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?

Something similar to this: Amazon product ASIN B0D46XRBVR

 

[Cinceres]

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?

You can practice breath holds by swimming laps underwater or using a no-fins technique for short distances (maybe across half of a 25m pool), which mimics dynamic apnea. Start with very gradual increases to avoid hyperventilation or overexertion, which could lead to hypoxia.

 

[Cinceres]

Many freedivers start with swim training as a foundation but later add specific static or walking apnea sessions and dedicated CO2 tables (specific breathing exercises) to enhance CO2 tolerance and recovery.

space waves​

 

[cdavis]

My experience mirrors vrokhlenko's. Swimming is a good base, but freedivng takes different physiological pathways and the best way to produce them is diving. I don't get frequent chances to dive, so I do dry exercises to maintain chest flexibility and mimic real diving as much as possible. Doing dry exercises makes it possible to be reasonably competent on day 1, but It still takes at least a week to get all the way back into the freediving groove.

 

[cdavis]

To the college swimmer question: Yes, some college swimmers freedive. By definition they are in super shape and have a well developed co2 tolerance. In my limited experiance, this gives some of them a significant day one performance advantage, but they still need to get their bodies into freedive mode to excel.