3 Essential Breathing Drills

Today’s Focus:

Master breathing drills before attempting breathing while swimming…

Let’s Unpack:

Learning to breathe while swimming isn’t just a technique — it’s a nervous system reset.

And if you try to breathe too soon, during a pull-down stroke or while gliding forward, your brain may scream:

That’s because your body hasn’t yet learned that it’s safe to lift your face forward and open your mouth in the water.

If you try too early, here’s what often happens:

• You inhale water

• You lift too high and sink

• You miss the breath and panic

• You start believing “I just can’t get it”

But it’s not that you can’t — it’s that your body isn’t allowing it… It’s a protection mechanism and we haven’t learned how to turn it off… yet.

Here’s Your 3-Part Forward Breathing Playbook:

Watch the video demonstration here

1. Out-of-Water Forward Breath – 50 Reps
Find a comfortable place to lay down. Practice exhaling, lifting your head forward, and taking a breath. This is your dryland rep to train the pattern before adding water.

2. Wall Forward Breath – 50 Reps
Hold the wall. Blow bubbles into the water, then lift your head up above the water to take a breath before putting it back into the water and repeating the movement.

3. Walking Pull-Down Forward Breath – 50 Reps
Now stand in the shallow end. Begin a walking pull-down stroke. As you finish your arm pull and begin your next pull, lift your face forward out of the water and inhale before returning your head into the water and repeating.

Each drill teaches your nervous system:

Final Thought:

Trying to breathe too soon is like trying to run before you’ve learned how to walk.

These three drills prepare your mind, your body, and your breath — they relax the nervous system and turn off the defenses… allowing you to get air when you want.

Big love,
Coach Jeff & Coach Meredith
Caribe Swim Founders