Why in distance/swimming training do swimmers work on breath holding?

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winsomehill's picture

winsomehill

Question:

Why in distance/swimming training do swimmers work on breath holding?

I am relatively new to swimming and have stumbled on workouts that include breath holding. What I know about the physiology of breath holding is it promotes bradycardia (slowed heart rate), and peripheral vascular constriction(oxygen leaves limbs to be conserved for major body functions hear beating etc). Why would these be desirable during training?

EnduranceRun's picture

EnduranceRun

You would be training your body to work with less O2. Your body is highly efficient and becomes 'deconditioned' to survive on the available O2. If you reduce the level of O2 you can enhance your bodies endurance capacity.

A little bit like altitude training.

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