I was talking to an old high school classmate of mine who was on the swim team. He said that the coach liked to work the team so hard during practice that somebody would end up puking. This story is probably hyperbole, but I wonder -- what is the physiological mechanism that results in nausea, light-headedness and cold sweats when one over-exerts oneself in this way??
Former Member
Hypoxia, acidosis, etc all related to anerobic metabolism.
Not a good thing for training from the research I have read.
I remember an intramural meet at CMU, where the meet organizer yuked after swimming. But we all attributed that to the fact that he ate at Taco Bell for lunch. :D
Matt, You are so right. Swimming needs to be fun if you want to prevent burnout. Working out to the point of feeling like you are going to get sick is not enjoyable! My problem is I am so sporadic in my workouts, sometimes only able to workout 2 days a week and other weeks I'm able to go 6 days. I tend to workout to the "puke" point after a 2 workout week when I feel like I have to make up for lost time. I don't do it intentionally. I think it is just being a little too intense sometimes! I think being a sprinter predisposes me to do this! I don't know how to pace myself. I'm learning the hard way.
I won't make assumptions about any particular individual's swimming goals; however, I know my reason for participating in Masters is the long range health benefits, and my desire to stay involved for years to come. Getting as fast as possible for a season or a big meet is secondary. Moreover, I'm hearing something similar from a large number of masters swimmers, here and in other forums.
So, I can't imagine that anyone other than a masochist would look forward to exercise sufficiently intense to induce vomiting on a regular basis. Yeah, maybe push the envelope every once in a while and risk it, but who is going to stick with an exercise program that has you puking more often than not?
Let's get real. Boredom is the biggest obstacle to long term participation in swimming. Forget injuries, aging, schedules, etc. These are all obstacles you can overcome to get at least some swimming in. But, you won't want to if you aren't having a good time. Forget whether it's physically safe to do vomit inducing physical exercise regularly. Look at what it would do psychologically.
Matt
Unfortunately, I felt like that earlier this week! I think many of us who are now in our late 30's and 40's and swam when we were younger were programmed to believe the "NO PAIN NO GAIN" and "SWIM TIL YOU PUKE" mentality. Swimmers train so much smarter now. I'm wondering....if you only swim 3-4 days a week wouldn't it be ok to train this way? If you are allowing for recovery, what is the harm?
it really isn't that uncommon- seen it myself (in another sport0- on some sets, my coach does sometimes say that he wants us to swim as fast as possible until we feel like we're going to be sick...
I don't have a reference immediately at hand (read: too lazy to find it right now), but I have read from varied physiologists' research that the best training occurs just below the indvidual's anerobic threshold.
I should say that by training I mean increased in VO2 max, lung volumes, overall cardiovascular conditioning. I am unsure if this applies to Total Lung Volume (TLC), muscle strength, or other training goals.
When you train to the point o' puke, it is safe to say you have exceeded your anerobic threshold for enough time to cause some pretty impressive metabolic changes. Even with adequate recovery time, I don't think this would improve training for what a lot of us exercise for (overall fitness).
I wish I could remember where I read the article on anerobic training (swimming many laps underwater)... darn it was just recently too... according to the article it was a very popular form of training years ago but recent research is indicating that it is more dangerous than beneficial and is a huge no no.
Well, it depends upon how its handled. Swimming underwater for maybe 15 yards in a 25 pool is ok. I done it in a 15 yard pool. And doing less breaths on fly or free in a 25 is ok. I can't do the whole thing with out breathing in a 25 yard pool but I can in a 15 yard pool. The coaches in school or age group make people do it 50 meters, even as a kid I came up for one breath in a 50 meter.
