Archives of Swimming

What signals the body to breathe?

Breathing is a fundamental process that keeps us alive. Our bodies require oxygen (O2) to produce energy, and as a result of this energy production, carbon dioxide (CO2) is produced as a “waste product”. This intricate exchange between oxygen and carbon dioxide drives the functioning of our cells. The amount of CO2 in our bloodstream […]
9 months ago

INTERMITTENT HYPOXIC TRAINING (IHT) PART 2/4

Intermittent Hypoxic Training The last blog introduced desaturation, which is where we intentionally reduce Oxygen (02) supply to the tissues at rest or when we are exercising. This is done in various ways, which is what we will explore this post.   Just a reminder: Red Blood Cells are the cars driving around our blood […]
5 years ago

How to breathe underwater – A definitive guide

How do we breathe when we’re underwater? Does it matter how we breathe? let’s find out if it matters!   I recently had a SCUBA and free-diving holiday on a liveaboard in Komoda National Park, Indonesia. It made me think critically about what exactly happens to the breath and our body when we are breathing using […]
6 years ago

How Breath training makes you swim faster

How Breath training makes you swim faster….. Research in the field of breath training for sports improvement dates back a number of years from the pioneers in the 1960s with Campbell & Howell, who before ethics committees existed, use to knock themselves out with anaesthetic and look at the mediating factors for shortness of breath. […]
6 years ago

Why do we go to the gym?

There are many reasons we see patients, athletes and everyday people going to the gym. The health benefits have been well documented but here are a few reasons we might not think of straight away. Strong Bones – going to the gym maintains the strength of your bones. This becomes particularly important for elderly females […]
6 years ago

Some FAQs about the breath, whats yours?

I have compiled a list of the 5 most common questions I get about the breath from my friends, colleagues, patients and athletes. If you have one, please send it through. 1. Do we take breathing for granted? Is it something we should be devoting more attention towards?   Its useful  to think of our […]
6 years ago

Podcast – Swimming performance

Not long ago I had a very interesting discussion with Brenton Ford from Effortless swimming. An ex-swimmer and coach, we discuss what it takes to improve your swimming with a focus on the breath.   Uncovering The Breath Training Secrets Used By Olympic Swimmers with James Fletcher   Email me with any questions james@fletchertechniques.com
6 years ago

The Low down on Altitude Masks

Today’s post is going to be short and sharp. Altitude masks have been on my mind this week as I see more friends and amateur athletes add them to their training programs and altitude gyms keep popping up around me. So, of course I decided to take a look from a science perspective. First of […]
6 years ago

Underwater Swimming & Breath Training

We are going to take a look at an article by (Wylegala et al 2007) published in the European Journal of Physiology, which looks at the mechanisms of how IMT improves surface and underwater swimming to exhaustion. This may include Olympic swimming disciplines, Tri-athalon, Free-diving, Surfing, Underwater hockey along with other aquatic sports. In the […]
7 years ago