I have always been in good shape for biking and running, but swimming is just like a roadblock.
I can't implement anything from my strength training, biking or running and it frustrates me every time I am done with my swimming session because I don't feel any progress.
At the moment I can only do 25 meters and I am out of breath like I ran a 100 m sprint. I really hope I can improve my swimming >.<