http://triswimcoach.com Tri Swim Coach podcast on Hypoxic Training in Freestyle for Triathlon. Sign up for the Tri Swim Coach newsletter athttp://www.triswimlessons.com for 5 online swim lessons geared towards triathlon swimming. Welcome to the Tri Swim C...    [More]

http://triswimcoach.com Tri Swim Coach podcast on Hypoxic Training in Freestyle for Triathlon. Sign up for the Tri Swim Coach newsletter athttp://www.triswimlessons.com for 5 online swim lessons geared towards triathlon swimming.

Welcome to the Tri Swim Coach Podcast. This is episode #3 and today is Friday, March 13th. I'm your host, Kevin Koskella and I hope everyone in Triathlon land is doing really well.

If you like this podcast please add your comments and your rating to the iTunes subscription area. If you go under iTunes and you search for Tri Swim Coach the podcast will come up and you can add comments right there. I really appreciate to hear from you guys. If you don't like it, don't do anything. Actually, I really want to hear some suggestions and any requests anybody has for topics or guests or anything of that sort. That would be helpful and you can go to the blog triswimcoachonline.com and just post a comment.

Today we're going to switch gears a little bit. We've been talking about stroke technique the first two episodes and today's going to be a little bit more about training. One topic that I'm actually taking on that's pretty controversial for swim training is Hypoxic Training and what that means is training with little oxygen.

Swim coaches for ages have used this method to train swimmers for a variety of distances and different types of swim races. Like kick boards and pool buoys it has become part of swim workout tradition to include some kind of breath control set at nearly every workout. Some examples of hypoxic or breath control swim sets are 300 yards breathing every 3, 5, 7 breaths by 50 so that means every 3 strokes, every 5 strokes, every 7 strokes and then fall back by eight 25's every other 25 no breath.

Many coaches blindly duel out breath control sets day-after-day with little thought as to these two questions:

1) Why do we do these sets?
2) Who do they benefit?

Hypoxic training can no doubt benefit sprinters who typically do 50 and 100 yard swims or even the middle distance swimmers who race the 200 and up to 500 yards swims. For open water swimmers and triathletes, this is another debate. Some studies have been done that show definite benefits of hypoxic training for endurance swimmers. Other studies have shown little or no benefits. One thing we do know is that some of these breath control sets can be beneficial for triathletes, but they do need to be done in moderation. Only a small part of your workout needs to be focused on these controlled breathing sets. For example, doing a swim where you breathe every 3, 5, or 7 strokes will help balance out your stroke and get you used to breathing on your weaker side. It will also help develop your lungs for those times during a triathlon swim where you need to hold your breath such as going under a wave.

Freestyle swimming is not like running and biking in that you are constantly holding your breath in intervals. Even if you breathe every 3 strokes, there is still a time where your head is down and you're holding your breath. As I emphasize in my book "The Complete Guide to Triathalon Swimming", which can be found at triswimcoach.com, your training should consist of mostly aerobic. That means with oxygen as opposed to anaerobic and that means without oxygen. Still, some anaerobic training is essential. You will need to have some speed to break out of the pack or turn a buoy at a proper angle or loose that annoying swimmer behind you that keeps grabbing your ankles. I think my worst experience with that was a race last summer (open water swim) here in Lahoya and I was actually swimming pretty clear the first 3rd of the race I was great, the middle part of the race I started getting crowded and then the last part somebody swam on top of me, another guy grabbed my ankles and somebody else hit me. That's usually at the beginning that you get those things but I got pretty unlucky there so managed to finish ok but the anaerobic training definitely helps with those kind of things as well as having some patience.

Here's an example of a set that allows you practice breathing on the opposite side and control your breathing. Four 100's- alternate breathing every 3, 5, 7, 3 strokes by 100. So what that means is, you breathe every 3 strokes on the first 100, every 5 strokes on the second 100, on the 3rd 100 you breath every 7 and then the last 100 you breathe every 3 again. Rest 15-20 seconds in between each swim. Swim at a moderate pace and focus on your technique. Alternatively, you can use a snorkel for part of your workout which also helps you build up your lungs and allows you to concentrate on technique without having to rotate to each side to breathe. Which for many athletes I have taught is where everything falls apart.

Hypnotic training that I do not recommend is the no-breathers and swimming underwater for a length or more.

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