Comments on Swimator Blog: How to breathe with Swimmer's snorkel (front/cente...

Pretty helpful tips especially for beginners like ...

2011-12-28T06:22:29.353+02:00

Pretty helpful tips especially for beginners like me that who wants to master the art of snorkeling.

@anonymous: ahh good catch, thanks for the correct...

2011-12-20T12:35:41.746+02:00

@anonymous: ahh good catch, thanks for the correction. I was not really taking Nitrogen into account as it plays lesser role here, even though it is the most abundant gas. I've made a correction, so it is not confusing.

You may want to rethink your statement about the c...

2011-12-20T11:36:53.060+02:00

You may want to rethink your statement about the composition of atmosphere/breath. I give you a hint: nitrogen, oxigen, co2

@Andrew: thanks for your comment. Your comments ar...

2011-12-19T11:56:38.725+02:00

@Andrew: thanks for your comment. Your comments are thought provoking, which is great.

I don't believe there are enough studies made in order to prove or disprove whether breathing with a restricted airflow makes you fitter. I tend to think so as my experience shows improved performance after hypoxic type of swim sets. However, if we omit the air restriction in terms of improving your fitness, it definitely makes you a better swimmer if you can swim with correct technique under the psychological pressure of having less air intake and still keep relaxed. It teaches you to be more energy efficient in the water, so then when you swim with normal air intake, it seems like a bliss. Also, swimming with cardio cap as oppose to using the common hypoxic breathing techniques (breathe every 3,5,7... strokes) is much better as you are not forced to change your breathing pattern and you can keep breathing in the same way you normally breathe, just with less oxygen coming in.

The statement that it stimulates altitude training is of course a bit far fetched as you'd need to restrict your breathing for majority of your day in order for your body to have some physiological adaptation to the conditions, not just 15 minutes in a workout, however, it does have some effect at least immediately after the air restriction exercise.

Cardio cap....., c'mon. This is the second ver...

2011-12-19T11:20:08.150+02:00

Cardio cap....., c'mon. This is the second version of this nonsense I've seen recently. Does anyone really believe that breathing through clenched teeth makes them fitter? Pfffft....