I know there have been several shorter threads about how Joaquim Cruz used to hold his breath at the end of intervals, but my question is this: does holding your breath at regular intervals (say 60 seconds of not breathing, 20 seconds of recovery, or 30-15) while sitting AT REST provide any benefit? Would this simply increase lung capacity if performed regularly over several months? Would non-runners perhaps benefit much more than runners?
LM
Well, it might make you impotent or even better, dead, so yes, there are benefits.
De Olivera(sp?), Joachim Cruz's coach, had him hold his breath the final 50 meters of most intervals. I have not seen any science behind it.
I tried that back in the day. I ended up rupturing my diaphragm and was unable to exercise for over 4 months without intense pain. Not recommended.
very good question,
the answer, idk.
correct me if i am wrong, but i thought during intense effort your lungs have no problem providing the necessary oxygen, your body just cant process it fast enough.
So, increases lung capacity would really have no benefit.
The idea is to train your lungs to distribute the oxygen more efficiently rather than just being able to survive without them working longer.
iaaf fires you wrote:
bin der wrote:I tried that back in the day. I ended up rupturing my diaphragm and was unable to exercise for over 4 months without intense pain. Not recommended.
looser!
No, actually I think the problem was that it made my diaphragm tighter.
I agree with 'whoot' And to summarize some of Lydiard's teachings, he says that you can only improve your anaerobic capacity to a known maximum, which can safely be achieved by a short series (about 1 month) of repititions, like 16 x 400m twice a week or something similar.
My idiot HS coach occasionally made us run 400s (or as far as we could go) breathing through drinking straws and holding our nostrils closed. He said it would make us stronger. It really sucked. I actually passed out during a workout at the end of last season. I don't think it was beneficial at all.
Babies and very young children sometimes throw a temper tantrum and hold their breath until they almost, or do, pass out. Any studies done on whether they, as teenagers or adults, are better runners?
In swimming this was huge in the 70s and 80s. The only benefit as it turns out is that you are better able to tolerate CO2 accumulation.
There were lots of studies and serious studies did not show improved aerobic adaptation when using this type of training in swimming.
It is CO2 accumulation that makes you have to breathe, not O2 depletion, an interesting little tidbit.
In sprint swimming it is actually somewhat useful to be able to withstand more CO2 buildup as the act of breathing in crawl swimming slows you down a bit. So if you can swim 50 or 100 maters taking fewer breaths than your opponent it may work out well for you.
Since in running there doesn't seem to be an obvious cost in terms of speed for every breath, there wouldn't seem to be a benefit.
o.O wrote:
The idea is to train your lungs to distribute the oxygen more efficiently rather than just being able to survive without them working longer.
that
swim coach wrote:
In swimming this was huge in the 70s and 80s. The only benefit as it turns out is that you are better able to tolerate CO2 accumulation.
There were lots of studies and serious studies did not show improved aerobic adaptation when using this type of training in swimming.
It is CO2 accumulation that makes you have to breathe, not O2 depletion, an interesting little tidbit.
In sprint swimming it is actually somewhat useful to be able to withstand more CO2 buildup as the act of breathing in crawl swimming slows you down a bit. So if you can swim 50 or 100 maters taking fewer breaths than your opponent it may work out well for you.
Since in running there doesn't seem to be an obvious cost in terms of speed for every breath, there wouldn't seem to be a benefit.
Finally a good response. This, plus the "I tried it and tore my diaphragm" response seems to wrap this thread up.
If you do it long enough, mommy will give you another piece of cake because she's spoiling you rotten.
I have done a fair bit of reading around this subject and I have a few thoughts as to why it may prove a successful training strategy. De Oliveira claimed that holding the breath increased the stress on the anaerobic system by reducing availability of oxygen during reps. However since the availability of oxygen is of little importance this seems an unlikely mechanism for improvement. My belief is that it actually serves to lower the PO2 in the blood giving a strong stimulus for natural EPO production. This has been clearly demonstrated in resting studies.
There are however some theories around psycho-pyshiological interactions that suggest habituation to high CO2 could alter perception of effort around ventilatory threshold (more important at longer distances).
"I ended up rupturing my diaphragm and was unable to exercise for over 4 months without intense pain. Not recommended."
-oh stop. unless you had surgery or a CT scan to prove this, i can assure you that your diagnosis was incorrect.
Just get yourself a case of sleep apnea and you can train while you sleep
Am I living in the twilight zone? The Boston Marathon weather was terrible!
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Move over Mark Coogan, Rojo and John Kellogg share their 3 favorite mile workouts
Mark Coogan says that if you could only do 3 workouts as a 1500m runner you should do these
Matt Choi was drinking beer halfway through the Boston Marathon