Zone 2 swimming per Dr Peter Attia

Graham,

Several additional aspects to consider with Zone training:

1. Many of the heart rate studies and recommendations were developed for runners.  Swimmers, because we don't "fight" gravity, have, on average according to the literature, a maximum heart rate about 10 bpm lower.  Not quite sure how to manage that when my HR is already exceeding the various Zone guidelines for runners.
2. Training too hard can suppress the immune system which leads to impaired performance and higher risk of respiratory issues.
3. And, training too hard can result in a higher risk of injury.  This is definitely a problem for runners due to pounding.  For swimmers with technique issues, shoulders will be the first to be compromised.

Yesterday, my HR was around 140-145 for about 1/3 of the practice.  Today, I feel some fatigue and a sore throat - which I hope is not a cold coming on.  Looking forward to a "leisurely" zone 2 swim today. 

Paul

Hey Paul,

Thanks for contributing.  My father, now 84, had ablation surgery in his mid 70s after a lifetime of playing basketball in high school, university and then pick up games with former Rockets players in Houston while he aged.  Said the ablation was the greatest surgery gift he'd ever given himself and said he should have done it earlier.  Don't know if that helps your confidence.  He's got Lewy body dementia now but I feel that was from low lipid maintenance and belief in the AHA boogeyman of cholesterol bad, low fat good (aka sugar replaces fat to live longer BS media campaign). 

I picked up Attia's book for that reason alone (fear of dementia) since I don't have any genetic markers that show I'll develop Alzheimer's or any other related mental degradation.  THANK GOD for my Cajun wife I met 15 years ago.  At 36 I was avoiding dietary fat, saturated fats etc.  She changed all that by pointing out all her relatives who lived to near 100 and beyond and adhered to a butter rich (real dairy fat butter), low sugar intake diet.  Further investigation showed the proof I needed and thus I switched my diet, started taking supplements that my alleles in my genome weren't taking from food efficiently enough, and yet, I still drank a ton.  I never corelated the alcohol vs heart and mind damage.  There is a fantastic Andrew Huberman Lap Podcast about alcohol that every swimmer who likes to "drink like a fish" should listen to and learn from.  If you are addicted to booze when you die, you get a free trip back to Earth over and over until you beat the addiction.  Sad but absolute truth. 

It was Huberman's podcast that featured Attia one day, and thus, I jumped down the rabbit hole and off I went.  I bought the hard cover copy so I could lug it around and feel the pages and learn with highlights and margin notes.  I love his notes about stretching and flexibility, hand grip strength etc.  All very important items for aging gracefully.  I saw a bunch of masters swimmers in April at Y Nationals and many had little no tendon flexibility, lots of bad backs where reliance on lap swimming gave them an "out" to doing more to age properly.  The ones who had muscle in their 70s were flexible and had a pep in their step that was very noticeable.  They also swam faster, which is understandable.

I swim at a Y here near my house and notice the Western Medicine 2.0 patients who have been told to move for 30mins a day.  Ridiculous advice after reading Attia's book.  I so want to tell them don't be scared, get that heart rate up a little more than zone 1.  But I digress, to each his own.  The world would be so boring if we were all alike.

Graham

Hey Paul,

Thanks for contributing.  My father, now 84, had ablation surgery in his mid 70s after a lifetime of playing basketball in high school, university and then pick up games with former Rockets players in Houston while he aged.  Said the ablation was the greatest surgery gift he'd ever given himself and said he should have done it earlier.  Don't know if that helps your confidence.  He's got Lewy body dementia now but I feel that was from low lipid maintenance and belief in the AHA boogeyman of cholesterol bad, low fat good (aka sugar replaces fat to live longer BS media campaign). 

I picked up Attia's book for that reason alone (fear of dementia) since I don't have any genetic markers that show I'll develop Alzheimer's or any other related mental degradation.  THANK GOD for my Cajun wife I met 15 years ago.  At 36 I was avoiding dietary fat, saturated fats etc.  She changed all that by pointing out all her relatives who lived to near 100 and beyond and adhered to a butter rich (real dairy fat butter), low sugar intake diet.  Further investigation showed the proof I needed and thus I switched my diet, started taking supplements that my alleles in my genome weren't taking from food efficiently enough, and yet, I still drank a ton.  I never corelated the alcohol vs heart and mind damage.  There is a fantastic Andrew Huberman Lap Podcast about alcohol that every swimmer who likes to "drink like a fish" should listen to and learn from.  If you are addicted to booze when you die, you get a free trip back to Earth over and over until you beat the addiction.  Sad but absolute truth. 

It was Huberman's podcast that featured Attia one day, and thus, I jumped down the rabbit hole and off I went.  I bought the hard cover copy so I could lug it around and feel the pages and learn with highlights and margin notes.  I love his notes about stretching and flexibility, hand grip strength etc.  All very important items for aging gracefully.  I saw a bunch of masters swimmers in April at Y Nationals and many had little no tendon flexibility, lots of bad backs where reliance on lap swimming gave them an "out" to doing more to age properly.  The ones who had muscle in their 70s were flexible and had a pep in their step that was very noticeable.  They also swam faster, which is understandable.

I swim at a Y here near my house and notice the Western Medicine 2.0 patients who have been told to move for 30mins a day.  Ridiculous advice after reading Attia's book.  I so want to tell them don't be scared, get that heart rate up a little more than zone 1.  But I digress, to each his own.  The world would be so boring if we were all alike.

Graham

Thanks for the resources.

I grew up on real whipped cream and butter.  Don't do much whipped cream now.  Butter on everything though!  Cholesterol numbers are 175 (90-100 HDL, 70-75 LDL), low BP, and resting HR around 48.  Friends tell me I am scrawny which is probably true cuz you can see my ribs.  I don't try to restrict calories though.

No fear of ablation on my end.  Dad survived 2 of those (age 75-77), 6 stents (various years), double by-pass (age 60), and an aortic aneurysm (age 60).  

I don't drink like a fish, but I like my pinot noir.  But, mounting evidence suggests that I will give this up as well in favor of better old-age health.

I have always worked on flexibility and lifting and it pays off. Currently, lifting about 75% of what I did 30+ yrs ago.  Leg strength is coming back after knee replacement due to injury/arthritis.  The flexibility pays off in the pool as well as while off-road motorcycle riding which means the occasional tip-over and tuck and tumble.  I can hang for more than 60 seconds pretty easily

What I like about Attia is his approach requires a variety of activities.  My daily activity includes walking, lifting, swimming, stretching, yoga - 2-3hr/day.

Keep up the good work!

Paul