Originally Posted by timmyquest
My butt is sore from riding on the trainer the other day (i think i need to switch out saddles...sadly), i'm sick of running, so last night i swam laps for 30 mins.
It's been very long since i've done this but i had an idea while i was struggling to breath. Can swimming simulate training in high altitude (low o2) atmospheres?
Once you get the heart rate up and you want to breath in and out and in and out...well, in a pool you can't do that.
Thoughts?
Swimming is one of the few sports (along with scuba diving) that can actually expand your ribcage. Not even weight lifting can do that (I read this in an old bodybuilding book). I think that the rhythmic breathing pattern that's needed can actually be helpful if you learn to carry that feel of a rhythm over to bicycling, running, etc. I think at some points most sports emphasize breathing, so swimming should actually help your awareness of that.
And, yeah, I'm biased because I swam through college.