Hi,
I posted this on another swimming web site but then I found this one and it seems to have a bit more activity so I thought I'd post it on here as well.
I'm a fairly new swimmer (been doing it for about 2 months) and although I have progressed quite a bit there is still one thing that I have a problem with which is getting tired. Here's what happens to me:
When I first kick off the wall everything is fine, technique is good and breathing is good. In fact, I am going at a pretty decent pace and am having absolutely no problems. But at around 75m to 100m I seem to just hit a wall and all of a sudden I feel like I am swimming in a vat of molasses and going really slow. Eventually my form starts to break down and I find it difficult to get a breath. I don't know why this happens and was wondering if anyone else had experienced this or would have any suggestions on getting past this ? I don't think it's my technique because, as I said, everything is totally fine up to a certain point (i.e. stroke is good, I'm maintaining a pretty good horizontal position to minimize drag and breathing is good in that I am exhaling completely, or as completely as I can, underwater and getting a pretty good gulp of air when I do breath) and then it's like WHAM! I just start getting really slow. I'm also in good shape since I ski, mountain bike and hike so I know my lungs should be fine, but when I'm swimming I just reach a point where I get so tired I need to rest. Anyone have any suggestions.
Joe--
VO2 max is extremely sports specific. Researchers have done one-legged bicycle training trials where they get volunteers to exercise their right legs but not their left legs. After getting the one leg in shape, their VO2 max is great in the trained leg--but pathetic in the unlegged one.
Now factor in that other sports simply don't train your swimming muscles very well. You might be in great running or cross country skiing or biking shape, but this really doesn't confer much advantage at all in swimming. To get endurance in swimming, you need to do a lot of swimming--gradually work your way up in the distance, giving your body time to adapt.
You may also have more "fast twitch" muscles than "slow twitch" ones, which means you'll end up being better ultimately at sprinting than distance swimming. Still, if you have endurance in other sports, it would seem to me that you can develop endurance in swimming as well. Remember: Rome was not built in a day, and it can take a while to train muscle groups that have never been seriously worked before (at least in an edurance sense.) Keep at it, adding no more than 10 percent a week to keep injuries at bay.
Joe--
VO2 max is extremely sports specific. Researchers have done one-legged bicycle training trials where they get volunteers to exercise their right legs but not their left legs. After getting the one leg in shape, their VO2 max is great in the trained leg--but pathetic in the unlegged one.
Now factor in that other sports simply don't train your swimming muscles very well. You might be in great running or cross country skiing or biking shape, but this really doesn't confer much advantage at all in swimming. To get endurance in swimming, you need to do a lot of swimming--gradually work your way up in the distance, giving your body time to adapt.
You may also have more "fast twitch" muscles than "slow twitch" ones, which means you'll end up being better ultimately at sprinting than distance swimming. Still, if you have endurance in other sports, it would seem to me that you can develop endurance in swimming as well. Remember: Rome was not built in a day, and it can take a while to train muscle groups that have never been seriously worked before (at least in an edurance sense.) Keep at it, adding no more than 10 percent a week to keep injuries at bay.
