Swim Better By Training The Muscles That Help You Breath

[Q.]

When ODB and I were asking for a swimming forum, I contacted this guy to see if he would be the resident expert. He declined but now I get his newsletter.

Swimmers Can Improve Their Swimming Performance by Training Respiratory Muscles From Mat Luebbers, Swim Better By Training The Muscles That Help You Breath Researchers at the University at Buffalo have shown that swimmers can improve their swimming endurance and breathing capacity through targeted training of the respiratory muscles. Subjects who followed a resistance-breathing training program improved their respiratory muscle strength and their snorkel swimming time by 33 percent and underwater scuba swimming time by 66 percent when compared to baseline values. Participants using a program requiring high respiratory flow rates (endurance) improved their respiratory endurance and surface and underwater swimming times by 38 percent and 26 percent, respectively. The placebo training group showed no significant improvement in respiratory or swimming performance. The study involved 30 experienced male swimmers in their 20s. Participants also underwent baseline tests to determine: Pulmonary strength (maximal pressures they could generate) Pulmonary endurance (time that a high ventilation could be sustained) VO2max (the maximal volume of oxygen they could consume per minute to produce energy for exercise) Length of time they could swim at a moderately high speed The men then were randomized to one of three training protocols: RRMT-resistance respiratory muscle training Swimmers assigned to the RRMT inhaled and exhaled against a valve that had a set opening pressure and imposed a continuous resistance using specialized breathing valves and a computer tracking system developed in CRESE. ERMT-endurance respiratory muscle training Swimmers in the ERMT protocol increased their breathing rate and tidal volume (total ventilation) progressively each week, while a re-breathing bag insured that the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood was held constant, in spite of the hyperventilation during the training. PRMT-placebo respiratory muscle training Swimmers in the PRMT group performed a series of 10-second breath-holds, with 90-second rest periods between breath-holds, using the same equipment as in RRMT and ERMT. The rest periods were shortened by 10 seconds each week, ending with a 60-second rest between breath-holds during the fourth week. The protocols were followed for 30 minutes per day, five days a week, for four weeks.All subjects participated in a twice-a-week, identical fin-swimming maintenance program during the four weeks of RMT training to insure that they maintained, but didn't increase, their fitness levels during the study's training protocol. At the end of the four weeks, study participants repeated the baseline tests."Results showed that the RRMT and ERMT protocols used in this study significantly extended swimming endurance through an improvement in respiratory muscle performance," said researchers. "These data are in agreement with previous studies in cyclists, rowers and runners. They suggest that athletes in most sports could improve their performance by undergoing respiratory muscle training. It is also clear that the greater the stress on the respiratory system, the larger the improvement in performance." "Specific respiratory muscle training could allow divers in the military, civilian rescue services, commercial enterprises and sport to perform better underwater," said Claes E.G. Lundgren, M.D., Ph.D., professor of physiology and biophysics in the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and the study's senior author. Lundgren said that training the breathing muscles to improve the performance of swimming muscles seems counter-intuitive, but is logical physiologically. "Typically, we think it's the muscles that move the body that are fatigued when we tire," he noted. "However, the increased work load of the breathing muscles is very important, particularly underwater during prolonged or high intensity exercise such as swimming. As shown by other studies, when breathing muscles become fatigued, the body switches to survival mode and "steals" blood flow and oxygen away from the locomotor muscles and redirects it to the respiratory muscles to enable the diver to continue breathing. Deprived of oxygen and fuel, the locomotor muscles become fatigued. Increasing the strength and endurance of the respiratory muscles prevents their fatigue during sustained exercise, enabling divers and swimmers to sustain their effort longer without tiring," Lundgren said. REFERENCE Wylegala, Juli A., David R. Pendergast, Luc E. Gosselin, Dan E. Warkander, and Claes E. G. Lundgren. "Respiratory muscle training improves swimming endurance in divers." European Journal of Applied Physiology 10.1007/s00421-006-0359-6 13 Dec 2006. Accessed on 22 Jan 2007 <http://www.springerlink.com/content/...ef52397f3&pi=0>. Created: January 22, 2007

[Kathy_in_Texas]

Did you find what exercises to do? I'm am very interested in this topic. Thanks.