Hypoxic breathing

[Deleted User]

I've been focusing on my swim for the past few weeks, and the concept of hypoxic breathing sets came up (ex. breathe every 3 strokes, then 5, then 7, etc.). I don't have much experience with these (other than I know they're hard!), but what do all of you think? How exactly does a triathlete benefit from doing these? Is there a minimum level of swim competency that you should have to get the most out of hypoxic breathing?

GMAN 19030

I used to do some of those drills until I read some stuff from the TI folks (Terry Laughlin and Suzanne Atkinson) and they really, really don't recommend those drills for a variety of reasons. I can find a couple articles but you can probably find them just as easily by googling those folks names with hypoxic.

tim cronk

To me that would be like running or biking and holding your breath. Just doesnt make any sense Having said that and having completed my scariest swim ever at IMMT yesterday I can maybe see a little value in learning that it's ok to go without oxygen and practice recovering from that so when the shit hits the fan you can stay composed and keep moving.

Unknown

The value I find in the hypoxic drills is that it prepares me to swim a bit longer without breathing if I need to in case of rough surf or being swam over by some big guy

kjanracing

 I think it has more application for pool swimming.  It teaches breath control and how to go without oxygen for a while, like when doing flip turns or sprinting.  It is also good for awareness andhaving your mind and body deal with something uncomfortable.

belljd@gmail.com

Keep in mind that your drive to inhale is actually driven by your need to exhale. Many swimmers use their breath cycle to exhale and then inhale. This is a bit sub-optimal, we should be using the time when our mouth is out of the water to be sucking in as much air as we can. Hypoxic sets can help teach us how to do this - by really blowing out all our bubbles.

I also think sets of this nature help to calm us in the water. When there isn't that much fuel around then we need to learn to use it for the task at hand. When I do these sorts of sets I focus on balance via a tight core, a smooth power phase and a gentle kick. It isn't until I get to the 9 cycle pattern that I really start to suffer...

cgres123

Zero value IMO , just a way for latic acid to build up, do that for what ?

[Deleted User]

Interesting, thanks everyone! Seems to me that I won't benefit too much since I think my breathing is already pretty good and well controlled. I guess my initial misconception was that hypoxic sets were a mean of building cardiovascular fitness, but I'm sure there are better ways to do that.

Coach Rich

Hypoxic sets are what they made us do in the 70's and 80's to add a sadistic twist to workouts. My favorite was 100's where you get 4 breaths the first 25, 3 the second, 2 the 3rd and 1 the last.

Short answer, no benefit.

Jim Yanoschik

Just my 2 cents. I like the idea of hypoxic sets to train your MIND to get used to the "panic" of not being able to breathe when you want. The drive to breathe is from the build up of CO2. I have been in races where you start out too hard and start to feel the panic-where the wetsuit feels tighter around the neck and you must calm yourself. By getting used to that feeling of impending CO2 buildup and calmly slowing your body functions, you develop the skill set to deal with those incidents that happen in a race. Someone swimming over you just when you are about to take a breath, a wave breaks into your mouth etc... I use hypoxic swim sets as more of a drill set to focus on relaxing for a few strokes when my body is trying to tell me "Hey you missed a breath, you better breathe now." It is more of training yourself to calm the mind in the safety of the pool.

new2703

Hypoxic sets are of no value. They don't help with panic because that is mental. Instead work on bilateral breathing.

Carl

I vote on maiking myself have a full blown panic attack, then work on hypoxic breathing along with tripple breathing.

ebe4zippy

Hypoxia is bad...there is not a part of you body that enjoys a lack of oxygen...I would avoid them!

Dino Sarti

The issue with swimming is that you are already getting fewer breaths per minute then you are in either bike or run. Many things I have read are drills to increase breaths per minute by switching sides or other notions on increasing the breath cycle. When I was on swim team in high school we used to do "under waters" - swim 25 meter lengths underwater without breathing. It made no sense other to show comfort, control and discipline in the water.

When I was becoming a NAUI SCUBA instructor in college, they made us jump in the deep end with all our gear in both hands with air turned off. To pass, you had to jump in, turn on the air, and put your complete set up on without letting a single peice of gear touch the bottom, float away or leave your control. It had nothing to do with diving, but it did demonstrate confidence, comfort in the water, the ability to keep cool and stay calm.

Freestyle sets without breathing would seem to be a little of the above, but more likely have zero benefit. IMHO, I would say focus on form, breath in a constant cycle and swim your fastest without damaging either...

[Deleted User]

I find that I sometimes like to do 25 yards while breathing every 5 strokes just so I get a good sense of how even my stroke actually is (i.e. hand placement, body rotation, etc) Might be a little low on breath by the time I get to the end, but not exactly in agony either.