Swimming: anaerobic interval training

[Bunkenmeyer]

Hi everyone,

Fantastic to see the addition of this forum since I was a regular visitor to vr.com around the time of my aortic root replacement and valve repair back in December 2002. A year has passed and I'm feeling great. Re-committing myself to getting back in top shape (as opposed to just good shape in the context of just having had heart surgery) I recently joined a masters swim program. Question to the group, part of our workouts include anaerobic intervals (e.g. breathing only every 6th stroke vs. a more natural every 2 or 4). Does anyone know what kind of stress such intervals put on the vascular system? I'm supposed to avoid heavy weight lifting etc. because of my prior aortic aneurysm (addressed by the surgery) and want to make sure that anaerobic intervals don't result in a similar spike in blood pressure.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Bunkenmeyer

 

[MarkU]

Bunkenmeyer,
Hi & welcome,
Interesting question that you pose. I was a competitive swimmer when I was growing up, mostly swimming short course sprints where you would breathe every 2nd stroke at most.
I'm now training for triathlons where I'm swimming between 1/4 and 1/2 mile and I'm struggling to break old habits and increase my breathing frequency going from anaerobic to aerobic.
Intuitively, I think anaerobic training would raise your blood pressure, but who knows how much.
Sounds like a good topic to discuss with your doctor.
MarkU

 

[BillCobit]

Hi Bunkenmeyer -

Darn good Q! I'm interested in the answer myself; as my heart health continues to improve, I'm ramping up my intensity level.

The following linx don't sepcifically answer your Q, but discuss the topic:


http://physiotherapy.curtin.edu.au/community/educational_resources/ep552_97/bp.html
Looks like the point of this article is that BP doesn't really spike up until you approach max muscle contraction force...which you do in resistance training, but not swimming.

http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/103/2/327

I'm going to hunt some more. IF YOU DO find an answer from your doc or a medical pub, plse post the answer for the rest of us.

Thanks & good luck