Hypoxic Advice/Workouts--Not Your opinion of Hypox Efficacy

At least once a week (I think on Thursdays) we seem to do some type of hypoxic stuff....a few examples: 5x200, breathing every 3, 5, 7, 9 by 50 (on about 3:00), some people will wear paddles 5x50, starting at 5 breaths per 50, down to 1 breath (or less), twice through (on about a minute) 6x25 underwater swimming, however you can get to the other side underwater (on about 45 sec) You can vary the intervals...I think you're about the same speed so see if these work for you.

Using the FINIS snorkel can definitely can be similar to a hypoxic set...especially if you "forget" yourself and go a little too hard. Some of the local USS and college coaches use those constrictor thingies (cardio caps?) that are supposed to simulate altitude training (sounds a little dubious to me). That's a bit much for me.

I really don't get the point of holding your breath for long sets. That's a completely useless skill for racing. A while ago I decided that I always wanted to swim the 50 free without breathing. All I had to do was swim a 50 without breathing every once in a while and I had the skill down. No need to do any long hypoxic sets. What, other than your own personal observations and feelings, do you have to support this statement? Which of your coaches has told you this?

I really don't get the point of holding your breath for long sets. That's a completely useless skill for racing. A pretty strong statement, though I know many who agree with you. I disagree, though: -- I like hypoxic sets for conditioning and to train for SDKs at the end of a race, especially a 200. -- I also like doing them during taper because they raise the heart-rate but do not really stress the muscles too much (ie, recovery is quick) -- that allows me to get my endorphin fix without ruining my taper. (I always get itchy for more exercise during taper time.) -- Finally, a good hypoxic set encourages efficient swimming: you try to swim as fast as you can with the least effort (or you can't make the set!). Hypoxic training does not have to be "breathe every 7 for the whole swim." It could be something like "take no fewer than 7 SDKs off every turn." This is all just my opinion, of course; don't do hypoxic training if you don't like it.

Sorry, amigo, a "quick Google search" following your post isn't gonna cut it. I don't believe you have the coaching or training background to make such assertions. If others on the forum with experience feel the way you do, then I will give it more credibility. Further you quoted only part of the article and the whole article is available for a fee. Did you pay the fee and read the whole thing or just pick and choose from the excerpt what you wanted?

Unless I'm not remembering correctly (and this could be), I think Terry Laughlin disputed the efficacy of hypoxic training many months ago. With respect to freestyle sets where you breathe every 3-5-7 or some other restrictive breathing pattern, I have no idea. I don't do them. However, I think shooters and dolphin kicking sets are invaluable for streamlining and SDKs. The more I'm underwater, the easier it is to stay underwater. When I back off the SDKs, I'm not as effective. I cut back on them during my last taper. That was a big mistake. I feel like I have to re-train myself. I'm trying Chris' taper trick next time. I have no "evidence" to support this view. It just works for me in my personal experience. And these limited type of hypoxic sets have been assigned by coaches.

JH - the way to state what you feel, given your lack of research, experience and knowledge on the subject should have been as follows: There are studies and coaches that don't support hypoxic training, along with studies and coaches that do support it. I have chosen to side with the ones that don't support it and it seems to work that way for me. Given, by your own numerous previous admissions, that you are entirely self taught and coached presently, making a statement that it is a useless skill for racing is way too strong and not adequately supported.

I'm not buying it. Only when pressed on your statement did you provide an excerpt from a "quick google search." And, you have admitted you didn't read the whole article. Now you are claiming you have done quite a bit of reading previously on the subject. And, you have admitted to having many years of hypoxic training from coaches but have chosen, once again, to go it alone and use a partial abstract from a google article as your basis for your swimming. I think it's fine that you are doing this but please don't hold yourself out as some sort of learned research expert on the topic.

I'm in the I/T field and fully understand Google. I understand it well enough to know it isn't the be all and end all of research that apparently you believe it to be. God help us all if the basis of scholarly research in the US these days is based on google searches solely.

Let's forget the science of it all. Noooo. It'd be nice to know if it has a scientific basis! Here's a prior thread. There are some others too. forums.usms.org/showthread.php It didn't seem to me like JH was holding himself out as a "learned" expert with his initial post. Seemed like an opinion.