Swimming Laps

[ragin_caju]

I'm new to the forum. I've read through some of the pretty complex explanations here of breath holding, how to get better at it, what to train to get better -- such as, Co2 tolerance, MDR, static apnea, walking apnea, dynamic no fins, etc. All very interesting -- there's a lot going on that I didn't realize.

I'm wondering -- would just plain old swimming laps be a good way to get better at breath holds, freediving, spearfishing? Just swim laps freestyle in a 25 meter pool, 4-5 days a week? Say ... 1100-1200 meters a day, 4-5 days a week. Start slowly trying to swim laps with longer intervals between breaths? Longer underwaters on the flip turns?

Seems like you'd have plenty of days with moderately higher Co2 levels, you'd be building CV conditioning, and you're in water so the MDR would be involved, too.

Any info on this in a post or article here? What are others' experiences?

 

[vrokhlenko]

I have been a swimmer (various swim teams, now recreational but hard) for 53 years. Any anaerobic exercise will help. But be careful. I tried increasing breathing interval while swimming and got headaches. I talked to one of the top freedivers in the world and he experienced the same. The issue probably is that when you swim you are hardly relaxed while freediving is a science about relaxation. So in off-season I use one of those gizmos that restricts breathing while watching TV

 

[ragin_caju]

I have been a swimmer (various swim teams, now recreational but hard) for 53 years. Any anaerobic exercise will help. But be careful. I tried increasing breathing interval while swimming and got headaches. I talked to one of the top freedivers in the world and he experienced the same. The issue probably is that when you swim you are hardly relaxed while freediving is a science about relaxation. So in off-season I use one of those gizmos that restricts breathing while watching TV

“Trained” swimmers, athletes with coaches, do they typically train to breathe less? If I could swim freestyle without ever breathing, I think I’d swim faster. Breathing slows you down, right?

If so, then …. Does a D-1 swimmer at Auburn have an awesome breath hold? Do collegiate swimmers freedive?

 

[vrokhlenko]

“Trained” swimmers, athletes with coaches, do they typically train to breathe less? If I could swim freestyle without ever breathing, I think I’d swim faster. Breathing slows you down, right?

If so, then …. Does a D-1 swimmer at Auburn have an awesome breath hold? Do collegiate swimmers freedive?

My swimming career started 54 years ago and I extremely rarely was given drills with increased intervals between breathing. Maybe somebody with current experience will provide a better input. Breathing indeed slows you down but lack of oxygen will slow you down even more - so you have to find a balance. As far as swimmers' breath hold - it is obviously better than average. But when I was a kid - I spearfished a month every summer after 2 months of a swim camp. Where I had two training sessions per day. It would take me at least a week of diving to get in a proper shape. Also when I would come back from spearing to resume swimming training in September - I had about two weeks of an exceptional lung capacity and was easily beating my teammates in endurance. But after that this effect would disappear. So from my experience swimming will help you but to a degree after which you must start diving or do special exercises. However if you have a huge lung capacity - 6-7 liters - it will be a huge boost in swimming, especially in underwater kicking after turns. most people have about 5 and the larger your body is - the more at disadvantage you are

 

[ragin_caju]

I So in off-season I use one of those gizmos that restricts breathing while watching TV

huh? What you talkin about? Should I be doing this, too? Where do I get one of those?

 

[vrokhlenko]

huh? What you talkin about? Should I be doing this, too? Where do I get one of those?

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