Mt. San Jacinto Outdoor Recreation

Does swimming make it easier to hike at altitude. Like above 13,000 ft. If a person swims two miles a day for four or five times a week. The pattern of breathing during swimming is different than normal hiking or running. They hold their breath sometimes for more than one stroke. Has anyone heard anything about this?

Good question. Oxygen saturation probably drops during hard swimming, but probably the blood becomes acidic. Altitude acclimatization increases red blood cells in response to desaturation but also decreases bicarbonate levels to prevent alkalinity during hyperventilation. Swimming might do the opposite. Just a guess.

luckily, Fight On does have a buoyant suit that will help him have enough time to practice taking deep breaths while swimming:

http://fighton.smugmug.com/photos/326190611_4wqnZ-X2.jpg

Swimming's an aerobic workout, so you'll get the benefit of cardiovascular conditioning as long as you maintain a spped that keeps your pulse rate elevated.

Only problem might be in overall conditioning, in that most swim strokes don't involve heavy use of leg muscles or the same muscle groups as hiking/running, so your legs won't be adapted to the forces they'll get on a trail or bushwacking. To overcome that problem you might try mixing swimming with running or stairclimbing.

I do a mixture of bicycling and running/stairclimbing. Seems to work well.

I think he's more interested in improving his oxygen saturation at altitude. I'm guessing he's wondering if practicing breathing in deeply will help up maintain a high oxygen saturation at altitude. This would be related to his lung's vital capacity, though I don't know if it can be improved from swimming.

Zé wrote:I think he's more interested in improving his oxygen saturation at altitude. I'm guessing he's wondering if practicing breathing in deeply will help up maintain a high oxygen saturation at altitude. This would be related to his lung's vital capacity, though I don't know if it can be improved from swimming.

I was hiking with the Chocolate Milk Man and he brought this to my attention.
He swims regularly like 5 times a week and has NO problem hiking above 13k. He tried to explain it to me but I couldn't understand it all. Something to do with holding your breath between strokes or between multi strokes. Like forcing air deep into your lungs and holding it there more than you would in any other exercise. Seems like it would expand your lungs some and use air better. Then I thought of this other hiker I went to High School with that was a swimmer. TM. He is a very strong hiker. So I was just wondering if anybody ever heard of a connection. Would be cool if it was true. Imagine hiking up there with out a care in the world!

Zé wrote:luckily, Fight On does have a buoyant suit that will help him have enough time to practice taking deep breaths while swimming:

http://fighton.smugmug.com/photos/326190611_4wqnZ-X2.jpg

That guy is gonna be famous some day! Dude! It's not me! Some dude I saw at the start of the Gabrielino Trail.

FIGHT ON wrote:

Zé wrote:I think he's more interested in improving his oxygen saturation at altitude. I'm guessing he's wondering if practicing breathing in deeply will help up maintain a high oxygen saturation at altitude. This would be related to his lung's vital capacity, though I don't know if it can be improved from swimming.

I was hiking with the Chocolate Milk Man and he brought this to my attention.
He swims regularly like 5 times a week and has NO problem hiking above 13k. He tried to explain it to me but I couldn't understand it all. Something to do with holding your breath between strokes or between multi strokes. Like forcing air deep into your lungs and holding it there more than you would in any other exercise. Seems like it would expand your lungs some and use air better. Then I thought of this other hiker I went to High School with that was a swimmer. TM. He is a very strong hiker. So I was just wondering if anybody ever heard of a connection. Would be cool if it was true. Imagine hiking up there with out a care in the world!

Sounds like interval training, which is done to improve performance under anerobic conditions. In its simple terms, its repetative long sprints (such as 400M) with a short rest period between them that doesn't quite allow you enough time to recover; you'll be going deeper into oxygen deficit with each successive sprint (and you'll notice it!). Try looking at a book on track and field training or training for middle distance running. And doing it on a track will take a lot less time than swimming 2-3 miles a day.

phydeux wrote:Sounds like interval training, which is done to improve performance under anerobic conditions. In its simple terms, its repetative long sprints (such as 400M) with a short rest period between them that doesn't quite allow you enough time to recover; you'll be going deeper into oxygen deficit with each successive sprint (and you'll notice it!). Try looking at a book on track and field training or training for middle distance running. And doing it on a track will take a lot less time than swimming 2-3 miles a day.

Wow. Sounds good. Wonder if you could run those intervals on a trail and get the same or similar results. I'd prefer a nice mountain trail over running around in circles anytime. and it seems like you would get real trail conditioning at the same time! double whammy!!

phydeux wrote:Sounds like interval training, which is done to improve performance under anerobic conditions. In its simple terms, its repetative long sprints (such as 400M) with a short rest period between them that doesn't quite allow you enough time to recover; you'll be going deeper into oxygen deficit with each successive sprint (and you'll notice it!). Try looking at a book on track and field training or training for middle distance running. And doing it on a track will take a lot less time than swimming 2-3 miles a day.

Wow. Sounds good. Wonder if you could run those intervals on a trail and get the same or similar results. I'd prefer a nice mountain trail over running around in circles anytime. and it seems like you would get real trail conditioning at the same time! double whammy!!