I've been wanting to start this thread for a while-- we have one about flutter kicking, SDK, and speed. If I may be so bold, I'd like to see one on how to improve your capacity for hypoxic sets.
After getting back into swimming about 4 months ago, I have noticed a decrease in my ability to handle hypoxic sets, and in general, in my ability to stay underwater for any significant length of time. I find myself trying to get to the surface as soon as possible after turning at the wall so I can get some air. I know this is slowing me down significantly.
As for breathing while actually swimming, I seem to have no problems-- I am pretty much a bilateral breather (every three strokes). It's when I'm coming into the wall or leaving the wall where I have problems, as I can't seem to hold my breath and am always breaking the cardinal rule of not breathing while in the "red zone."
We do at least one hypoxic set per day, and not surprisingly, I usually have problems (although I do try to make it).
Any tips for how to improve, or does this just come with practice and increased aerobic capacity?
Former Member
It's just the psychological tolerance of the carbon dioxide.
This is why you need to practice doing SDK's in training. If you don't you will be gasping for breath in competition. You have to train yourself to tolerate the co2.
But you should get yourself timed and make sure that you are actually faster under the water. You might find that your SDK's are not powerful enough and that you would be better off surfacing earlier. I had myself timed about a year back and found that my time actually increased when I went over 2 SDK's per length. That was quite an eye opener for me. Not everyone is equally good at SDK'ing Doesn't mean that you have to give up on it. The more you practice, the better you will get. It might just mean that you will have to delay it as a competition tactic until a later date.
Hypoxic stuff is good for warmdowns... we have a couple of coaches who will give us a set of 50s at the end of workout, working our way down 1 breath at a time until we get to 2 breaths per 50.
Sometimes I like them for warmups, too. Or for working on increasing efficiency.
As a somewhat beginning swimmer, I find that the boring 3-5-7 hypoxic sets FORCE me to work on efficiency in my stroke. When I started swimming it took me 22-25 strokes per 25 yards and there was certainly no way I could breathe every 7th stroke while splashing around that way. When we did (or do) hypoxic sets, I had to force myself to concentrate on keeping a long stroke and rolling from my core in order to finish the assigned set. Not that I have a very efficient stroke, but my stroke count is down to 14-16 per 25 yards. So, there IS value in hypoxic sets depending on what you want to get out of them.
I guess I should have clarified. By wanting to improve my "hypoxic capacity" I do not mean that I want to improve my capacity for hypoxic sets; what I mean is that I want to be able to to stay underwater for greater lengths of time so I can work on holding streamline longer, do SDKs off the turn, and not "rush" my first pull (which I tend to do). I would be considered at somewhat of a "starting point" in this respect, since I just returned to swimming (after doing age group when I was a kid) only 3 1/2 months ago. So far my technique and endurance have improved immensely; now I'd like to start working on the finer details (such as referenced above).
You should consider it a long-term project. I am still trying to improve my distance/effectiveness off the walls even after working on it for many years.
Start small: have a goal of X minimum number of kicks (even, say, 2 dolphin kicks) off each wall in a practice and STICK TO IT for all your swims in practice. When that feels comfortable -- easy, even -- then increase it to 3, etc. It may be months or even a year before you are comfortable and ready to move to the next level (though hopefully improvement will be faster at first).
Doing "shooters" 25s -- fast underwater no-breathers, holding very tight streamline -- should help too. If you can't make it all the way without taking a breath, make it as far as you can, surface and kick HARD the rest of the way in. Try to increase the distance (or number of kicks) you can do before taking a breath on a given interval. Make sure you get good rest; I would suggest a 50% duty cycle (ie, an interval that is double your typical time) as a starting point. Use fins if you must but do not become overly dependent on them; you should be able to do the set without fins too.
Certainly increasing basic CV conditioning and core strength will also help.
Well at the beginning of this thread I thought we were talking about the useless 3-5-7-9 drills because when most people say "hypoxic" in the sport of swimming, that's what they mean. I do endorse SDK's and I try to train just like I compete. My SDK count has slowly crept up over the years, indicative of some adaptation.
I guess I should have clarified. By wanting to improve my "hypoxic capacity" I do not mean that I want to improve my capacity for hypoxic sets; what I mean is that I want to be able to to stay underwater for greater lengths of time so I can work on holding streamline longer, do SDKs off the turn, and not "rush" my first pull (which I tend to do). I would be considered at somewhat of a "starting point" in this respect, since I just returned to swimming (after doing age group when I was a kid) only 3 1/2 months ago. So far my technique and endurance have improved immensely; now I'd like to start working on the finer details (such as referenced above).
Also, I apologize if I opened up a can of worms by using the term "hypoxic." I didn't realize this was such a controversial subject! (We always did hypoxic sets when I was a kid, and didn't know that people are now questioning their effectiveness.)
